Raisuddin, Ustad Munshi

Raisuddin, Ustad Munshi (1901-1973) author and classical singer, was born in a family of musicians in the village of Nakol in the district of magura, son of Munshi Abbasuddin, a reputed classical singer.

Raisuddin`s shoed his mark from a very early age. Initially, he took music lessons from his cousin, Shamsul Haque. After passing the Matriculation Examination he went to Kolkata in search of a job. He worked at an oil press for some time. At Kolkata he became the disciple of Nulo Gopal. Thereafter, he took lessons on dhrupad and kheyal from Rashbehari Mallick and practised music for twelve years. He then returned home, got married and took a job at a cotton mill in Kushtia. He also set up a music school there. But his attachment to music caused him to leave his job and return to Kolkata, where he completed a course on classical music at the Sangeet Kala Bhavan, a music institution run by the renowned musician Girijashankar Chakraborty. Raisuddin also learnt classical music from Sharajit Kanjilal, a veteran musician of Lucknow.

Some of Raisuddin's books on music include Saral Sabgeet Sar-Sangraha, Chhotader Sa Re Ga Ma, Abhinaba Shataraga, Sangeet Parichay, Raga Lahari, Gita Lahari. He was awarded the Adamjee Prize for his scholarly work on music, Abhinaba Sataraga. He was honoured with the Pride of Performance Award in 1967 by the Government of Pakistan. In 1986 the Government of Bangladesh awarded him the Ekushey Padak posthumously. [Mobarak Hosssain Khan]