Babu Rajab Ali ( pa, ਬਾਬੂ ਰਜਬ ਅਲੀ ; ; also known as Babu Ji) was a noted

Kavishar Kavishari or kavishri ( pa, ਕਵੀਸ਼ਰੀ) is a style of Punjabi folk music entailing energetic and dynamic a cappella singing. It was originated in the Malwa region of Punjab as a sung form of " Chhand-Baddh" kavita (poetry). A perform ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, known as the King of ''

Kavishari Kavishari or kavishri ( pa, ਕਵੀਸ਼ਰੀ) is a style of Punjabi folk music entailing energetic and dynamic a cappella singing. It was originated in the Malwa region of Punjab as a sung form of " Chhand-Baddh" kavita (poetry). A perform ...

''.

Kavishar and kavishari

, or Kavishri, ( pa, ਕਵੀਸ਼ਰੀ) was originated in the

Malwa region Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

. In the region a "Chhand-Baddh" kavita (poetry) is sung faster in a loud yet stretched voice without any musical instruments known as ''kavishari''. The people who write and sing kavishari are known as ''

kavishar Kavishari or kavishri ( pa, ਕਵੀਸ਼ਰੀ) is a style of Punjabi folk music entailing energetic and dynamic a cappella singing. It was originated in the Malwa region of Punjab as a sung form of " Chhand-Baddh" kavita (poetry). A perform ...

s'' ( pa, ਕਵੀਸ਼ਰ). Kavishari is usually sung during melas,

weddings A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

, (religious concerts), mehfils and other celebrations.

Early life and career

Babu Rajab Ali was born as ''Rajab Ali Khan'' on 10 August 1894 in a

Muslim Rajputs Muslim Rajputs are the descendants of Rajputs of Northern regions of the Indian subcontinent who are followers of Islam. They converted from Hinduism to Islam from the medieval period in India onwards, retaining historically Hindu surnames suc ...

family to father ''Mian Dhamaali Khan'' and mother ''Jiooni'' in the village of Sahoke of

Firozpur district Firozpur district, also known as Ferozepur district, is one of the twenty-three districts in the state of Punjab, India. Firozpur district comprises an area of . Firozpur (Ferozepur) is the capital city of the district. It is situated inside t ...

(now

Moga district Moga district is one of the twenty-two districts in the state of Punjab, India. It became the 17th district of Punjab State on 24 November 1995 cut from Faridkot district. Moga District is among the largest producers of wheat and rice in Pu ...

) in

Punjab Province (British India) Punjab was a province of British India. Most of the Punjab region was annexed by the East India Company in 2 April 1849, and declared a province of British Rule, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British co ...

. He had four sisters and one younger brother. His uncle Haji Ratan was a talented

as well. He had his primary schooling from a neighbouring village of Banbiha, then high schooling in Moga and passed matriculation in 1912 from Barjindra High School, Faridkot. He was a good

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He was the captain of the

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

team of his school. Later on he graduated with diploma in civil engineering, commonly known as Overseeri in

those days, from an engineering school in

Gujrat district Gujrat ( Punjabi and ur, ), is a district of Punjab Province in Pakistan. It is bounded on the northeast by Mirpur, on the northwest by the River Jhelum, which separates it from Jhelum District, on the east and southeast by the Chenab Ri ...

. He worked as an overseer in

Irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

department. His first appointment as an Overseer was in Peshawar Tehsil (Pakistan).He also worked as an Overseer in village Akhara, Tehsil Jagraon (Ludhiana) at Canal Rest House Akhara (ref: an article by Labh Singh Sandhu in the leading newspaper "Punjabi Tribune" on 10 August 2012). He was married to Bhago Begum, Rehmat Bibi, Fatima and Daulat Bibi and had – four sons Akaal Khan, Shamsher Khan, Adaalat Khan & Ali Sardar and two daughters Shamshad Begum & Gulzar Begum. Babu Ji entered the world of

with his first poem ''Heer Babu Rajab Ali''. He could not compromise with his love for singing and left his job in 1940.

Life in Pakistan

In 1947, after the

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

, he had to leave his beloved village of Sahoke, his admirers, his students and his family history of hundred years and migrated to

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. His family got some land allotted in Chak no. 32/2

Okara district Okara District (Punjabi and ur, ), is a district of Punjab, Pakistan. It became a separate district in 1982, prior to that it was part of Sahiwal District.West Punjab West Punjab ( pnb, ; ur, ) was a province in the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955. The province covered an area of 159,344 km2 (61523 sq mi), including much of the current Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab province and the Islamabad Capital Te ...

and settled there, but his soul always wandered in

Malwa Malwa is a historical region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, it is also syno ...

. He was madly in love with Malwa and his beloved

Punjabi language Punjabi (; ; , ), sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan language of the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It has approximately 113 million native speakers. Punjabi is the most widely-spoken first language in Pakistan, with 80.5 m ...

and wrote hundreds of poems on his separation from his beloved people and village. He visited the

East Punjab East Punjab (known simply as Punjab from 1950) was a province and later a state of India from 1947 until 1966, consisting of the parts of the Punjab Province of British India that went to India following the partition of the province between ...

in the March 1965. Thousands of people including Kavishars, admirers and his students came to see their beloved Babu Ji. Babu Ji died on 6 June 1979, singing songs and longing to see his beloved people and village again.

