Bhatiali or Bhatiyali as it is also known as is the traditional or folk music in West Bengal. It is a conventional boat song mainly sung by boatmen while going down streams of river, as word Bhatiyali comes from Bhata meaning ebb or downstream. This form of folk song has been made popular by boatmen from Bangladesh, as they were the first people to actually start singing this in the Mymensingh District along the Brahmaputra River or the Bhati (lower region of a river) area.

The concept of Bhatiali has become very popular over the years. The lyrics for these kinds of songs generally concerns boating, rivers and fishing. Among all the other types of folk music practised in Bengal this from - Bhatiali, deals with Prakriti-tatva (about nature).

Some of the popular collectors, composers and writers in the genre are Miraz Ali, Ukil Munshi, Rashid Uddin. Jalal Khan, Jang Bahadur, Shah Abdul Karim and Umed Ali. Between 1930s and 1950 Bhaitali has seen its golden age, when most of these personalities were contributing to the genre. Singer Abbas Uddin made the genre popular singing Amay bhashaili re, amay dubaili re and other popular numbers. In the 2000s, Malay Ganguly and Bari Siddiki are two most prominent Bhatiali singers.

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