Iqbal Bano

Singer Iqbal Bano revolutionized the Pakistani ghazal tradition, introducing a deeply personal and provocatively political dimension to music rooted in the allegorical and the devotional. Born in Delhi, India, in 1935, Bano studied classical music under Ustad Chand Khan, eventually undergoing the ganda bandan thread-tying ceremony that symbolically links teacher and pupil. She relocated to Pakistan in 1952 and married into a land-owning family, but returned to Delhi to record her first songs at All India Radio, later rising to national prominence thanks to soundtrack work on U...