Poems and literary work

Although, he was fluent in Punjabi and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

, Arabic and English, his poetry only in Punjabi expressing his love for

and Punjabi. His love for Punjab and Punjabi was unconditional and was not bound by walls of religion or nationality. He wrote about one dozen Qissas and poems about the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

mythology like

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

Puran Bhagat Puran Bhagat (later became Sri Chauranginatha) was a Punjabi Nath Saint and prince of Sialkot. As per unauthenticated history, he had been exiled and lived the last days of his life in a village located in the suburbs of Sialkot city. His temple ...

and Kaulan,

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

heroes and historic figures like

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...

Hassan Hassan, Hasan, Hassane, Haasana, Hassaan, Asan, Hassun, Hasun, Hassen, Hasson or Hasani may refer to: People *Hassan (given name), Arabic given name and a list of people with that given name *Hassan (surname), Arabic, Jewish, Irish, and Scottis ...

Hussain Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", "h ...

and Dahood Badshah, and

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

history and heroes like

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary* * who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer * * in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian nationa ...

, Shaheedi Guru Arjun Dev Ji,

Saka Sirhind Chhotte Sahibzade ( Punjabi: ਛੋਟੇ ਸਾਹਿਬਜ਼ਾਦੇ ; younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji) attained martyrdom on 26 December 1704 at a very young age of 7 & 5 only. This is known as Saka Sirhind (Punjabi: ਸਾਕਾ ਸਰ� ...

, Saka Chamkaur and

Bidhi Chand Baba Bidhi Chand (Gurmukhi: ਬਿਧੀ ਚੰਦ; 26 April 1579 - 30 August 1638) was a Sikh religious preacher, from Chhina Bidhi Chand village, 37 kilometers south of Amritsar and Chhina Bidhi Chand was part of Amritsar District not Lahore. H ...

. He wrote an episode or long poem about every know

Punjabi folklore Punjabi folklore, more particularly its folksongs, is said to be the autobiography of its people. Folklore is the body of expressive culture, including tales, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so ...

Heer Ranjha ''Heer Ranjha'' (or ''Heer and Ranjha'') ( pnb, , ਹੀਰ ਰਾਂਝਾ ) is one of several popular tragic romances of Punjab, other important ones being "Sohni Mahiwal", "Mirza Sahiban" and " Sassi Punnhun". There are several poetic na ...

Mirza Sahiban ''Mirza Sahiban'' ( pa, ਮਿਰਜ਼ਾ ਸਾਹਿਬਾਂ, , ') is one of the four popular tragic romances of the Punjab. The other three are ''Heer Ranjha'', ''Sohni Mahiwal'' and ''Sassi Punnun''. There are five other popular folklor ...

Dulla Bhatti Dulla Bhatti (also known as Dullah Bhatti and Rai Abdullah Bhatti) is a Punjabi folk hero who supposedly came from the Punjab region and led a revolt against Mughal rule during the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar. He is entirely absent f ...

and

Sohni Mahiwal Sohni Mahiwal or Suhni Mehar ( pa, , ਸੋਹਣੀ ਮਹੀਂਵਾਲ is one of the four popular tragic romances of Punjab including Sindh. In Sindh Sohni's shrine is in Shahdadpur Town of Sangar District. The others are Sassi Punnun, Mirza ...

. He had many students who learnt from him and still sings his poetry including hundreds of other

s in

. He gave some new ''Chhands'' like ''Bahattar Kala Chhand'' to Punjabi literature. 2000 poems on Sikhism

Books of Babu Ji

Kavishar Sukhwinder Singh (Pakka Kalan) has published many books on Babu Ji through Sangam Publication, Samana. Some of them are :- * ''Albela Rajab Ali'' * ''Anmol Rajab Ali'' * ''Ankhila Rajab Ali'' * ''Anokha Rajab Ali'' * ''Babu Rajab Ali De Kisse'' * ''Dasmesh Mahima'' * ''Rangila Rajab Ali''

Other kavishars of Punjab

Bapu Bali Singh is considered to be the father of the

kavishari Kavishari or kavishri ( pa, ਕਵੀਸ਼ਰੀ) is a style of Punjabi folk music entailing energetic and dynamic a cappella singing. It was originated in the Malwa region of Punjab as a sung form of " Chhand-Baddh" kavita (poetry). A perform ...

Majha Majha ( Punjabi: ਮਾਝਾ (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi); ''Mājhā'') is a region located in the central parts of the historical Punjab region split between India and Pakistan. It extends north from the right banks of the river Beas, and reaches ...

. Joga Singh Jogi is one of the most famous kavishars of Majha. Bhai Maghi Singh Gill is another kavishar from Gill khurd village district

Bathinda Bathinda is a city and municipal corporation in Punjab, India. The city is the administrative headquarters of Bathinda District. It is located in northwestern India in the Malwa Region, west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth l ...

who worked very closely with Babu Rajab Ali Khan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Babu Rajab Kavishars Punjabi people Punjabi-language singers Punjabi-language lyricists 1894 births 1979 deaths 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian singers