Begum Akhtar: The queen of ghazal who defied the pardah

Begum Akhtar blended classical Indian elements with soulful Urdu poetry, thus giving the ghazal a different kind of musical significance

- DEEPA GAHLOT

Later this month, October 30 marks the death of Begum Akhtar in 1974. Fifty-one years later, when ghazals are mentioned, her name is among the top, maybe even the first, that comes up.

Her story is also interesting enough to have inspired books (notably Akhtari: The Life and Music of Begum Akhtar by Yatindra Mishra and Begum Akhtar: The Story of My Ammi by Shanti Hiranand, a student and companion of the singer) and stage productions—quite recently, Ammi Akhtari, directed by Saif Hyder Hasan. Begum Akhtar’s greatest contribution to Indian music is considered to be elevating and popularising the genres of ghazal, thumri, and dadra. She blended classical Indian elements with soulful Urdu poetry, thus giving the ghazal a different kind of musical significance and bringing it from private mehfils and mushairas into the mainstream.

She was one of the first female artists to record a full-length album in 1935, and she helped break the tradition of women singers being restricted to private performances and sang at public venues and on All India Radio, becoming a national idol often referred to as Mallika-e-Ghazal (Queen of Ghazals).

Born on October 7, 1914, in Faizabad, her lawyer father, Asghar Hussain, abandoned his wife, Mushtari, a tawaif (courtesan), and his twin daughters, Akhtari and Zohra, when they were just four. They were given poisoned sweets, probably by a hostile relative. Zohra tragically didn’t make it; Akhtari survived the ordeal of abandonment and bereavement.