KARACHI, May 1: Classical singer and well-known teacher of classical music, Ustad Wilayat Ali Khan, died in Karachi on Wednesday.

He suffered a heart attack in the early hours and breathed his last on the way to hospital. His funeral prayer was held at Imambargah Darbar-i-Hussain in Malir and he was laid to rest in the nearby graveyard.

The Ustad, one of the last of the great teachers of the art of classical music in Pakistan, had become a recluse after the ethnic killing, a year ago, of his son, Mohammad Ali, in Orangi Town, where the family had been living since 1972, following their migration from Bangladesh. He leaves behind six sons and two daughters, besides a large number of disciples in Karachi, Dacca and Chittagong.

Ustad Wilayat Ali Khan hailed from Saharanpur, UP, and his gharana was the disciples of Ustad Bande Ali Khan of Kirana. His father, Ustad Maqsood Ali Khan and grandfather, Ustad Siddiq Ali Khan, were highly-respected artistes and scholars of music of their time.

Prem Sangeet, the book of asthais and antaras composed by the Ustad was published in 1985.—S.M. Shahid