On 103rd birth anniversary of Begum Akhtar, Google Doodle pays tribute to this legendary singer. She is also known as ‘Queen of Ghazals’ or ‘Mallika-e-Ghazal’. She was a singer that brought ghazals to Indians, long before Jagjit Singh. Begum Akhtar was trained in Thumri and Dadra and was one of the early female singers who used to perform on stage. She also acted in many movies. Know more about her.
Her Life
Born 7 October 1914 at Faizabad (Uttar Pradesh), she was named Akhtari Bai Faizabadi. She was born to Asghar Hussain and Mushtari. She had a twin sister too who died in childhood. Later, her father disowned Begum and her mother. This made this duo of mother-daughter to struggle for survival. Begum Akhtar was died on 30 October, 1970 at Ahmedabad.
She was not only a good student but a teacher too. She imparted her knowledge of music to few of her disciples. Vidushi Shanti Hiranand, Shanti Hiranand, Rita Ganguly and Rekha Surya joined her and got trained by her. In fact, she used to hold a position at Bhatkhande College of Music in Lucknow.
How she became Singer?
When she was only seven old, she was captivated by the music of Chandra Bai, an artist attached to a touring theatre group. To get her trained in music, she was sent to Ustad Imdad Khan, the great sarangi exponent from Patna, and later under Ata Mohammed Khan of Patiala. After that, she learnt music from classical stalwarts like Mohammad Khan, Abdul Waheed Khan of Lahore.
It was Ustad Ata Mohammed Khan who discovered Akhtari’s affinity for deeply emotional styles of thumri, dadra and ghazal gayaki and proceeded to train her in those.
Begum first performed at a concert organised in the aid of victims of the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake at the age of fifteen which was appreciated by Sarojini Naidu. This was a game changer for Begum Akhtar and she continued singing ghazals with more enthusiasm.
Married life of Begum
Akhtaribai (Begum Jaan) married a Lucknow-based barrister, Ishtiaq Ahmed Abbasi, and became known as Begum Akhtar. But her husband did not allow her to sing for almost five years and she fell ill. Thus, she returned to music in 1949 as a befitting remedy. She began singing in concerts and a practice that lasted until her death.
Awards and Honours
Begum Akhtar received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for vocal music. She was also honoured Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan (posthumously) by Govt. of India.
