Pashto Music

It is important to understand who and what are the Pashtuns and how their music originated and grew. Pashtuns also well known as Pathans in Urdu and ethnic Afghans in Persian have populations which hail from southern Afghanistan and in the North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and from provinces in Pakistan. Pakistan is another country which has developed a large array of sounds from traditional Pashtun music. With the penetration of western music in various pockets of these countries, it’s not surprising to find two important genres – traditional eastern music meeting the west.
The Pashtuns are characterized by their language, namely Pashto. From the 1980’s, Afghanistan has been facing constant violence with the rise and fall of the Taliban regime, in which the Pashtun community played a large role. During the Taliban regime, music was largely suppressed and condemned, with the banning of instrumental music and destruction of musical instruments. Kabul however being the regional cultural capital, continued to have a few musicians plying their trade in the market where traditional music largely prevailed.
Pashto music has been largely linked to Iranian music; this can strongly be seen in most lyrics which largely comprise of Persian and Pashto. After the fall of the Taliban, modern Pashto music mostly had lyrics about the wars and sufferings in Afghanistan. An infusion of Indian filmy music from Bollywood and techniques and sounds from Persian music slowly started gaining momentum.
Another important facet of Pashto music is Pashto poetry. Pashto singers and poets would work hard to write beautiful poetry and songs and keep on traveling through different provinces performing and singing. Today, many of these traditional Pashto singers reside in Par Hoti. They have traveled from far off places like Marghuz and Baja Bam Khel in Swabi. Due to constant hardships in their small villages and Mardans close proximity to Peshawar, most of them migrated to Par Hoti. With the Peshawar Broadcasting Station close by, they would record their songs and hear it being played over the radio.
With traditional Pashto music moving along the same lines and imitating the west, a revival has been brought about to the once decadent Pashto music catering to the younger generation. Afghan or rather Pashto music largely comprises of scales, note intervals and rhythms which vary from Western music, but are still more closely connected to Western Music than Asian.
Well known Pashto singers who have emerged are Bachazareen Jan, Qamro Jan, Kishwar Sultan, Mashuk Sultan, Nigar Sultan, Muhammad Anwar Master and Wali Dad Tibla Nawaz. Khial Muhammad is a well known Pashto singer who has been singing since childhood.  Other famous singers include Farrukh Seir Shama, Rahdat Hussain, Laloon, Fazal Wahab Dard, Zar Nosh, Khatoon, Shakila Naz and Neelam.
Traditional Pashtun music has close links to Klasik which is Afghan Music inspired by Indian sounds and rhythm and Iranian music. Most lyrics usually comprise of love, religion, suffering and wars. Popular genres include ghazals, Tappa, Charbeta, Neemkai, Loba, Shaan and Sufi qawwali music. The Tappa consists of two unequal meters and is considered to be the oldest form of Pashto poetry emerging from Afghanistan. A kind of lute instrument known as the Rubab plays an important role in Pashto folk songs.