Music in Baroda and Hyderabad
Inayat Khan was born in Baroda, now Vadodara, in 1882, into a family closely connected with music at the princely court. His grandfather Maulabakhsh was a musician and educator, and his father Rahmat Khan sang dhrupad. Music was both an inherited practice and a subject of study. He developed as a singer and vina player, travelling to perform and meeting other musicians across India.
He also taught and wrote about music. The Society of Indian Record Collectors documents his early harmonium and violin manuals and his larger work Minqar-i-Musiqar. In Hyderabad he performed for the Nizam, who honoured him with a title comparing him to Tansen, the celebrated court musician.
The society’s account identifies thirty-one surviving recorded songs and describes their recovery from archival discs. It distinguishes the singer and Sufi teacher from other musicians named Inayat Khan, including the sitar and surbahar player who was Vilayat Khan’s father.
Travelling as musician and teacher
In Hyderabad, Inayat Khan became a disciple of Sayyid Abu Hashim Madani. His training was principally connected with the Chishti Sufi tradition, with its established place for music in spiritual practice. Accounts preserved by his movement remember Madani as the teacher who encouraged him to carry his work beyond India.
In 1910 he travelled to America with his brother Maheboob Khan and cousin Mohammed Ali Khan. Their group, later joined by Musharaff Khan, performed as the Royal Musicians of Hindustan. Concerts and travel brought him into contact with audiences for both Indian music and spiritual teaching. Lecturing gradually became the central activity, and groups of students formed in North America and Europe.