PASHTO MUSIC
Pashto music is commonly found in Afghanistan, parts of Pakistan and among the Pashtun diaspora around the world. It is mainly enjoyed or listened to in the Pashtun regions of Afghanistan as well as in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and Balochistan in neighboring Pakistan. The major centers of Pashto music in Pakistan are Peshawar and Karachi.
IN PASHTO MUSIC DIVIDE IN SEVEN PARTS
1.Tappa 2. Charbeta 3.Neemakai 4.Loba 5. Shaan 6.Badala 7.Rubayi
Tappa
Tappa is the oldest and most popular genre of the Pashto poetry. The Tappa is a composition of two unequal meters, in which the first line is shorter than the succeeding one, yet it reflects all human feelings and aspirations elegantly. Be it laborers, peasants, or women all sentiments find expression in the Tappa. It is also common among the Pashtuns that a boy of school would sing it, the elders in their hujrahs, the women in their home and Godar alike. It is the only song sung in the time of grief and on the occasion of marriage. In music it is sung with the traditional Pashto musical instruments rubab and mangai. Tappa has up to 16 different models of harmony and is being sung with full orchestra. In hujrah it's sung with rubab and sitar.
Charbeta
Charbetta is another popular genre, which consists of an epic poem with special rhythms. There are four kinds of Charbetta's. Normally, it's a poem of four lines but might also have six or eight lines. All aspects of life are discussed in it. That includes the heroic deeds and heroism by legendary figures and sometime expresses the romantic feelings. The tempois usually very fast and is sung by two or more singers as part of a chorus in which ones singer reads the first line while the others follow the remaining. The singing or recitation of a Charbetta is called Tang Takore. Traditionally Charbetta is started just after the finishing of a Tappa.
Neemakai
Neemakai has many different forms and normally women compose it. It is usually very short (1 to 3 lines). The first lines are repeated in the middle of the song and Tappa is usually added according to the subject and circumstances. Most of these songs in Pashtoon culture have been expressed in different areas about daily life and love
Loba
Loba is very popular among the masses and are added within Tappas occasionally. This is a form of folk music in which a story is told. It requires 2 or more persons who reply to each other in a poetic form. The two sides are usually the lover and the beloved (the man and woman).
Shaan
Shaan is sung during happiness such as marriages and or the birth of a child, and are sung in private congregations and social gatherings.
Badala
Badala is a professional form of folk music and consists of an epic poem or a ballad. Instruments used include the rubab, harmonium,mungey or tabla. In Badala, tribal traditions are the main theme as well as heroism, tragedies and romance. Badala consists of variations, because each couplet is varied in rhythms from other. It is sung traditionally at night.
Rubayi
Rubayi is a Pashto form of a Ghazal. The Rubayis of Rehman Baba are popular among the masses and is sung before the starting of Badala. As with the Ghazals, the Rubayi have been heavily influenced by Arabic, Persian and Turkish poetry.
Traditional Pashtun Dance
Attan
Attan (Pashto: اتڼ) is a form of dance that originated in the Pashtun regions of Afghanistan including the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Attan began as a folk dance conducted byAfghans in the time of war or during wedding or other celebrations (engagement, new year and informal gatherings). It is now considered the national dance of Afghanistan.
The performance of the attan dance in the open air has long been customary in the Afghan culture. Attan is a special type of dance performed by a troupe of 50 to 100 dancers who wave red scarves in the air while musicians beat drums. This dance is common among the Pushtuns and the ruling elite promoted it as a national dance of Afghanistan.
IN PASHTO MUSIC DIVIDE IN SEVEN PARTS
1.Tappa 2. Charbeta 3.Neemakai 4.Loba 5. Shaan 6.Badala 7.Rubayi
Tappa
Tappa is the oldest and most popular genre of the Pashto poetry. The Tappa is a composition of two unequal meters, in which the first line is shorter than the succeeding one, yet it reflects all human feelings and aspirations elegantly. Be it laborers, peasants, or women all sentiments find expression in the Tappa. It is also common among the Pashtuns that a boy of school would sing it, the elders in their hujrahs, the women in their home and Godar alike. It is the only song sung in the time of grief and on the occasion of marriage. In music it is sung with the traditional Pashto musical instruments rubab and mangai. Tappa has up to 16 different models of harmony and is being sung with full orchestra. In hujrah it's sung with rubab and sitar.
