Poet & writer
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan
ਬੜੇ ਗ਼ੁਲਾਮ ਅਲੀ ਖ਼ਾਨبڑے غلام علی خاں
Singer of Kasur and the Patiala gharana, one of the greatest voices of Hindustani classical music.
Bade Ghulam Ali Khan was born in Kasur in 1902 and learned from his father and uncles in the tradition of the Patiala gharana. His voice was huge, flexible and sweet, and he shortened the long classical khayal and brought the thumri of the Punjab into the concert hall.
After Partition he lived for a while in Pakistan, then settled in India in 1957. He agreed to sing two songs for the film Mughal-e-Azam in 1960 only at a fee no film had ever paid.
He died in Hyderabad in 1968. His bhajan Hari Om Tatsat and his thumri Yaad piya ki aaye are still sung by every student of the gharana.
