Bhawaiya a genre of North Bengal folk song, is believed to have originated in Rangpur (a district in Bangladesh) and Cooch Behar (a district of West Bengal in India). The name of this folk song is generally about love between man and woman; derives its name from bhava (emotion). However, Bhawaiya songs may also be spiritual in theme as in 'fande pariya baga kande re' (the heron cries entrapped in a net), 'chhar re man bhaver khela' (O my mind, leave earthly games), etc.

Bhawaiya may be of two types: one draws out the voice in melancholy notes, while the other has a chatka or skipping tone. The first type is emotional in theme and usually about a young woman's tender feelings of love and separation. Some popular songs on these themes include 'oki gariyal bhai' (hey, cart-driver), 'je jan premer bhav jane na' (he who does not know the feelings of love), 'kon dyashe jan maishal bandure' (which country are you off to, oh buffalo rider, my friend?), 'nauton piritir baro jwala' (new love is highly painful), etc.

The fast paced chatka is comic and light. It is about expectations and ambitions, about conflicts between husband and wife as well as about the ups and downs of family life. A few of these songs include 'ore patidhan bari chhariya na yan' (O dear husband, please don't leave home), 'ore kainer myayar thashak beshi/ byaray shali tari tari' (the girl who has a superior gait/ Goes roaming), etc. A third type, called kshirol, is a combination of these two tunes. The two-stringed Dotara is the main musical accompaniment.

Abbasuddin Ahmed popularised bhawaiya songs all over Bangladesh . His daughter, Firdousi Rahman, and his son, Mustafa Zaman Abbasi, are well-known contemporary singers of Bhawaiya.  

Abbasuddin Ahmed [1901-1959],  folk singer, was born at Balarampur in Tufanganj Sub-division of Cooch Behar district on 27^th October, 1901. His father, Zafar Ali Ahmed, was a lawyer at the Tufanganj Sub-divisional Court.

Abbasuddin's interest in music grew through attendance at cultural functions at school and college. He was largely self-taught, except for a brief period when he learnt music from Ustad Jamiruddin Khan in Kolkata. He sang different types of songs such as folk songs, modern songs, patriotic songs as well as Islamic songs. He also sang Urdu songs. But Abbasuddin became renowned mainly as a singer of folk songs.

Initially, he became famous for Bhawaiya, Ksirol, Chatka in Rangpur and Cooch Behar. He became increasingly popular with his rendition of Jari, Sari, Bhatiyali, Murshidi, Bichchhedi (songs of estrangement), Marsiya, Dehatattwa and Pala-Gan, specially when these were made into 'Gramaphone'  records. No other singer could surpass his emotional, full-throated rendition of folk songs. He also sang songs on Islamic themes composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jasimuddin and Golam Mostafa.

In Kolkata Abbasuddin made a number of Gramophone records with 'His Master's Voice' as well as with Megaphone, Twin and Regal. By singing at various functions in villages, towns and cities as well as by recording his songs, Abbasuddin made music acceptable and popular in conservative Bengali Muslim society.

Abbasuddin stayed in Kolkata from 1931 to 1947. Initially, he worked temporarily as a clerk in the DPI office and then in the Department of Irrigation in a permanent post. When Ak. Fazlul Haque was Chief Minister, Abbasuddin was given a government job as a recording expert. In the 1940s, Abbasuddin's songs played a significant role in raising the Muslim public opinion in favour of the 'Pakistan Movement'. In 1947, after partition, he joined the Department of Information and Broadcasting as an Additional Song Organiser. As a representative of Pakistan , he participated at the South East Asia Conference in Manila in 1955, at the International Folk Music Conference in Germany in 1956 and at the Bengali Cultural Conference in Rangoon in 1957.

Abbasuddin wrote an account of his life as a singer in Amar Shilpi Jibaner Katha (1960). For his invaluable contribution to music he was posthumously honoured with the Pride of Performance Award in 1960, Shilpakala Academy Award in 1979 (posthumously) and Svadhinata Dibas Puraskar in 1981 (posthumously). Abbasuddin Ahmed died on 30^th December, 1959. His daughter, Ferdousi Rahman, his youngest son, Mustafa Zaman Abbasi, and his granddaughter, Nashid Kamal, are also renowned singers.