Ustad Bhai Tahir Iqbal sings a shabad of Sri Guru Arjan Dev ji set to Rag Asa, recorded on 26th August 2019 at the music academy established by his father Master Feroz Din in Lahore, in 1947 after the partition of Punjab. He is accompanied by his sons Aqeel Tahir (vocal support) and Jahanzaib (Dholak), and by his cousin Azhar Shaggan (grandson of Bhai Lal Muhammad).
Ustad Bhai Tahir Iqbal hails from the Gaile clan of rababis who descend from Bhai Babak ji, the rababi of Guru Hargobind Sahib who bravely risked his own life to rescue the Guru's daughter Bibi Biro when she was left behind during the Battle of Amritsar in 1634. The ancestors of Bhai Tahir Iqbal - the descendants of Bhai Babak - performed shabad kirtan daily within the inner sanctum of the Sri Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, up until the partition of Punjab in 1947, when they migrated to Lahore. This family had held the first kirtan duty, or chaunki, of the rababis, which was known as 'Chaunki Amritsarie ki' and used to take place daily at around midday. Bhai Tahir Iqbal's grandfather Bhai Chiragh (1885-1958) used to perform this chaunki with his brothers Bhai Haider and Bhai Himu. The fourth brother Ustad Bhai Lal Muhammad (1887-1962) was one of the leading Hindustani vocalists of Punjab of his generation, earning the titles Fakhr-i-Punjab ('Pride of Punjab') and Sangit Sagar ('Ocean of Music'). The father of these four brothers was Bhai Ata Muhammad, an eminent disciple of Ustad Banne Khan Sahib of Nowshera Nangli, and so they are associated with the gayaki of the Gwalior gharana.
#shabad #gurbani #kirtan