The Imdadkhani gharana is a North Indian school of sitar and surbahar music. It was named after its founder, Imdad Khan (1848–1920), and is also known as the Etawah gharana, after a small town close to Agra where Imdad Khan lived.
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Khan family
The Khan family is one of the most renowned musical familiess from India. With its roots in Etawah on the outskirts of Agra before finally branching out to Calcutta with Enayat Khan and Hyderabad, Indore and Mumbai with Wahid Khan and Vilayat Khan.
The gharana's achievements include the development of the Surbahar, major structural changes to both the sitar and surbahar and the creation and development of the instrumental style known as the gayaki ang (vocal style performed on sitar) by Vilayat Khan and this style of sitar is now known as the Vilayatkhani sitar.
Living performers of the family include Imrat Khan, Shahid Parvez, Shujaat Khan, Nishat Khan, Irshad Khan, Wajahat Khan, Hidayat Khan and Zila Khan who is the first female performer of this gharana.