Abbasuddin Ahmed (27 October 1901 – 30 December 1959) was a Bengali folk song composer and singer born in the

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

province of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He was known for

Bhawaiya Bhawaiya is a musical form or a popular folk music that originated in Northern Bengal, especially the Rangpur Division in Bangladesh, Cooch Behar district of West Bengal, India, and the Undivided Goalpara district of Assam, India. It has recu ...

folk song which is a style commonly found in Rangpur,

Undivided Goalpara district The Undivided Goalpara district is an erstwhile Districts of Assam, district of Assam, India, first constituted by the British Raj, British rulers of Colonial Assam. Establishment Historical background The region was part of Kamarupa in the first ...

and

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in the ...

Early life

Ahmed was born in the

Tufanganj Tufanganj is a town and a municipality of Cooch Behar district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Tufanganj subdivision. Geography The river Raidak flows beside the town to the east. According to the ''Distri ...

subdivision of

district (now in India). His father, Zafar Ali Ahmed, was a lawyer at

court. His was educated in schools and a college in

North Bengal North Bengal ( bn, উত্তরবঙ্গ/উত্তর বাংলা) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part denotes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Gen ...

and was attracted to music by the cultural programs the offered. He was largely a self-taught composer and singer, though for a brief period he learned music from Ustad Jamiruddin Khan in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Career

Ahmed started his career by singing modern Bangla songs for the HMV studios, followed by modern songs of poet

Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam ( bn, কাজী নজরুল ইসলাম, ; 24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengali poet, Bengali literature, writer, Bangladeshi music, musician, and is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul is regarded as one ...

, the national poet of Bangladesh. He then proposed to Nazrul Islam to write and tune Islamic songs, which he sang in numerous numbers and recorded for the HMV studios. He has a pioneering role in bringing the music to the home of the Indian Muslims and arousing them from a state of backwardness. He was the first Muslim in erstwhile India who used his own name in the record labels. Before Abbassddin Ahmed, Muslim singers would use pseudo names, so that their Muslim identity would be anonymous. He later recorded Bhawaiya, Khirol and Chatka which were famous in

Undivided Goalpara District The Undivided Goalpara district is an erstwhile Districts of Assam, district of Assam, India, first constituted by the British Raj, British rulers of Colonial Assam. Establishment Historical background The region was part of Kamarupa in the first ...

and Rangpur. Later he started to sing other folk songs like jaari, sari, bhatiyali, murshidi, bichchhedi (songs of estrangement), marsiya, dehatattwa, and musical plays. He also collaborated with,

Jasimuddin Jasimuddin ( bn, জসীম উদ্‌দীন; 1 January 1903 – 13 March 1976), popularly called Palli Kabi (), was a Bengali poet, lyricist, composer and writer widely celebrated for his modern ballad sagas in the pastoral mode. Althoug ...

and Golam Mostafa.

Awards

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

(1960) * Shilpakala Academy Award (1979) *

Independence Day Award The Independence Day Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পদক), also termed Independence Award ( bn, স্বাধীনতা পুরস্কার), Swadhinata Padak, and Swadhinata Puroskar, is the highest state award given by t ...

(1981)

Legacy

Ahmed's first son

Mustafa Kamal Mustafa Kamal, Mostafa Kamal or variations may refer to: *Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), Turkish field marshal, revolutionary statesman, and founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as its first President. *Mustafa Kemal Kurdaş (1920–201 ...

served as the

Chief Justice of Bangladesh The chief justice of Bangladesh ( bn, বাংলাদেশের প্রধান বিচারপতি — ) is the chief amongst the judges of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and also head of the whole judicial establishments, includ ...

during June–Dec 1999. His only daughter,

Ferdausi Rahman Ferdausi Rahman (; born 28 June 1941) also known as Ferdausi Begum is a Bangladeshi playback singer. She is the daughter of folk singer Abbas Uddin. She sang some popular film songs for Pakistani films also in the 1960s especially working with th ...

is a classical musician. His youngest son,

Mustafa Zaman Abbasi Mustafa Zaman Abbasi (born 8 December 1936) is a Bangladeshi musicologist. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 1995 by the Government of Bangladesh. Abbasi is the youngest son of folk singer-composer Abbas Uddin Ahmed. As of 2016, he serves as a sen ...

, is a folk researcher, writer, singer and social worker. Ahmed's granddaughter,

Nashid Kamal Nashid Kamal (born 19 March 1958) is a Bangladeshi vocalist, writer and professor of demography. She is the eldest granddaughter of Bengali folk singer Abbasuddin Ahmed. Kamal is widely regarded as a Nazrul exponent.1901 births 1959 deaths Bengali musicians Recipients of the Independence Day Award Recipients of the Pride of Performance 20th-century Indian musicians Place of death missing Bangladeshi people of Indian descent Musicians from West Bengal