ఉస్తాద్ మొహమ్మద్ హనీఫ్ ఖాన్ మిరాజ్కర్

Ustad Mohammad Hanif Khan Mirajkar was born in 1938 into a family of musicians. He is the son and disciple of the great Tabla maestro, the late Ustad Mehboob Khan Mirajkar. He has also learned Tabla from his elder brother, Late Ustad Abdul Khan Mirajkar. He has also had the opportunity to learn under the maestro Ustad Jahangir Khan from Benares, under whose tutelage he learnt many rare tabla compositions. Ustad Mohammad Hanif Khan became a full time tabla teacher in 1986. He is a recipient of numerous awards, the most recent being "Laya Vadya Ratna" by Temple Of Fine Arts International in year 2002 in Malaysia, "Kala Shree" from "Sangeet Sadhana" in Pune in 2000, "Rajiu Gandhi Puraskar" in 1997 and "Gaurav Padak" from Pune Corporation in 1994. Ustad Mohammad Hanif Khan was trained in the Purab Gharana, but having extensive knowledge in all the Gharanas he has a unique teaching style evident among his students. His senior students, who come from all over India, include Dr. Rajendra Durkar and Nitin Kulkarni. He has also taught Prakash Kandaswamy Vickneshwaran Rainakrishnan and his son Nawaz Mirajkar who are now Tabla teachers at Temple of Fine Arts International.