Music is called the food of soul and the people of NAs adopted it as a part of their culture from the rise of their fore fathers on this land. The instruments commonly used in NAs are, Dadang (drum) Damal (Tabla) Surnai (shehnai) while some other instruments like Sitar, Gabi(flut) Rabab and duff represent the different areas and chighini in yasin/ gupis. Beside these khling-boo, chang, porgho-too etc instruments are used in Baltistan region.

The music of these areas came from different parts of the near by regions, like Tibatian Ladakhi and Central Asian music specially converted in our traditional rethums.

Music (Hareep in Brushaski)
Dani/Hareep

Dani is the name of a traditional music used in Hunza which links to Tibet, Baltistan and Laddakh. In Hunza Dani have three different kinds:

Nazimkahani Dani

This dani was introduced by raja of Hunza Mir Muhammad Nazim Kahan in (1892-1938), He used this music for dancing during festivals and other traditional events. Now this music is being used during ceremonies and events. Some musicians think that this dani has originated from Chitral.

Maghlote Dani

Maghlot the first ruler of Nagar introduced this dani. With this dani people used to dance during traditional and cultural events. This dani was given the name of Maghlote dani.

Mehtari dani,

This dani is linked to Mehtar (Rular) of chitral. The royal family of chital used this rhythm to dance; Afterward this dani is known as Mehtari dani.

Tajwar

A special music rhythm in Hunza, which was used by royal family during different events, festival and gatherings. Some of tajwar rhythms are as followed;

Nownehal shah:

It is a rhythm named by Nownehal Shah belonged to royal family of Hunza who proposed this music to his name. This music links to chitral, and now used by the people of Hunza to dance.

Siq Mitara Tajwar:

Belongs to a member in nagar royal family, especially for Bakhtawar Shah, who created this rhythm. The numberdar of Ganish Mr Innayat liked this music to dance.

Malane tajwar:

This music belongs to a person belongs to the famous Shina poet Puniyal who used this music during his singings and dancing events.

Bulbul Shereen:

This rhythm introduced in Gojal Hunza and gojalis can dance well with this music.

Shereen Zaban:

During marriages this rhythm is used inside the bride grooms houses to dance.

Foukowa Tajwar:

This rhythm is linked to Sinkiang a province in China and now people use with the name Foukowa hareep.

Shah buki:

This is from Central Asia (Tajikistan) and now is used in Hunza.

Bazmi

It has a special tune and Mir of Hunza Mir Ghazan khan who used to arrange gatherings and parties with his courtiers or friends. This rithum was used in Mirs private paries therefore named as bazmi.

Mehboob Ali khan bazmi:

Raja Mehaboob Ali Khan who ruled Yasin liked and proposed this rhythm to his name.

Khush Begim:

This rhythm links to Wali Chitral.

Kiming jangale:

This rhythm links to Shimshal Gojal Hunza, Wazirs of Hunza used to dance with this rhythm.

Souse

A martial (harbi) tune and it has a fast rhythm and is used specially in sword (talwar) dances.

Mane Nazro Souse:

It belongs to Baltit (Hunza) and well known in sword dances.

Shero Souse:

This person was from Dorkhan (Hunza) who was dancing with this rhythm and it links to kalash (Chitral).

Alghani: The people of Ghizer Yasin, Puniyal,and Gupis called bazmi rhythm as Alghani

Ajoli: During departure of bride and groom from house this rhythm is used in different parts of Northern Areas. This hareep is dividing into two groups as Thamo (mirs) and Burosho (general people)

Lolo: Lolo is a rhythm used to mourn a friend or a family member. It is also used by lovers when they are parted from their beloved.

Ashorjhan: This hareep is linked to Ladakh and having two different groups; the Chashma-e- Awal and Ashorjhan/ghini ghata.

Hareeps in Baltistan: Nobat, Bayad, Yagah, Dogah, Segah, Chargah, Panchgah ets all these hareeps either come from Iran or Tibet.

Syed Waris Shah (Urdu/Punjabi: وارث شاہ) (1706 – 1798) was a Punjabi Sufi poet, best-known for his seminal work Heer Ranjha, based on the traditional folk tale of Heer and her lover Ranjha. Heer is considered one of the quintessential works of classical Punjabi literature. The story of Heer was also put to paper by several other writers, including Damodar Daas, Mukbal, and Ahmed Gujjar, but Waris Shah’s version is by far the most popular today.

Syed Waris Shah was into a reputed Syed family in the village of Jandiala Sher Khan, Sheikhupura District, Pakistan Punjab in or around 1706. His father’s name was Gulshar Shah. Waris Shah acknowledged himself as a disciple of Pir Makhdum of Kasur. Waris Shah’s parents are said to have died when he was in his early years and he probably received his education at the shrine of his preceptor. After completing his education in Kasur, he shifted his residence to Malkahans. Here, he resided in a small room, adjacent to a historic mosque. Waris Shah died in or around 1798 when he was around 92 years of age. His mausoleum is a place of pilgrimage today, especially for those in love.

He was a consummate artiste, deeply learned in Sufi and domestic cultural lore. His verse is a treasure-trove of Punjabi phrases, idioms and sayings. His minute and realistic depiction of each detail of Punjabi life and the political situation in the 1700s, remains unique. Waris Shah also sublimated his own unrequited love for a girl (Bhag Bhari) in writing romance. The amazing poetic mould that he worked within has not been bettered by any of his successors till date.

Life

He was born in the Daraza village of Khairpur, Sindh in 1739 right around the when the Afghan warlord Nadir Shah invaded Sindh. His real name was Abdul Wahab but he adopted the name Sachal, which means truthful and Sarmast which means the intoxicated.

