Akhtar Sharif

Akhtar Sahrif (1946-) was born in Sarhand Bassi, near Ambala, Patiala, India in a musician family. His father Muhammad Sharif (1919-1984) was a renowned qawwal of Patiala. Akhtar Shareef’s grandfather Muhammad Bukhsh (1881-1940) was a classical vocalist and served and was in court of Popinder Singh who was the Mahraja of Patiala. Muhammad Shareef learned the basics of music from his father and learned qawwali from Master Abdul Ghafoor who was a famous qawwal of Patiala. In 1947, Akhtar and his father moved to Aaroop, Gujranwala, Pakistan where his brothers Sabir Hussain and Ghulam Ali born. Akhtar got his basic training from his father but later he and his brother Sabir Hussain became the disciples of Bakhshi Salamat Qawwal. They belonged to Chishti Sabri Order. They are the official qawwals of the Data Ganj Bakhsh sanctuary, one of the largest centres for qawwals in the world. For the past 35 years, they have also had the exclusive right to wear the sacred cloth between the concert hall and the saint’s tomb, a privilege which has only ever been given before to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. They started their career on radio and television in 1967, which continues till date recently joined by Akhtar’s son Sarmad. They have also performed in Paris, Poland etc.