In search of Begum Akhtar: Patriarchy, poetry, and twentieth-century Indian music

Begum Akhtar is best known for her sophisticated mastery of Urdu poetry and light classical music in the ghazal of North India and Pakistan. Her music al legacy emerges from a set of relationships defined by the elasticity and rigidity of gendered identities in patriarchal, post-colonial Indian socie ty. Situating her artistry in relation to the backdrop of historical forces that framed the course of her career, this paper foregrounds the dynamic c hanges that confronted a hereditary musical tradition in a fading system of feudal patronage. It also reflexively engages the myriad voices and encoun ters that have contributed to the evolving discourse that continues to mold Begum Akhtar's remarkable life history.