Music of Afghanistan

Under the rule of the Taliban, both from 1996 to 2001 and again when they took power by force in 2021, music has been considered prohibited.^[3][4]

Current legal status

Since their return to power on 15 August 2021, the Taliban authorities strictly banned music in Afghanistan, especially weddings, social gatherings, radio and television, etc. The Taliban also smashed and burned musical instruments, like a burning of musical instruments on late July 2023 in Herat Province.^[5][6]

Folk and traditional music

Religious music

The Afghan concept of music is closely associated with instruments, and thus unaccompanied religious singing is not considered music.

There is no single tradition, but many musical traditions and styles in Afghanistan. These different traditions and styles evolved over centuries in the context of a society with highly diverse ethnic, linguistic, regional, religious, and class distinctions. Afghan music can be classified in a number of ways. Although it is common practice to classify Afghan music along linguistic and regional lines (i.e. Pashto, Persian, Logari, Shomali, etc.), a more technically appropriate classification would be to distinguish various forms of Afghan music purely by their musical style. Thus, Afghan music can be mainly divided into four categories: Indian classical, Mohali (folk and regional styles), Western, and another style unique to Afghanistan (mainly adopted by Persian-speaking musicians) simply called Afghan music.

The Indian classical tradition was a hugely influential strain. The vast majority of the elite artists in Afghanistan until the 1980s were trained in the Indian classical tradition.

The second group, Mohali (folk) music was more diverse. It contained various folkloric and regional styles which had evolved indigenously without outside influence. These styles include Qataghani, Logari, Qarsak etc. which are specific to a region & linguistic group in Afghanistan. Some prominent artists in this category were Hamahang, Beltoon etc. Many other singers, however, who do not belong to this genre, have dabbled in recording songs in the Qataghani, logari, qarsak etc. styles. Each of these forms had its own scale (they did not use the classical Indian raga scale, nor did they use the western major/minor scale) and mainly consisted of well known songs whose composition and lyrics had evolved organically over centuries. The lyrics, though deep, were often simple and lacked the poetic sophistication of the great Persian & Pashto poetic traditions.

The most popular musical traditions in Afghanistan are the Pashto (which belongs to the folk and Indian classical tradition simultaneously), and the pure Afghan musical style. The pure Afghan musical style was popularized by the Afghan singer Ahmad Zahir. This style is primarily popular with Persian/Dari-speaking audiences, though it transcends regional and class barriers. The style borrows from many other musical traditions such as the Indian, Iranian, Middle Eastern, and folkloric Afghan traditions, but it fuses these styles into a sound that is unique to Afghanistan and suits the lyrical, poetic, rhythmic, and orchestral tastes of Afghan Persian/Dari-speaking audiences. The vast majority of Persian-speaking singers since the 1970s belong to this genre. Apart from Ahmad Zahir, the most successful contemporary proponent of this style of Farhad Darya. However, the progenitor of this musical tradition was another Afghan singer named Abdul Rahim Sarban. Sarban's songs set the template for the unique Persian-language Afghan musical sound that characterizes the most popular Afghan musical genre today. Sarban chose poetry from the great classical Persian/Dari poets and set them to compositions which incorporated elements of Western jazz and belle chanson with the mohali (regional) traditions of Afghanistan. Up until then, Afghanistan had been mainly a borrower of styles from Iran, India and other countries. With Sarban's arrival, Afghan music reached such a height that renowned artists from major cultural centres such as Iran borrowed his songs and covered them for their audiences (for instance Iran's singer Googoosh covered a number of Sarban's songs, most famously his "Ay Sarban Ahesta Ran").

Sarban's musical style was effectively adopted by Ahmad Zahir, Ahmad Wali, Nashenas, Afsana, Seems Tarana, Jawad Ghaziyar, Farhad Darya, and numerous other Afghan Persian-speaking singers, and transformed into a genuine recognizable Afghan musical style.

