S. D. Burman
Indian singer and composer (1906–1975)
Sachin Dev Burman (1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975) was an Indian music director and singer. He was a member of the Tripura royal family. He started his career with Bengali films in 1937. He later began composing for Hindi movies and became one of the most successful and influential Indian film music composers. Burman composed the soundtracks for over 100 movies, including Bengali films and Hindi.
Apart from being a versatile composer, he also sang songs in folk style of East Bengal and light semi-classical. His son, R. D. Burman, was also a celebrated music composer for Bollywood films.
Burman's compositions were sung by the leading singers of the era, including Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar, Mohammed Rafi, Geeta Dutt, Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar, Asha Bhosle, Shamshad Begum, Mukesh and Talat Mahmood. As a playback singer, Burman sang 14 Hindi and 13 Bengali film songs.
Background
S. D. Burman was born on 1 October 1906, in Tipperah Palace, Comilla, Eastern Bengal and Assam (in present-day Bangladesh) to Rajkumari Nirmala Devi, the royal princess of Manipur and Nabadwipchandra Dev Burman of Tripura, son of Ishan Chandra Manikya, the Maharaja of Tripura.
“S. D. Burman” enters the record as indian singer and composer (1906–1975). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Burman, Indian and singer can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“S. D. Burman” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Burman, Indian and singer provides the most credible route into that argument.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2723913. The first chronological checks are 1906, 1975 and 1937.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “S. D. Burman”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow S. D. Burman primary sources, S. D. Burman archive and Burman research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “S. D. Burman”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “S. D. Burman” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.