Only two generations ago, the shehnai was perhaps the most widely heard instrument in northern India. It has, for long, been an integral part of tribal, folk, religious and ceremonial music on the subcontinent. In the latter half of the twentieth century, Ustad Bismillah Khan (1916-2006) took it to the peak of popularity on the concert platform. Befitting the status of the instrument as the “mangala vadya” and the Ustad’s early distinction, it was his recital that heralded the dawn of Independence from the Red Fort on 15 August 1947, and later launched the Indian Republic on 26 January 1950. The instrument could well have qualified as the ‘national instrument’, if such a thing existed. By the time of Bismillah Khan’s departure, however, the instrument was gasping for breath.

The instrument belongs to the oboe family of beating-reed aerophones. Instruments of this variety and almost identical design are found in all parts of India. The nagaswaram, an instrument of the same family, and known by various names, has comparable status in India’s southern peninsula. Even in north India, the instrument has several names. Some names are of Sanskrit origin, and indicate ancient Indian ancestries. Others describe it as a ceremonial instrument for processions and court assemblies suggesting feudal patronage. Some have a Persian ring to them, and hint towards Middle Eastern extractions. And, some others, derived probably from folk and tribal cultures, describe only its physical form or its shrill piercing sound. Despite confusing signals, organologist, B.C. Deva, believes that the shehnai is an entirely Indian instrument.