This form, Western music (mainly consisting of pop, and nowadays rap), is influenced mainly by the Western musical tradition. However, in spite of its modernity, it is not the most popular musical genre. Many singers including Ahmad Zahir have sung in this tradition (pop, rock n roll, etc.). Most recently, there has been a blooming of the rap and hip hop scene in Afghanistan as well. However, the Western musical influence on Afghan music continues to be only in the fields of instrumentation and orchestration; Afghan musicians tend to choose musical languages and compositions which belong to indigenous Afghan musical forms, but they use Western musical instruments (such as drums, percussions and guitars) to orchestrate their music. There are a few musicians who compose in the Western musical tradition as well.

Rubab

The

Famous players of the rubab are Mohammad Omar, Essa Kassemi, Homayun Sakhi, and Mohammed Rahim Khushnawaz.^[2]

Dombura

The dombura, dambura or dambora is a popular folk instrument among

The following is an incomplete list of classical Afghan musicians who have been honored as an ustad:

Pop music

In 1925, Afghanistan began

Modern

In 1951, Mermon Parwin became the first Afghan woman to sing live on the radio. 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.^[18] Rukhshana was another early female singer who had achieved high fame during the 1960s.^[19]

History of pop

Pop music emerged in Afghanistan during the 1950s, and became very popular until the late 1970s. What helped the emergence of pop music in Afghanistan were amateur singers from non-traditional music backgrounds who wanted to showcase their talents in the studio

These amateurs innovated in Afghan music and created a more modern approach to the traditional folklore and classical music of Afghans. Amateur singers included

Rock music slowly gained a foothold in the country. Kabul Dreams is one of the few Afghan rock bands; formed in 2008 by ex-pats, they claim to be the first one.^[24] However it was popularised in the mainstream by Farhad Darya who experimented with rock alongside his usual pop hits.^[25] Additionally, singing competition television series such as Afghan Star and The Voice of Afghanistan became popular, with singing contestants performing songs, including those formerly banned.

Metal music was represented by District Unknown, who as a band no longer exist and have moved to various parts of the world, from the United Kingdom to the US. They were documented in the rockumentary Rockabul, filmed by Australian Travis Beard.

Hip-hop and rap

Afghan hip-hop is a type of music popular among Afghanistan's youth and immigrant community.^[26] It inherits much of the style of traditional hip hop, but puts added emphasis on rare cultural sounds. Afghan hip hop is mostly sung in Dari (Persian), Pashto, and English. One popular hip hop artist is DJ Besho (Bezhan Zafarmal), a resident of Kabul. Another is 'Awesome Qasim', who is known in Canada and raps in Persian, Pashto, and English. Qasim's most recent album came out in February 2013 in Canada.^[27][28] Kabul musician Soosan Firooz has been described as Afghanistan's first female rapper.^[29] Sonita Alizadeh is another female Afghan rapper, who has gained notoriety for writing music protesting forced marriages.^[30] The country's rapping scene has become increasingly prelavent in recent years. In 2017, Sayed Jamal Mubarez became the first rapper to win the annual Afghan Star musical competition.^[31] In 2022, an Afghan rap song by Jawad13 and MiSAQ were commissioned by and available on Facebook Sound library.^[32]

See also

• Afghanistan National Institute of Music
• List of Afghan singers
  • List of Pashto-language singers

References

• "Muted Musicians See Hope in Young Performers". Inter Press Service. 26 February 2005. Archived from the original on 4 April 2009. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
• "Afghanistan". Almaty or Bust. Archived from the original on 3 January 2006. Retrieved 27 August 2005.
• Jacinto, Leela (22 May 2005). "The Tale of the Pashtun Poetess". Boston Globe. Retrieved 27 August 2005.
• "Review of Anthology of World Music: The Music of Afghanistan". Delusions of Adequacy Reviews. Archived from the original on 17 April 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2006.
• Doubleday, Veronica. "Red Light at the Crossroads". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 3–8. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books.
  ISBN 1-85828-636-0
• "Afghan Music Before the War". Mikalina. Archived from the original on 4 November 2005. Retrieved 27 August 2005.

Notes