Charbeta
Charbetta is another popular genre, which consists of an epic poem with special rhythms. There are four kinds of Charbetta's. Normally, it's a poem of four lines but might also have six or eight lines. All aspects of life are discussed in it. That includes the heroic deeds and heroism by legendary figures and sometime expresses the romantic feelings. The tempois usually very fast and is sung by two or more singers as part of a chorus in which ones singer reads the first line while the others follow the remaining. The singing or recitation of a Charbetta is called Tang Takore. Traditionally Charbetta is started just after the finishing of a Tappa.
Neemakai
Neemakai has many different forms and normally women compose it. It is usually very short (1 to 3 lines). The first lines are repeated in the middle of the song and Tappa is usually added according to the subject and circumstances. Most of these songs in Pashtoon culture have been expressed in different areas about daily life and love
Loba
Loba is very popular among the masses and are added within Tappas occasionally. This is a form of folk music in which a story is told. It requires 2 or more persons who reply to each other in a poetic form. The two sides are usually the lover and the beloved (the man and woman).
Shaan
Shaan is sung during happiness such as marriages and or the birth of a child, and are sung in private congregations and social gatherings.
Badala
Badala is a professional form of folk music and consists of an epic poem or a ballad. Instruments used include the rubab, harmonium,mungey or tabla. In Badala, tribal traditions are the main theme as well as heroism, tragedies and romance. Badala consists of variations, because each couplet is varied in rhythms from other. It is sung traditionally at night.
Rubayi
Rubayi is a Pashto form of a Ghazal. The Rubayis of Rehman Baba are popular among the masses and is sung before the starting of Badala. As with the Ghazals, the Rubayi have been heavily influenced by Arabic, Persian and Turkish poetry.
Traditional Pashtun Dance
Attan
Attan (Pashto: اتڼ) is a form of dance that originated in the Pashtun regions of Afghanistan including the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Attan began as a folk dance conducted byAfghans in the time of war or during wedding or other celebrations (engagement, new year and informal gatherings). It is now considered the national dance of Afghanistan.
The performance of the attan dance in the open air has long been customary in the Afghan culture. Attan is a special type of dance performed by a troupe of 50 to 100 dancers who wave red scarves in the air while musicians beat drums. This dance is common among the Pushtuns and the ruling elite promoted it as a national dance of Afghanistan.
Khattak dance
Khattak dance (Pashto: د خټکو اتڼ) is a swift martial attan dance usually performed while carrying a sword and a handkerchief by the tribesmen from the agile Khattak tribe of Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was performed by Khattak warriors before going to wars in the time of Malik Shahbaz Khan Khattak, and then Khushal Khan Khattak. It was used as a war-preparation exercise.
Khattak dance (Pashto: د خټکو اتڼ) is a swift martial attan dance usually performed while carrying a sword and a handkerchief by the tribesmen from the agile Khattak tribe of Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It was performed by Khattak warriors before going to wars in the time of Malik Shahbaz Khan Khattak, and then Khushal Khan Khattak. It was used as a war-preparation exercise.
Famous Men of Pashto Poetry
Ameer Hamza Baba
Ameer Hamza Shinwari (Pashto: حمزه شينواری), born in Landi Kotal in the year 1907 and died in February 1994, was a famousPashtun poet. He Belonged to the Shinwari tribe of the ethnic Pashtuns. Ameer Hamza's work is considered a fusion between classic and modern poetry. He followed the traditional old classical poetry and blended it with the modern spirit, as well as introducing new ideas in Pashto Ghazals. He is known as the father of Pashto Ghazals
At a young age, Ameer Hamza Shinwari dreamt of making a career in film, he wrote the story for the first ever Pashto language film,Laila Majnoon, in 1941. The film, which was released in Bombay before the independence of Pakistan, earned him a pittance. But it was during a visit to Ajmer Sharif that he first came into contact with the world of mysticism. He adopted the Chishtia order of mysticism, following in the footsteps of Rahman Baba, and blended it with the Pashtunwali, the famous Pashtun code of conduct. The government of Pakistan also honoured him with a posthumous 'Presidential Pride of Performance' award, and the government ofKhyber Pakhtunkhwa province built the Hamza Baba Cultural Complex in Landi Kotal in homage to his great services to Pashtun culture.
