Dilshad Khan belongs to the 10th generation of a hereditary lineage of sarangi players and vocalists from Rajasthan known as the Sikar gharana, which was originally under the patronage of the Maharaja of Sikar. At age six, Dilshad Khan began learning sarangi and vocal music, studying successively with his grandfather, Ustad Gulab Khan; his father, Ustad Nasir Khan; and his late uncle, the Padma Bhushan sarangi master Ustad Sultan Khan (1940-2011).

He has had the honor of performing with artists like Ustad Zakir Hussain, Steve Smith, Trilok Gurtu, Ustad Gulam Mustafa Khan, Pandit Swapan Chaudhury, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pandit Ajay Pavankar, Pandit Ajay Chakraborty, Giovanni Hidalgo, Mickey Hart, Pandit Anindo Chatterjee, Sivamani, Jagjit Singh, A. Hariharan, Ustad Ghulam Ali, V. Selvaganesh, Pankaj Udhas, Abida Parveen, Talat Aziz, Shankar Mahadevan, Pt. Rajan-Sajan Mishra.

He also played sarangi with Ustad Zakir Hussain in the album Global Drum Project, which won the prestigious Grammy Award in 2009. He also received the Aga Khan Music award in Muscat in 2022. He also worked on the soundtracks of many Bollywood films and has done performances worldwide.