Since the 1980s, Afghanistan has been involved in near constant violence. As such, music has been suppressed and recording for outsiders minimal, despite a rich musical heritage.
 Minstrels in Heart, 1973
During the 1990s, the post-Soviet and Taliban governments banned instrumental music and much public music-making. In spite of arrests and destruction of musical instruments, musicians have continued to ply their trade into the present. Kabul has long been the regional cultural capital, but outsiders have tended to focus on the city of Heart, which is home to traditions more closely related to Iranian music than in the rest of the country. Lyrics throughout most of Afghanistan are typically in Persian and Pashto.
Pop Music
In 1925, Afghanistan began radio broadcasting, but its station was destroyed in 1929. Broadcasting did not resume until Radio Kabul opened in 1940. As Radio Afghanistan reached the entire country, popular music grew more important. In 1951 Ms. Parwin became the first Afghan woman to sing live in Radio. Ms Farida Mahwash, one of the famous female singers who then gained the title of Ustad (Master), had a major hit with "O bacheh" in 1977; she was "perhaps the most notable" of pop singers.
Modern popular music did not arise until the 1950s when radio became commonplace in the country. They used orchestras featuring both Afghan and Indian instruments, as well as European clarinets, guitars and violins. 1970's were the golden age of Afghanistan's Music Industry. Popular music also included Indian and Pakistani cinema film and music imported from Iran, Tajikistan and elsewhere.[5]
There is also a thriving Afghan music industry in neighbouring Pakistan primarily located in the cities of Peshawer, Karachi and the capital Islamabad. Much of the Afghan music industry was preserved via circulation in Pakistan and the holding of concerts for Afghan performers there which helped to keep the industry alive. Afghan performers regularly perform on Pakistani television programs and hold concerts throughout the country for the estimated 3-4 million Afghans that still live there.
Since the 2001 US intervention in Afghanistan and the removal of the Talaban, the music scene has begun to re-emerge. Some groups, like the Kabul Ensemble, have gained an international reputation. In addition, traditional Pashto music (especially in the southeast of the country) has entered a period of "golden years", according to a prominent spokesman for Afghan Ministry of Interior, Lutfullah Mashal.
History of Pop Music In Afghanistan
Pop Music emerged in Afghanistan during the 1950s, and got much pupular till late 1970s. What helped the emergence of pop music in Afghanistan were amateur singers called who were from non traditional music backgrounds but wanted to showcase their talents in the studio (Radio Kabul). These singers were from middle to upper class families and were far more educated than singers from traditional music backgrounds.
These amateurs innovated in the Afghan music and created a more modern style approach to the traditional folklore and classical music of Afghans. Amateur singers such as Sarban, Ustad Madadi, Ahmad Zahir, Ahad Wali, Zahir Howaida, Rahim Mehryar, Abeb Sharif, Mahwash, Haidar Salim, Salma Jahni, Hangama, Parasto, Naghma, Mangal, Kamal Nasir Dost, Farhad Darya, Asad Badi, S and others. Ahmad Zahir was the most famous of all, who gained popularity more than any other singer. Through out the 60's and 70's he gained national and international recognition in countries like Iran and Tajikistan.
Classical music
Main article: Klasik
The classical musical form of Afghanistan is called klasik, which includes both instrumental and vocal ragas, as well as Tarana and Ghazals. Many Ustads, or professional musicians, have learned North Indian Classical in India, and some of them were Indian descendants who moved from India to the royal court in Kabul in the 1860s They maintain cultural and personal ties with India -- through discipleship or inter-marriage -- and they use the Hindustani musical theories and terminology, for example raga (melodic form) and tala (rhythmic cycle).
Musicians in Heart with tourist, 1973
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Afghan ragas, in contrast to Indian ones, tend to be more focused on rhythm, and are usually played with the tabla, or the local zerbaghali, dayra or dohol, all Other Afghan classical instruments include the dutar sorna sitar, dilruba, tambur, ghichak, and Rubab.
The most famous Afghan Classical singer is Ustad Sarahang, who is one of the Master singers in North Indian Classical Music and is also well-known in all over India and Pakistan. Other classical singers are Ustad Qstad, Ustad Rahim Baksh, and Ustad Nato.
