Noor Jehan – Mallika-e-Tarranum

On the dark night of Tuesday, September 21, 1926, in a small house of poor musicians, at Kot Murad Khan in the sleepy town of Kasur, in rural, undivided Punjab, a newborn baby girl was crying. When the child was born, her father's sister on hearing her wail, said to her brother "This one even wails in accordance with the scale". She was named Allah Wasai. This girl's voice was destined to be heard beyond the four walls of the humble dwelling in years to come. Her parents were professional musicians and genealogists working for local landowning families, performing at life cycle events. The family also performed at the local theatre and at seasonal fairs. Her father was Madad Ali and her mother was Fateh Bibi and she was the youngest child of her parents in a family of thirteen. Noor Jehan had six brothers – Mian Nawab Din, Gul Muhammad ("Gulloo"), Muhammad Hussain, Muhammad Shafi, Siddique, and Inayat Hussain. Noor Jehan had six sisters – Eidan Bai, Haider Baandi, Gulzar Begum (or Bibi Gulzar), Ameena Begum, Baharo, and Undam Begum ("Umda" or "Machine"). Sadly, three of her brothers ended up in mental institutions.