Fateh Ali Khan (Qawwali Singer)

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Fateh Ali Khan (Urdu: فتح علی خان) was born in 1901 at Lyallpur, Punjab. Ustad Fateh Ali Khan was the father of legendary Qawwali musician and singer Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Their family (originally from Afghanistan) has an unbroken tradition of Qawwali for over 600 years. Ustad Fateh Ali Khan was trained in classical music and Qawwali as a young boy, by his father, Maula Baksh, and he soon distinguished himself as a skilled musicologist, vocalist and instrumentalist. He became well-versed in the playing of traditional Indian instruments such as sitar, sarod and vichitraveena, as well as Western instruments like the violin. He also mastered and memorized thousands of verses in Punjabi, Urdu, Arabic and Persian.

Ustad Fateh Ali Khan was the leader of his family's Qawwali party, but they were billed as Fateh Ali Khan, Mubarak Ali Khan and Party. Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan, his brother, shared both singing and harmonium-playing duties with him. They were regarded as one of the foremost exponents of Qawwali in their time. They are credited with popularizing the poetry of Muhammad Iqbal through their singing. Iqbal's poetry was regarded as difficult; while he was highly admired in academic circles and by intellectuals, he did not have much of a popular following. Fateh Ali Khan and Mubarak Ali Khan, more than anyone else, helped Iqbal achieve popular success as well. Aqeel Ahmed Ruby wrote in Nusrat: A Living Legend (a biography of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan):

Allama Iqbal paid the ultimate homage to the two brothers by saying: "I was restricted to schools and colleges only. You, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, have spread my poetry through India.

Fateh Ali Khan made his film debut as a Qawwali musician in Director (1947). The following year, his son Nusrat was born in Lyallpur. He wanted Nusrat to become a doctor, because he felt Qawwali artists had low social status. However, Nusrat showed such interest in and aptitude for Qawwali that his father soon relented, and began training him. But sadly, Ustad Fateh Ali Khan passed away after suffering from a prolonged illness in 1964, at the age of 63, when Nusrat was 16 and still in school. This training was completed by his brothers, Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan and Ustad Salamat Ali Khan

To listen to a 45-second clip from a performance of Amir Khusro's "Nami Danum", click here: [1].