Abbasuddin Ahmed was a renowned folk singer. He was born on 27th of October, 1901 to a lawyer, Zafar Ali Ahmed. Since childhood he had attained a number of cultural functions at school and college which has played the key role in arousing his interest in music. He had learnt music from Ustad Jamiruddin Khan of Kolkata for a short period of time and was mostly self-taught. Abbasuddin Ahmed performed a variety of songs such as folk songs, patriotic songs, modern songs and Islamic songs. Several Urdu songs were also sung by him but he gained acclamation mainly by singing the folks songs.
Initially Abbasuddin Ahmed gained recognition for folk songs like Bhawaiya, Chatka and Ksirol in Cooch Behar and Rangpur districts. His mesmerizing renditions of Jari, Bhatiali, Sari, Bichchhedi, Dehatattava, Marsiya, Palagan etc made him immensely popular. His songs had an unmatched emotional appeal. Songs portraying Islamic themes, composed by Jasimuddin, Kazi Nazrul Islamand Golam Mostafa were also sung by him. Abbasuddin Ahmed made abundant Gramophone records with renowned companies like `His Master`s Voice`, Megaphone, Regal and Twin. He also owns the credit of popularizing different genres of music among the conservative Bengali Muslim folks.
Abbasuddin Ahmed started his career as a clerk in DPI office of Kolkata, where he stayed from 1931 to 1947. Afterwards he had worked in a permanent post in the Department of Irrigation. He was offered a job of a recording expert in a government organization in the time when Ak. Fazlul Haque was the chief minister of the state. His songs played a crucial role in evoking the opinion of Muslim public in the favour of `Pakistan Movement`. After the partition in 1947, he had joined, as an Additional Song Organiser, the Department of Information and Broadcasting. He also participated in the South East Asia Conference in Manila in 1955, the Bengali Cultural Conference in Rangoon in 1957 and the International Folk Music Conference in Germany in 1956 as the representative of Pakistan.
`Amar Shilpi Jibaner Katha` was written by Abbasuddin Ahmed himself in 1960 which narrates his journey of life as a singer. He had been honoured with many awards like Shilpakala Academy Award in 1979, Pride of Performance Award in 1960 and Svadhinata Dibas Puraskar in 1981 for his admirable contribution. The great soul left for heavenly abode on 30th December, 1959.
