Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan

Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahab was born on 2 April 1902 in Kasur (Pakistan) at his father Ali Baksh Khan's house. His father was a well-known Sarangi player and singer of that time. He first learned music from his uncle Kale Khan, who was a good singer and composer. After some time he died and then Bade Ghulam Ali Khan started taking education from his father. He also learned Sarangi from his father.

He started getting good income from Sarangi and the expenses of the house started going well. Along with Sarangi, he greatly impressed the people of Punjab with his singing. After some time you came to Mumbai with his father to learn singing from Ustad Sindhi Khan. After a while he came back to Lahore, till then his fame had increased a lot.

But he got his first fame in 1940 at the Sangeet Sammelan in Kolkata. There was a lot of appreciation in the Sangeet Sammelan of Gaya in 1943, in the Sangeet Sammelan of Mumbai in 1944, in the Sangeet Sammelan of Bihar and Bengal in 1944 itself. Mahatma Gandhi gave him a letter of appreciation in 1945. His programs started airing from All India Radio In 1946.

He used to put a lot of emphasis on doing Riyaz (Practice). It is said that he used to do Riyaz for 20 hours daily. He used to play with an accompaniment called 'Kananoon' and used to do your riyaz with it only. After the partition of 1947, you left India and started living in Karachi, Pakistan. But sometimes, he used to come to India to participate in music conferences. But he did not like being in Pakistan. On the request of the Government of India, he came and started living permanently in Mumbai.

He have added thumri of Punjab organ in your singing. His Thumriyas “Aaye Na Balam” and “Tirchhi Nazariya Ke Baan” became very famous. His way of singing was simple and lyrical. In the year 1960, he won a lot of praise by singing in the role of Tansen in the film ‘Mughal-e-Azam’.

He got paralyzed around 1960. All the money that was there was spent. Then the Government of Maharashtra provided him financial assistance of five thousand rupees. After some time he recovered and started giving the program again. If there was a music program anywhere in India, he would have been invited. His son Munawwar Ali would also go along with him and accompany him in singing.

He was very simple and sociable. He couldn't live without singing. He used to perform amazingly in thumri of Punjabi organ. He had complete authority over the vocals. He used to twist his voice as he wanted. When difficult-difficult vocal groups used to sing very easily, the listeners used to press their fingers under their teeth. He looked like a wrestler in body. He used to wear closed mohri pyjama, black cap, big moustache.

In 1962 he received the Sangeet Natak Academy Award and in 1962 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan. Then after a long illness, he said goodbye to the world on 25 April 1968 at Basheerbagh Palace, Hyderabad. In his memory, his disciple Malti Geelani has formed the 'Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Yadgar Sabha' to keep his music alive. This organizes high level programs like ‘Sthumri Festival’ and ‘Swarang Utsav’ every year.

Miyan Tansen, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Ustad Faiyaz Khan, Pandit Shri Krishan Rao Shankar,

Ustad Abdul Karim Khan