[1] She had come with her mother, Nazeera Begum, to Tikamgarh, where at age eight, she started her musical training under Ustad Zahur Khan, a noted Dhrupad singer from Gohad, Bhind.
Under his tutelage, she trained rigorously for fifteen years and eventually became the main court singer for the Orchha State and remained so till age 35.
Soon, she made a name for herself with "her phenomenal command over tala, her breath-control and exquisite delineation of ragas"[5] and an uncanny similarity of her voice to Begum Akhtar.
She made news shortly before her death when she alleged that her eldest son Babu forged her signature and withdrew over Rs 1 lakh from her pension account and also tried to sell her awards.
[1] Ashgari Bai (1998), an Indian documentary film directed by Priti Chandriani and Brahmanand S. Singh, explores her life as an exponent of Dhrupad.