Begum Akhtar, originally Akhtaribai Faizabadi, was born at
Faizabad in
Uttar Pradesh on 7th October, 1914. Besides being the most renowned
Ghazal exponent, she was a well-known
Thumri and
Dadra singer too. Renowned musicians such as Ustad Imdad Khan, Ata Mohammed Khan, Abdul Waheed Khan and Ustad Jhande Khan were her teachers. At the age of 15, she made her debut at a public performance. She lived most of her life in
Lucknow. For her immense contributions, she was honored with prestigious awards such as Padmashree and the
Sangeet Natak Akademi award. Begum Akhtar died in 1974.