Rubab Main article:Rubab
The rubab is a common lute -like instrument in Afghanistan, and is the forerunner of the Indian sarod. The rubab is sometimes considered the national instrument of Afghanistan, and is called the "lion" of instruments; one reviewer claims it sounds like "a Middle Eastern predecessor to the blues that popped up in the Piedmont 100 years ago". The rubab has a double-chambered body carved from mulberry wood and has three main strings and a plectrum made from ivory, bone or wood.
Famous players of the rubab are Ustad Mohammad Omar and Aziz Herawi, while modern performers include Essa Kassemi, Homayun Sakhi and Mohammed Rahim Khushnawaz.
Religious music
Main article: Muslim Music
The Afghan concept of music is closely associated with musical instruments, and thus the unaccompanied religious music is not considered music. Koran recitation is an important kind of unaccompanied religious performance, as is the ecstatic Zikr ritual of the Sufis which uses songs called na't, and the Shi'a solo and group singing styles like mursia, manqasat, nowheh and rowzeh The Chishti Sufi sect of Kabul is an exception in that they use instruments like the rubab, tabla and armonia in their worship; this music is called gaza-yeh ruh (food for the soul).
Female finalist in Afghanistan's 'Pop Idol' angers traditionalists
By Jason Straziuso in Kabul
Friday, 14 March 2008
In a first for post-Taliban Afghanistan, a woman from the conservative Pashtun belt is one of the top three contenders in the country's version of Pop Idol.
Conservatives decry the fact that an Afghan woman has found success singing on television, but Lima Sahar brushes off her critics, saying there can be no progress without upsetting the status quo. "No pain, no gain," she said yesterday.
Sahar beat 2,000 other hopefuls who auditioned for the third season of Afghan Star. The six-month-long television show will name the final two contestants, based on votes sent in from viewers via text message, tomorrow. The winner will take home about £2,500.
Afghanistan's cleric's council has protested to President Hamid Karzai over Afghan Star and Indian dramas shown on Tolo TV, the country's most popular station. Ali Ahmad Jebra-ali, a council member, said: "In the situation we have in Afghanistan right now, we don't need a woman singer. We don't need Afghan Star. We are in need of a good economy, good education. If Lima Sahar wins Afghan Star, how can she help the poor? This is not the way to help the Afghan people."
Haji Baran Khan, a farmer from Kandahar – the Taliban's spiritual birthplace and the city Sahar now calls home – said a Pashtun girl singing on television goes against the country's culture. "She is also affecting the minds of other good girls. She should stop singing," he said.
But Sahar says she is just the latest in a long tradition of Afghan artists. "Artists are historical and cultural in our country. Artists have been around a long time," she said. "I came by the vote of the people of Afghanistan."
Hundreds of supporters lined up to get the three finalists' autographs in Kabul this week. One of the fans, Shohabidin Mohammad, commented: "Women's and men's rights are equal. There are no problems."
The finalists represent each of Afghanistan's three main ethnic groups: Pashtuns, Hazaras and Tajiks. Mohammad, who is Hazara, said he does not believe ethnicity should play a role in the vote. But, he acknowledged sheepishly, he will vote for the Hazara finalist.
A Sahar fan, Nematullah Khan, who is a 25-year-old student at Kandahar University, said: "Sahar took a bold step. She has a lot of courage. Whether she wins or not, she's a good example for our youth."
The other finalists are Hameed Sakhizada, a 21-year-old Hazara, and the favourite, Rafi Naabzada, a 19-year-old Tajik. He said: "Afghan Star belongs to all Afghans. My idea is not to get votes from just my tribe. I think that attitude is now finished – he's a Tajik or he's a Pashtun."
But Mohammad Qasim Akhger, a political analyst, does not believe that, and singled out Sahar as lacking talent. "Now there is one Pashtun, one Hazara and one Tajik, so now what will happen is that nobody will care about their talents, they will just vote for their tribe. If Sahar is not talented enough, it doesn't matter for them [Pashtuns]. They are just voting because she is Pashtun," he explained.
And what do women think of it? One female fan, Shabana, said she was supporting Naabzada. Would she vote for a woman? "Yes," she said. "But on condition that she has talent." |
