Ustad Dildar Khan, widely known as "Master Girdhari" was born in Gwalior in 1925. He learned sarangi and vocal music from his father Chand Khan and also from Hussain Khan, Yatin Khan and Chote Khan (one of the many). Dildar Khan came from a distinguished lineage in Gwalior including his paternal grandfather Jahan Khan and great-grandfather Moti Khan and maternal uncle Gulab Khan. In his day Dildar Khan had accompanied many great singers including Krishnarao Shankar Pandit and Omkarnath Thakur. His musical tours took him as far as China, Afghanistan and Singapur. Before retirement he had been employed at Doordarshan (state TV) in Lucknow. When I met him, he was retired and living in Jhansi, Madhya Pradesh, teaching his sons vocal music, sarangi and tabla.
My first visit to Dildar Khan's home was on 11 April, 1995. He played rag Madhuvanti, followed by some discussion and a short demonstration of Multani.
My next visits were over three days in July 1997. The first video is of his singing rag Nat Bhairav—teaching his son Wahid Khan on sarangi on 27 July, 1997. There is also a considerable amount of conversation.
In the next video Dildar Khan plays rag Todi on sarangi.
Next he performed rag Puriya Kalyan, followed by a short-lived excursion in Bibhas "mora re".
