music of Afghanistan

The tradition & historical record

The music of Afghanistan comprises many varieties of classical music, folk music, and modern popular music. Afghanistan has a rich musical heritage and features a mix of Persian melodies, Indian compositional principles, and sounds from ethnic groups such as the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Hazaras. Instruments used range from Indian tablas to long-necked lutes. Afghanistan's classical music is closely related to Hindustani classical music while sourcing much of its lyrics directly from classical Persian poetry such as Maulana Balkhi (Rumi) and the Iranian tradition indigenous to central Asia. Lyrics throughout most of Afghanistan are typically in Dari (Persian) and Pashto. The multi-ethnic city of Kabul has long been the regional cultural capital, but outsiders have tended to focus on the city of Herat, which is home to traditions more closely related to Iranian music than in the rest of the country. Under the rule of the Taliban, both from 1996 to 2001 and again when they took power in 2021, music has been considered prohibited. ¹

Since their resurgence to power on 15 August 2021, Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have implemented a strict ban on music, particularly at weddings, social gatherings, and on radio and television. Additionally, there have been reports of Taliban forces destroying musical instruments, such as an incident involving the burning of instruments in late July 2023 in Herat Province. ¹

The Afghan concept of music is closely associated with instruments, and thus unaccompanied religious singing 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 also harmonium in their worship; this music is called tatti ("food for the soul"). ¹

Many patriotic songs have been made for Afghanistan. One of the best known songs is "Da Zamong Zeba Watan" ("This is our beautiful homeland" in Pashto) by Ustad Awalmir, sung sometime in the 1970s. Another popular song is "Watan" ("Homeland") by Abdul Wahab Madadi, in Persian. Recorded in 1980, the song samples a Greek song called "Antonis" composed by Mikis Theodorakis. The first line, Watan ishq tu iftikhar, translates to "My country, my love for you is my honour". Its tone sounds very similar to a national anthem. ¹

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 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. Ustad Sarahang, Rahim Bakhsh, Ustad Nashenas and many other singers were prominent adherents of this style. This style emphasized compositions in the Indian raga style and the singing of Ghazals in melodies very similar to Indian classical and court music. The classical musical form of Afghanistan is called klasik, which includes both instrumental and vocal and belly dancing ragas, as well as Tarana and Ghazals. Many Ustads, or professional musicians, have learned North Indian classical music 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 intermarriage—and they use the Hindustani musical theories and terminology, for example raga (melodic form) and tala (rhythmic cycle). ¹

The rubab is a common lute-like instrument in Afghanistan, and is a 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, which is chosen to give the instrument its distinct timbre. It has three main strings and a plectrum made from ivory, bone or wood. Famous players of the rubab are Mohammad Omar, Essa Kassemi, Homayun Sakhi, and Mohammed Rahim Khushnawaz. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Music of Afghanistan”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

music of Afghanistan is music and musical traditions of Afghanistan, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 9 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²