MUSICIAN

Bismillah Khan

1916 - 2006

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Icon of person Bismillah Khan

Ustad Bismillah Khan (born Qamaruddin Khan, 21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006), often referred to by the title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a reeded woodwind instrument. He played it with such expressive virtuosity that he became a leading Hindustani classical music artist. His name was indelibly linked with the woodwind instrument. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Bismillah Khan has received more than 2,762,102 page views. His biography is available in 33 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 30 in 2019). Bismillah Khan is the 544th most popular musician (up from 821st in 2019), the 284th most popular biography from India (up from 371st in 2019) and the 7th most popular Indian Musician.

Memorability Metrics

  • 2.8M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 55.38

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 33

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.67

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.02

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among MUSICIANS

Among musicians, Bismillah Khan ranks 544 out of 3,175. Before him are Guy Bonnet, Aldo Ciccolini, Murray Perahia, Buddy Guy, Huey Lewis, and Erroll Garner. After him are Chet Atkins, Guido Cantelli, Art Pepper, Laurie Anderson, David A. Stewart, and Johann Friedrich Fasch.

Most Popular Musicians in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1916, Bismillah Khan ranks 100. Before him are Stjepan Filipović, Archie Moore, Mercedes McCambridge, Chiang Wei-kuo, John Basilone, and Julio César Turbay Ayala. After him are M. S. Subbulakshmi, Chiang Fang-liang, Lung Chien, Yekaterina Budanova, Ivo Lola Ribar, and Zail Singh. Among people deceased in 2006, Bismillah Khan ranks 111. Before him are Peter Boyle, Nina Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, Marek Grechuta, P. F. Strawson, Malcolm Arnold, and Basil Poledouris. After him are Silva Kaputikyan, Ali Farka Touré, Gérard Oury, Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, Joe Rosenthal, and Carl Brashear.

Others Born in 1916

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Others Deceased in 2006

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In India

Among people born in India, Bismillah Khan ranks 284 out of 1,861. Before him are Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900), Begum Hazrat Mahal (1820), Ramdhari Singh Dinkar (1908), Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910), Hemachandra (1089), and Shakuntala Devi (1929). After him are Margaret Murray (1863), P. V. Narasimha Rao (1921), Alamgir II (1699), Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897), Mohammed Rafi (1924), and Madhava of Sangamagrama (1350).

Others born in India

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Among MUSICIANS In India

Among musicians born in India, Bismillah Khan ranks 7. Before him are Amir Khusrow (1253), Pete Best (1941), Cliff Richard (1940), Ravi Shankar (1920), Ram Narayan (1927), and Tansen (1493). After him are Ilaiyaraaja (1943), Barry Hay (1948), Hariprasad Chaurasia (1938), Christian Zacharias (1950), Trilok Gurtu (1951), and Mehdi Hassan (1927).

Indian born Musicians

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