Rais Khan

Ustad Rais Khan (‎; 25 November 19396 May 2017) was a Pakistani sitarist. At his peak he was regarded as one of the greatest sitar players of all time. He continued performing till his last days. He moved from India to Pakistan in 1986, where he took up Pakistani citizenship.

In 2017, Khan was awarded Pakistan's third highest civilian honour, the Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Crescent of Excellence), by the Government of Pakistan. His Rajput family had produced numerous sitar players, beginning with Ustad Imdad Khan, the first sitar player in India and Pakistan to be recorded. He grew up in Bombay. His training began at a very young age, on a small coconut shell sitar. In 1986, he moved to Pakistan, seven years after marrying his fourth wife – Pakistani singer Bilqees Khanum. In 1979, the two had met for the first time at an event by the Sabri Brothers in Karachi. Khanum and Rais Khan had two sons, Farhan Rais Khan and Hazoor Hasnain Rais Khan. Rais Khan had four sons from his previous marriages: Sohail Khan, Cezanne Khan, Farhan Khan and Huzoor Hasnain Khan.

Career Rais Khan belonged to the Mewati gharana (classical music lineage),

As Rais Khan's mother was a singer and his father was a beenkar (veena player), a unique combination of khyal (the most popular classical vocal style), dhrupad (the older and more orthodox classical form) and thumri (lyrical semi-classical form) – 'angs' (approaches) developed in his playing. Like his uncle Vilayat Khan, whose music had exercised considerable influence on him, he often sang and demonstrated compositions on the sitar. Rais and Bismillah Khan (shehnai player) used to collaborate and perform together in live concerts as a duo,

For sometime, Rais Khan stopped performing, but returned in the 1980s and was invited by Ali Akbar Khan to perform in California.

Rais Khan sometimes performed with his son Farhan, In 2014, he performed "Hans Dhuni" and "Mein Sufi Hoon" (with Abida Parveen) in season 7 of Coke Studio Pakistan.

Death After a prolonged illness, Rais Khan died on 6 May 2017 in Karachi at the age of 77. Among his survivors are his singer-wife Bilqees Khanum and four sons.

On his death, Urdu writer Anwar Maqsood remarked that “God had given him a rare gift. His fingers had that rare touch.”

Khan is regarded as one of the most influential sitarists of the post-Independence era of the Indian subcontinent.

Awards Pride of Performance award by the President of Pakistan in 2005.

Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence) by the Government of Pakistan in 2017.