Rubina Qureshi, TI ( also ''Rubeena''; 19 October 1940 – 13 July 2022) was a Pakistani

Sindhi language Sindhi ( ; or , ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by more than 30 million people in the Pakistani province of Sindh, where it has official status, as well as by 1.7 million people in India, where it is a Scheduled languages of India, schedu ...

folk singer. She was popularly known as ''Nightingale of Sindh'' as she performed most of her songs in Sindhi, Urdu, Punjabi and Saraiki languages.

Early life

Rubina was born on 19 October 1940 in

Hyderabad, Sindh Hyderabad, also known as Neroonkot, is the capital and largest city of the Hyderabad Division in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Sindh by population, second-largest city in Sindh, after Karachi, and the List of citie ...

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

(now Pakistan). Her maiden name was Aisha Shaikh and her father's name was Illahi Bux Shaikh. Though she did not belong to a typical singer's family, her brother Abdul Ghafoor Shaikh was a local singer. She started singing in school functions and events when she was studying in a primary school. Educationist and musician Dadi Leela Wati encouraged and inspired her singing. On 17 August 1955, Radio Pakistan Hyderabad was established. The administration of this newly established Radio Station wrote letter to all major schools of Hyderabad for introducing talented boys and girls on the Radio. Rubeena was studying in class IX, when she gave audition at Radio Pakistan Hyderabad as a child singer. Broadcaster M. B. Ansari and musician and singer Master Muhammad Ibrahim took her audition. She passed audition in the first attempt. Her first Sindhi song recorded for Radio was "Paren pawadee san, chawandi san, rahi waj rat bhanbhor men" ( Sindhi: پيرين پوندي سان چوندي سان، رهي وڃ رات ڀنڀور ۾). Along with her singing career, she studied at the

University of Sindh The University of Sindh (; ; informally known as Sindh University) is a public research university in Pakistan located in the city of Jamshoro in the Sindh province. It is one of the oldest universities in Pakistan and was certified by ISO in 2 ...

and received the Master of Arts degree in Muslim History. She served as a high school teacher in the Himat-ul-Islam Girls High School Hyderabad in 1967–68.

Contributions

She also sang many marriage songs called "Sahera" along with her fellow singers Zarina Baloch, Amina and

Zeb-un-Nissa Zeb-un-Nissa () (15 February 1638 – 26 May 1702) was a Mughal princess and the eldest child of Emperor Aurangzeb and his chief consort, Dilras Banu Begum. She was also a poet, who wrote under the pseudonym of Makhfi (, "Hidden, Disguised, ...

. These sehra are still popular in all over Sindh. She also sang as a

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

of some Sindhi films including Ghoonghat Lah Kunwar ( Sindhi: گهونگهٽ لاھ ڪنوار) and Sassi Punhoon ( Sindhi: سسئي پنهون). After her marriage to famous Film and TV actor

Mustafa Qureshi Mustafa Qureshi (born 11 May 1938) is a Pakistani film and television actor. He has acted in more than 600 movies, in Urdu, Punjabi and Sindhi languages. He is best remembered for playing the antagonist Noori Natt in '' Maula Jatt'' (1979) ...

in 1970, she shifted to

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

with her husband. In Lahore she got music lessons from Chhottay Ghulam Ali. In Lahore, she also sang in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, Punjabi, Seraiki,

Pushto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khybe ...

and

Bangali Bengalis ( ), also rendered as endonym Bangalee, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia. The current population is divided between the sovereign country Bangl ...

. She was the first woman artist who took part in strengthening Pak-China relations. The late Z A Bhutto sent her to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

where she sang in the Chinese language. She also went to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to perform for her country. She received praise from Radio Pakistan Hyderabad (2012). The Government of Pakistan announced

Tamgha-i-Imtiaz Tamgha-e-Imtiaz (), also spelled as Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is a state-organised Civil decorations of Pakistan, 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 ...

for her on 14 August 2021.

Death

Qureshi died on 13 July 2022 in Karachi. She was laid to rest in the Abdullah Shah Ghazi compound. She was survived by her husband

, a son, film actor Aamir Qureshi, and a daughter, Arabella.بلبل مھراڻ روبينا قريشيءَ جي ساھ جو سڳو ٽٽي پيو. سرن جي دنيا سوڳوار, Daily Ibrat Hyderabad. Dated 14 July 2022. p. 01

Awards and recognition

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Qureshi, Rubina 1940 births 2022 deaths People from Hyderabad, Sindh Pakistani classical singers Women ghazal singers Urdu-language singers Bengali-language singers Sindhi people Sindhi-language singers Pashto-language singers Pakistani radio personalities Pakistani women singer-songwriters Pakistani singer-songwriters Punjabi-language singers Pakistani folk singers Pakistani playback singers Pakistani ghazal singers Performers of Sufi music Recipients of Tamgha-e-Imtiaz 20th-century Pakistani women singers 20th-century Pakistani singers 21st-century Pakistani women singers 21st-century Pakistani singers Sindhi women singers