Bhai Lal Mohammad or Bhai Lal Mohammad Amritsari (died 1962) was an Indian and

Pakistani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sit ...

singer of the Kapurthala Gharana trained in the Gwalior style of singing.

Early life and training

Bhai Lal Mohammad was born in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

, British India. His background was from a rababi family of musicians and he received his initial training from his father Bhai Ata Muhammad, a disciple of Mian Bannay Khan of the Gwalior gharana. After his father's death, Bhai Lal Mohammad started learning from Mian Mahboob Ali, a renowned sitar player of the Kapurthala gharana. Bhai Lal Mohammad also was a disciple of Pandit Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale. Bhaskarbuwa himself had learned from Ustad Faiz Mohammad Khan (

Gwalior gharana The Gwalior Gharana (Gwalior school of classical music) is one of the oldest Khyal Gharana in Indian classical music. The rise of the Gwalior Gharana started with the reign of the Mughal emperor Akbar (1542–1605). The favourite singers of t ...

), Ustad Bande Ali Khan (

Kirana gharana Kirana gharana is one of the Indian classical khyal gharanas, and is concerned foremost with perfect intonation of notes (swara). Singing style The central concern of the Kirana style is swara, or individual notes, in particular precise tuning ...

), Ustad Natthan Khan (

Agra gharana The Agra gharana is a tradition of Hindustani classical vocal music descended from the Nauhar Bani. So far, Nauhar Bani has been traced back to around 1300 AD, during the reign of Emperor Allauddin Khilji of Delhi. The first known musician of ...

), and

Ustad Alladiya Khan Alladiya Khan (10 August 1855 – 16 March 1946) was an Indian Hindustani classical singer who founded the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, also referred as just Jaipur Gharana. He is recognized for his revival, reinterpretation, and creations of many ra ...

of Kohlapur (

Jaipur-Atrauli gharana The Jaipur-Atrauli Gharana (also known as Jaipur Gharana, Atrauli-Jaipur Gharana, and Alladiyakhani Gayaki) is an Hindustani music apprenticeship fraternity (''gharana''), founded by Alladiya Khan in the late-19th century. Evolved from the dhrup ...

Career

Bhai Lal Mohammad received the title of Sangeet Sagar in 1927 at the Shikarpur Music Conference. In 1936, Bhai Lal's elder son, Nisar Hassan came down with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

and died at the young age of 26. Bhai Lal then decided to train his younger son,

Ghulam Hassan Shaggan Ghulam Hassan Shaggan (1928, in Amritsar – 3 February 2015) was a Pakistani classical music singer of the Gwalior Gharana from the Hindustani classical music genre. Ustad Ghulam Hassan Shaggan was the recipient of numerous awards including th ...

, to continue his musical legacy and the family tradition. After the

independence of Pakistan The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the per ...

in 1947, Bhai Lal Mohammad's family moved to

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, against the wishes and requests of friends and disciples to stay back in

, India. In Pakistan, Bhai Lal was appointed music supervisor at

Radio Pakistan Radio Pakistan serves as the national public broadcaster for radio in Pakistan. Although some local stations predate Radio Pakistan's founding, it is the oldest existing broadcasting network in Pakistan. The network was established on 14 August ...

and his son

started performing at the same radio station. Since Pakistan was a newly independent country and had meager economic resources, the next 12 years proved to be extremely difficult for Bhai Lal and his family. During this time, Pakistani people were struggling economically and recognition of classical arts was not a high priority.Bhai Lal Mohammad's Profile on sarangi.info website
Retrieved 14 August 2019

Death and legacy

Bhai Lal Mohammad died in 1962 at

, Pakistan. His musical legacy was continued by his son

(1928 – 3 February 2015) and now, after the son's death in 2015, by his grandsons, Qadir Hassan Shaggan and Mazhar Hassan Shaggan.Bhai Lal Mohammad performing at Darbar Sahib, Amritsar
Retrieved 14 August 2019

References

Year of birth missing 1962 deaths People from Amritsar Pakistani classical singers Gwalior gharana Classical music in Pakistan Pakistani music educators {{Pakistan-singer-stub