Iqbal Bahu ( ur, ; 4 September 1944 – 24 March 2012) was a Pakistani sufi and a

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. He is considered one of the greatest folk singers in

subcontinent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

Early life and career

Iqbal Bahu was born as Muhammad Iqbal in

Gurdaspur Gurdaspur is a city in the Indian state of Punjab, between the rivers Beas and Ravi. It houses the administrative headquarters of Gurdaspur District and is in the geographical centre of the district, which shares a border with Pakistan. The ...

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 ...

in 1944. His family 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 fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

after

partition Partition may refer to: Computing Hardware * Disk partitioning, the division of a hard disk drive * Memory partition, a subdivision of a computer's memory, usually for use by a single job Software * Partition (database), the division of a ...

in 1947, and settled in

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 ...

. Iqbal started his career as a banker. He worked for

National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) () is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of September 2020, it has 1,511 branches across Pakist ...

from 1971 to 1997, but his singing in Sufi music brought him fame and recognition. Bahu started his singing career in 1964 from

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 Augus ...

, Lahore. He was introduced to Radio by ''Muhammad Azam Khan'', former chief controller Radio Pakistan. His involvement in the mysticism of the 17th century well-known Sufi saint

Sultan Bahu Sultan Bahu ( pa, , ਸੁਲਤਾਨ ਬਾਹੂ ; also spelled Bahoo; 17 January 1630 – 1 March 1691), was a 17th-century Punjabi Sufi mystic, poet, scholar and historian. He was active in the Punjab region (present-day Pakistan) duri ...

made him add ''Bahu'' to his name. He held a special command in Punjabi language poetry of Sufi tradition and included works of other saints such as Fariduddin Ganjshakar in his repertoire. In the beginning, he sang mainly for

and then later for

Pakistan Television Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore. Background Historical co ...

. Playwright Amjad Islam Amjad also created a small role for Bahu in drama serial ''Waris''. He mastered the Sufi tradition of well-known saint Sultan Bahu. He sang many Sufiana songs for the Radio Pakistan and the Pakistan Television.Iqbal Bahu dies
Dawn (newspaper), Published 24 March 2012, Retrieved 23 October 2021 He also gave concert performances around the globe in his later life including at BBC

Bush House Bush House is a Grade II listed building at the southern end of Kingsway between Aldwych and the Strand in London. It was conceived as a major new trade centre by American industrialist Irving T. Bush, and commissioned, designed, funded, a ...

, London in 1992.Folk singer Iqbal Bahu died
BBC News website, Published 24 March 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2021 He was awarded

Tamgha-i-Imtiaz Tamgha-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is a state-organised honour of Pakistan. It is given to any civilian in Pakistan based on their achievements. While it is a civilian/military award, it can be bestowed upon officers of the P ...

(Medal of Excellence) Award by the

Government of Pakistan The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the four provinces, two autonomous territorie ...

in 2008.

Death

Bahu died on 24 March 2012 due to a heart attack in

at age 68 and was laid to rest at

Miani Sahib Graveyard The Miani Sahib Graveyard ( Punjabi, ur, ) is the largest graveyard in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. It is in the centre of Lahore.https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21727124-it-may-make-death-unequal-life-pakistan-inaugurates-luxury-graveyard ...

, Lahore next day. Among the survivors were his wife, 3 daughters and 2 sons.Sufi singer Iqbal Bahu passes away
The Nation (newspaper), Published 24 March 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2021

Awards

(Medal of Excellence) Award in 2008 by the

Sufi singer Bahu dies
The Nation (newspaper), Published 25 March 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2021 * Sultan Bahu AwardMusical evening
The Nation (newspaper), Published 23 May 2011, Retrieved 23 October 2021 * PTV Award * Graduate Award * Baba Fareed Award * Hazrat Sultan Bahoo Award * International Sufi Festival Award * Red Crescent Award * Kalam-e-Bahoo Award * Herf-O-Awaz Award

References

External links

A delightful confluence of cultures
– The Chandigarh Tribune (newspaper) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bahu, Iqbal 1944 births 2012 deaths Pakistani Sunni Muslims Pakistani male singers People from Gurdaspur Performers of Sufi music Pakistani folk singers Punjabi-language singers Punjabi people Recipients of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz Singers from Lahore Pakistani performers of Islamic music PTV Award winners