Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

Padma Bhushan Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
Background information
Also known as	Sabrang
Born	(1902-04-02)2 April 1902 Kasur, Punjab, British India (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Died	25 April 1968(1968-04-25) (aged 66) Hyderabad, India
Genres	Hindustani classical music
Occupation(s)	singer
Years active	1923–1967
Labels	HMV, Times Music

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan (c. 2 April 1902 – 23 April 1968) was an Indian Hindustani classical vocalist, from the Patiala gharana.

Early life and background

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was born in Kasur, of the erstwhile Punjab Province, British India in 1902. Following partition of India in 1947, Kasur District was allocated to Pakistan.

At the age of five, Bade Ghulam began training in vocal music from his chacha Kale Khan, and later from his father. He had three younger brothers namely Barkat Ali Khan, Mubarak Ali Khan and Amanat Ali Khan.

Singing career

Bade Ghulam Ali Khan on a 2003 stamp of India

Though he started his career by singing a few compositions of his late father Ali Baksh Khan and uncle Kale Khan, Bade Ghulam amalgamated the best of three traditions into his own Patiala-Kasur style: the Behram Khani elements of Dhrupad, the gyrations of Jaipur, and the behlavas (embellishments) of Gwalior. Many of his raga expositions were brief, contrary to convention and while he agreed that the beauty of classical music lay in leisurely improvisation, he believed that the audience would not appreciate long alaps, particularly considering his tendency towards singing for the masses and therefore, changed the music to what the audience wanted. He excelled at more light-hearted ragas such as Adana, Bhupali, Hameer, Jaijaiwanti and Jaunpuri. Under the pen name of Sabrang he created many new compositions. Unlike his younger son Munawar Ali Khan, who had an open-throated voice, Khan Sahib's voice was slurred.

After the Partition of India in 1947, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan went to his hometown Kasur in Pakistan, but returned to India later to reside permanently there in 1957. With the help of Bombay Chief Minister, Morarji Desai he acquired Indian citizenship and moved to a bungalow at Malabar Hill in Mumbai. He lived at various times in Lahore, Bombay, Calcutta, and finally Hyderabad.

For a long time, he stayed away from singing in films despite requests and persuasions from well-known producers and music directors. However he was coaxed and convinced by film producer K Asif to sing two songs based on ragas Sohni and Rageshri for the 1960 film Mughal-e-Azam with the music directed by Naushad. He demanded and received an extremely high price, reportedly to the tune of ₹25,000 per song, when the rates of popular and star playback singers such as Lata Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi was below ₹500 per song at that time.

Awards and recognition

• Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1962)
• Sangeet Natak Akademi fellow (1967)
• Padma Bhushan Award (1962)

Death and legacy

He died in Bashir Bagh Palace in Hyderabad on 23 April 1968 after a prolonged illness that had left him partially paralyzed in the last few years of his life. He continued to sing and perform in public with the support of his son, Munawar Ali Khan, until his death.

Indian film director Harisadhan Dasgupta made a documentary film about Khan in 1968, titled Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Saheb.

In 2017, the Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Yādgār Sabha was founded by his disciple Malti Gilani. It helps to keep his music and memory alive even today.

The main street at Basheerbagh is named Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Marg in his honour.

External links

• Manuel, Peter L (1990). Ṭhumrī in historical and stylistic perspectives. Motilal Banarsidass Publisher. ISBN 978-81-208-0673-3.