Ameer Hamza Shinwari was also a critic and a playwright, he wrote 200 plays for Radio Pakistan, Peshawar, a number of features, critical essays and research papers for different literary magazines and newspapers of Pakistan. Ameer Hamza Shinwari died on February 18, 1994.
Hamza Baba Wayee”
Zama Da Meene Da Izhar Che Tata Pata Lagi
Pa Ma Ba Khwarey We Ambar Che Tata Pata Lagi.
Sta Da Yaaray Arman Ba Za Yama Wajaly Yara
Sta Pa Yarano Ki Da Yaar Che Tata Pata Lagi.
Mata Che Pata Lagida Da Zwanay War Me Ter Wo
Ter Ba We Sta Da Hussan War Chi Tata Pata Lagi.
Ghani Khan
Khan Abdul Ghani Khan was born in Hashtnagar in the then North-West Frontier Province of British India, or the modern-day village of Utmanzai in Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. He was the son of the Red-Shirt Leader Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and older brother of Khan Abdul Wali Khan. His wife Roshan came from a Parsi family and was the daughter of Nawab Rustam Jang. He went to study at the art academy at Rabindranath Tagore’s university in Shantiniketan and developed a liking for painting and sculpture. He visited England and studied sugar technology in the United States, after which he returned to India and started working at the Takht Bhai Sugar Mills in 1933. Largely owing to his father’s influence, he was also involved in politics, supporting the cause of the Pashtuns of British India. He was arrested by the Government of Pakistan in 1948 – although he had given up politics by then – and remained in prison till 1954, in various jails all over the country. It was during these years that he wrote his poem collection Da Panjray Chaghaar, which he considered the best work of his life. His contribution to literature (often unpublished) was ignored by the Pakistan government for much of his life although near the end of his life his works did receive much praise and as well as an award from the Government of Pakistan. For his contributions to Pukhto literature and painting, the President of Pakistan, General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, conferred on him the prestigious award of Sitara-e-Imtiaz (23 March 1980).
Aside from a few poems of his youth and early manhood, Ghani Khan’s poetry, like his temperament, is anti-political. His poem collections include Panoos, Palwashay, De Panjray Chaghar, Kullryat and Latoon. He also wrote in English; his first book was The Pathans (1947). His only published work in Urdu was his book titled Khan Sahib (1994). with thanks and a lot of books
The singular distinction of his poetry – aside from his obvious poetic genius – is a profound blend of knowledge about his native and foreign cultures, and the psychological, sensual, and religious aspects of life
(GHANI KHAN)
Na Pa Hussan Na Pa Naaz Aw Ada Kegi
Mena Zrra Ke Wi Da Zrra Pa Raza Kegi
Kha Pohegam Che Sta Zrra Hum Meena Ghwarri
Kho Sta Makh Na Me Da Stargo Haya Kegi
Lewani Na Yo Da Mene Talabgar Yo
Wali Mong Pore Da Hr Cha Khanda Kegi
Che Pa Zrra Ke Da Janan Mena Rikhtya V
Pa Badal Da Wafa Hala Wafa Kegi.
Aside from a few poems of his youth and early manhood, Ghani Khan’s poetry, like his temperament, is anti-political. His poem collections include Panoos, Palwashay, De Panjray Chaghar, Kullryat and Latoon. He also wrote in English; his first book was The Pathans (1947). His only published work in Urdu was his book titled Khan Sahib (1994). with thanks and a lot of books
The singular distinction of his poetry – aside from his obvious poetic genius – is a profound blend of knowledge about his native and foreign cultures, and the psychological, sensual, and religious aspects of life
(GHANI KHAN)
Na Pa Hussan Na Pa Naaz Aw Ada Kegi
Mena Zrra Ke Wi Da Zrra Pa Raza Kegi
Kha Pohegam Che Sta Zrra Hum Meena Ghwarri
Kho Sta Makh Na Me Da Stargo Haya Kegi
Lewani Na Yo Da Mene Talabgar Yo
Wali Mong Pore Da Hr Cha Khanda Kegi
Che Pa Zrra Ke Da Janan Mena Rikhtya V
Pa Badal Da Wafa Hala Wafa Kegi.