Shehnai is known by different names since ancient times, and has always been in the news in almost all the predominating reigns, including the Mughals. The prevailing belief is that the shehnai has come form the ancient origins of Persia, during which times it was called `surnai`. There are also several variations of the instrument in use, in the country. Since the Mughal era, precisely in the times of Emperor Akbar, a ceremonial ensemble was in vogue, called the naubat. This naubat disseminated the status of the shehnai, which came to be regarded an indispensable part of every celebrations of every religion. Slowly, it began to be played in temples during pujas. However, despite all these, the shehnai had some limitations compared to its more illustrious classical counterparts. These were all removed by the legendary ustads of the early 20th century, like Chhote Khan, Gaurishankar and Nandlal, and of course, Ustad Bismillah Khan. The shehnai, with its several intricate and complicated parts, was thus elevated religiously to the stature of Hindustani musical concert accompaniment.

Shehnai, or the `surnai` as it was originally called, is believed by some to have come to India from Persia. However, in the 17th century music treatises such as Sangeet Paarijaat, one comes across references to a pipe called sunadi, closely resembling the shehnai. It was so popular during its time that it supplanted the flute from the classical ensemble. A high-pitched pipe called pungi, whch was banned by Aurangzeb owing to its shrillness, is supposed to have been the rudimentary form of the shehnai. Though the shehnai by itself could well be of foreign origin, double reed instruments such as the nadaswaram and the mukhaveena are popular concert instruments in the South. Similarly, there are many number of regional variants of the shehnai like the sundari of Maharashtra, the mohuri of Orissa and the shanai of Bihar which closely resemble it in many respects. It is quite possible that in medieval India, the Muslim rulers who hailed from Persia named the pipe they found in India shehnai, which means, in Persian, `King (shah) of wind instruments (nai)`.

During the reign of Akbar, musical ensembles called naubat, comprising a band of pipers piping various kinds of pipes, and drummers drumming different kinds of drums were associated with regal presence and celebrated royal processions. There are a number of miniature paintings of the Mughal era, which tells one about the popularity of these emsembles. Naubats were patronised and celebrated by all Mughal rulers and soon spread to other parts of the North. Soon such ensembles came to be part and parcel of social festivities and celebrations and thus grew the popularity of the shehnai. The shehnai also came to be associated with the temple and thereby came to be called a mangal vadya or an auspicious instrument. While a person belonging to the priestly class blew the shankh, or the conch, during sacred rituals inside the worship area, shehnai players, who belonged to the lower caste, played the reed instrument from outside the worship area. No social ceremony such as engagement, marriage, childbirth and the investiture of the sacred thread was complete without the soothing strains of the shehnai. Again, the shehnai players had to play their instrument from outside the precincts of the house for reasons related to caste.

The compound of social and musical factors prevented it from becoming a classical instrument ensemble in earlier times. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that this instrument was granted the status of a classical instrument. Small and subtle modifications made in the instrument to improve its timbre and range, as also the shehnai player`s conscious assimilation of the subtleties of classical raaga-based music and informed cultivation of tonal beauty, greatly facilitated its acceptance as a concert instrument. The contributions made by players such as Chhote Khan, Gaurishankar and Nandlal, who was Chhote Khan`s disciple, belonging to Benaras, to elevate the shehnai to a level of a concert instrument must be remembered here. In fact, more than any other city, it is Beneras that has come to to be associated with the instrument and still continues to produce some of the finest players on the country. More than anyone, it is Ustad Bismillah Khan who was solely responsible for popularising the shehnai as a concert instrument both nationally and internationally. Though the instrument possesses certain inborn limitations, such as its inability to execute bass notes, its timbre and tone are extremely gentle and tuneful on the ear.

The concert shehnai used today is generally about one-and-a-half feet long. The front-piece, called the pyala, is made of brass. The tube, with seven bored finger holes, is made of well-weathered Burmese teak on which is screwed an adaptable brass nozzle called nali. On the nali is placed the double reed, called pattur made of a wild grass weed called dong, a variety of cane. It is the pattur that controls the entry of air from the player`s lips into the pipe. A thread is tied to the centre of the reed to prevent the seepage of saliva into the tube. Players also carry an additional pattur with them in case the one they are playing on becomes sodden with saliva. As with flute, all musical notes are produced by the controlled flow of breath through the reed into the tube area. Agile finger-work is required to execute the movements, graces and ornaments of classical music. The production of musical notes is wholly dependent on the manipulation of the fingering technique - i.e., the full closure or partial closure of the blow holes. Alongside the various positionings of the jaw, the tongue and the lips also help in the production of various musical movements and graces. A seasoned player uses a combination of lip and tongue-work along with dexterous fingering during recitals. Unlike other instruments, it is not the tanpura that provides the drone during the concert. Rather a pipe, called the sur, whose seven blow holes are blocked-up with wax, is used to provide the continuous drone. A small earthen kettle drum, called duggad, provides the rhythmic accompaniment. However, these days it is not uncommon for the shehnai player to use the tabla alongside the duggad. Benaras is to this day the leading producer of some of the finest shehnais in the country.