Sakar Khan

Sakar Khan singing, playing the Kamaicha

Photo courtesy of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE)

Young Sakar Khan playing Kamaicha

Photo courtesy of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE)

Sakar Khan with son Ghevar Khan

Photo courtesy of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE)

Sakar Khan playing Kamaicha

Photo courtesy of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE)

Sakar Khan with his wife

Photo courtesy of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE)

Sakar Khan

Photo courtesy of the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (ARCE)

Sakar Khan, of Hameera in Jaisalmer, is a senior musician of the Manganiars and is considered to be the greatest Kamaicha player and amongst the foremost musicians of the community. He was trained by his father Chuhar Khan who was also a very well known Kamaicha player.

Sakar Khan has toured India and the World in his younger years and has been recognized for his contribution to the music of the Manganiars and to Rajasthan. He has been awarded the Tulsi Samman, the National Award of the Sangeet Natak Akademi and, most recently, the Padma Shri. This album of his recordings from the archives is a means of paying respect to him and celebrating the long relationship he has had with the ARCE.

Sakar Khan also sings in a distinct and recognizable style, in the same way that his Kamaicha playing is distinct. Like all Kamaicha players, Sakar Khan sings and accompanies himself on the Kamaicha. In some of the tracks he is accompanied by his brother Pempa Khan on the dholak and in some by his son Feroz Khan.