Abbasuddin Ahmed (27 October 1901 – 30 December 1959) was a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

folk song composer and singer born in the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

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 in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. 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 rec ...

folk song which is a style commonly found in

Rangpur Rangpur may refer to: Places In Bangladesh *Rangpur Division, one of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. *Rangpur District, district of Bangladesh in Rangpur Division. *Rangpur, Bangladesh, metropolis and a major city in northern ...

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

and

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), also known as Koch Bihar, is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal and it stands on bank of the Torsa river. The city is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. During the British Raj, Cooch Behar was the seat of 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. Civic administration Police station Tufanganj police station has jurisdiction over Tufanga ...

subdivision of

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

court. He was educated in schools and a college in

North Bengal North Bengal ( , Uttar Banga) is a cross-border cultural–geographic region consisting of the north-western areas of Bangladesh as well as the northern part of the West Bengal state of India. Bounded to the east by the Jamuna and in the south ...

and was attracted to music by the cultural programs they 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, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

Career

Ahmed started his career by singing modern Bangla songs for the

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

studios, followed by modern songs of poet

Kazi Nazrul Islam Kazi Nazrul Islam (24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengalis, Bengali poet, short story writer, journalist, lyricist and musician. He is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul produced a List of works by Kazi Nazrul Islam, large body of ...

, 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 His Master's Voice 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 district of Assam, India, first constituted by the British rulers of Colonial Assam. Establishment Historical background The region was part of Kamarupa in the first millennium, subsequently a part o ...

and

. 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 (; 1 January 1903 – 14 March 1976), popularly called Palli Kabi (), was a Bangladeshi poet, lyricist, composer and writer widely celebrated for his modern ballad sagas in the pastoral mode. Although his full name is Jasim Uddin Mol ...

and Golam Mostafa.

Awards

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

(1960) * Shilpakala Academy Award (1979) *

Independence Day Award The Independence Award (), formally known as the Independence Day Award or Swadhinata Padak (), is the highest state award given by the government of Bangladesh. Introduced in 1977 by President Ziaur Rahman, this award is bestowed upon Banglade ...

(1981)

Legacy

Ahmed's first son

Mustafa Kamal Mustafa Kamal, Mostafa Kamal or variations may refer to: * Abu Hena Mustafa Kamal (1936–1989), professor of Bengali literature * AKM Mustafa Kamal Pasha (born 1963), Major General of Bangladesh Army * Lotfi Mustafa Kamal (born 1952), Egyptian ...

served as the

Chief Justice of Bangladesh The chief justice of Bangladesh ( – ) is the highest-ranking judge of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh and the head of the country's judiciary, overseeing both the Supreme Court and all subordinate courts. The chief justice is appointed by the ...

during June–December 1999. His only daughter,

Ferdausi Rahman Ferdausi Rahman (; born 28 June 1941) is a Bangladeshi playback singer. She sang some popular film songs for Pakistani films also in the 1960s especially working with the music composer Robin Ghosh in film Chakori released in 1967. She was award ...

is a classical musician. His youngest son,

Mustafa Zaman Abbasi Mustafa Zaman Abbasi (; 8 December 1936 – 10 May 2025) was a Bangladeshi musicologist. He was awarded Ekushey Padak in 1995 by the Government of Bangladesh. Abbasi was the youngest son of folk singer-composer Abbas Uddin Ahmed. As of 2016, he ...

, 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 Bengalis, Bengali folk singer Abbasuddin Ahmed. Kamal is widely regarded as a Nazrul exponent.1901 births 1959 deaths Bengali musicians Recipients of the Independence Award Recipients of the Pride of Performance 20th-century Indian musicians Place of death missing Bangladeshi people of Indian descent Musicians from West Bengal