Classical Sarod player, Amjad Ali Khan was awarded ____________ in 2001 by the Government of India.
- (a)Padma Vibhushan
- (b)Padma Shri
- (c)Bharat Ratna
- (d)Padma Bhushan
Answer
Why
Correct — A. The sarod player Amjad Ali Khan received the Padma Vibhushan in 2001, the year the question fixes.
The Padma Vibhushan is the second-highest civilian honour in India, below the Bharat Ratna and above the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri.
He belongs to the Senia Bangash lineage of sarod players and learnt the instrument from his father, Hafiz Ali Khan. Option (a).
Why the others are wrong
- (b)Padma Shri — The Padma Shri is the third and lowest of the three Padma grades. Amjad Ali Khan received it in 1975, long before 2001.
- (c)Bharat Ratna — The Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award and stands outside the Padma series altogether. Amjad Ali Khan has not received it.
- (d)Padma Bhushan — The Padma Bhushan is the second Padma grade, one step below the Padma Vibhushan. He received it in 1991, and 2001 is the year he was raised above it.
Concept
The Padma awards run in three grades — Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri — announced around Republic Day each year. Above them, and separate from them, sits the Bharat Ratna.
This item gives the person and the year and asks for the grade, which forces you to hold the grades in order rather than as a vague sense of prestige.
The awards were instituted in 1954, and the same person can be raised from one grade to a higher one years later, which is exactly what 2001 marks here.
The four options are the award ladder itself, so the year does all the work. Knowing only that he is a Padma awardee will not get you there; you need the grade tied to 2001.
Key facts
- Amjad Ali Khan received the Padma Vibhushan in 2001.
- The Padma Vibhushan is the second-highest civilian award in India, after the Bharat Ratna.
- The order of the Padma grades is Padma Vibhushan, then Padma Bhushan, then Padma Shri.
- Amjad Ali Khan plays the sarod and trained under his father, Hafiz Ali Khan.
Study next
Common traps
- Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan differ by one word and one rank.
- A musician may hold several Padma grades, conferred in different years.
- Bharat Ratna is not a Padma award and is not conferred every year.
The sarod is asked as an instrument-to-player match at 23 Sep 2024, 09:00, GA Q.12 (Ali Akbar Khan) and at 12 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.15 (Buddhadev Dasgupta), and Amjad Ali Khan himself appears by his title Sarod Samrat at 17 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.19.
The person-grade-year template runs at 11 Sep 2024, 12:30, GA Q.1 (Zakir Hussain, Padma Vibhushan, 2023).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.