Sachal lost his father when he was very young. He was raised by his uncle who later became his spiritual master. He married his cousin who died two years later and Sachal did not marry again.

During his childhood, once Sachal went to Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, another great mystic poet of Sindh, who looked at him and said this little boy will complete what he had started.
Sachal was a great lover of music. Touched by music, he would often cry profusely. Couplets would pour out from his lips, which his followers or fellow dervishes would immediately inscribe. Sachal is well known for his kalam as well as kafis conveying his spiritual message in haunting melodies. Sachal preferred solitude and silence. He never traveled out from his village Daraza. He was very simple in his attire, lifestyle, and eating habits. Soup and yoghurt were his favorites. He slept on a bare wooden bed. He was a humble man with long soft flowing hair, and penetrating eyes. He wrote mystical poetry in Arabic, Sindhi, Seraiki, Punjabi, Urdu, Farsi (Persian) and Baluchi.

He once said, “He (God) is everywhere and in each and every phenomenon. He has come here just to witness His own manifestation.”

Three days before his death, he retreated in a small enclave where he finally became one with the Truth on the 14th day of Ramadan in 1829 at the age of 90.

He was buried at the same place that was later on made into a beautiful and well-decorated shrine.

Life

Baba Fareed was born in 1188 or 1173 CE (584 Hijri) at Kothewal village, 10 km from Multan in the Punjab region of Pakistan, to Jamal-ud-din Suleiman and Maryam Bibi (Qarsum Bibi), daughter of Sheikh Wajih-ud-din Khojendi . He was a descendant of Farrukh Shah Kabuli, the King of Afghanistan .

According to a legend, it was his mother, who inspired young Farid towards prayer, by placing Shakar (sugar) under his prayer mat, and when she didn’t, Farid found the sugar nevertheless, this episode gave him an unmistakable spiritual fervour and later the name, Ganj-i-Shakar, meaning ‘Treasure of Sweetness’ (Shakar) . Shaikh Shoaib was nephew of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi[citation needed].

Baba Farid received his early education at Multan, which had become a centre for education; it was here that he met his master murshid, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, a noted Sufi saint, who was passing through Multan, from Bagdad on way to Delhi., Farid wanted to leave with him for Delhi immediately, but Kaki advised him to first finish his education. Thereafter, he left for Sistan, and Kandahar for his further studies. At 16, he also went to Mecca for the Hajj pilgrimage. Once his education was over, he shifted to Delhi, where he practiced austerities, and learned the doctrine of his Master, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki. But the bustling city of Delhi didn’t suit him well, and he decided to move to a quieter place, he chose, Hansi, Haryana, where he stayed for a while .

Meanwhile, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki died in 1235, so he left Hansi, and assumed the role of spiritual successor of his Master, though he left Delhi again, this time for Ajodhan (the present Pakpattan, Pakistan). On his way, his stopped at a place now called, Faridkot, and did penance for 40 days, near the fort of King ‘Mokhal’, then under construction. The king was so impressed by his presence that he named the city, after Baba Farid, instead of ‘Mokhalpur’, and the place is still called, ‘Tilla Baba Farid’, and ‘Baba Sheikh Farid Aagman Purb Mela’ is celebrated in September, each year, commemorating his arrival in the city .

It was here that he met the 20-year old, Nizamuddin Auliya, who went on to become his disciple, and later his successor (khalifa). Soon the city, received the name, Baba Farid’s ‘Pak Pattan’, meaning Pure City, which in time became its present name, though some sources suggest, it comes from its another meaning, ‘Holy Ferry’

Baba Farid married Hazabara, daughter of Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud. He died on 5th of Muharram , Tuesday, 7th May 1266 CE (679 Hijri) during Namaz. His darbar is in Dera Pindi, and his name is Khawaja Shaikh Muhammad Paak Ghareeb Nawaz. “There is only one Fareed, though many spring forth from the bud of the flower”.

Baba Farid was a very pious and religious man, of impeccable character, humble and people’s poet. He was poor and led a simple life. His piety and his character attracted people to Sufism.

Amongst, famous people who visited his shrine over the centuries, are famous scholar-explorer, Ibn Battuta, who visited in 1334 , and Founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, who met then head of the shrine, Sheikh Ibrahim, twice, and his meeting lead to the incorporation of 122 verses, and four poems of Baba Farid, in Sikh Holy Book, Guru Granth Sahib, by the fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev in 1604 .

His Shrine

His mazar (shrine) is the pride of Pakpattan. Khawaja Nizamuddin Aulia constructed his tomb. Mazar has two doors, namely Noori darwaza and Bahishti darwaza. Bahishti darwaza opens once a year and during the fair thousands of people pass through it. It (door) is made of silver and floral designs are laid in gold sheet. Thousands of devotees come to visit the shrine daily from within the country and from abroad. His urs (death anniversary) is celebrated every year on the 5th, 6th and 7th of Muharram.

Baba Farid’s place in Sikhism and Gurbani

Baba Farid has been honoured by the Gurus of Sikhism by his verses being collected and compiled in the Sikh holy Guru Granth Sahib under the chapter Farid’s Sayings by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Baba Farid’s verses have been collected in the holy book Guru Granth Sahib (normally referred to as Gurbani) under the chapter Farid’s sayings by Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Allam Lohar organized a full-fledged theatre with a complete orchestra. His troupe toured all of Punjab for religious and seasonal festivals. He also travelled several times to the United Kingdom at his own expense to perform for Pakistanis living overseas, who were delighted by his colourful clothes and thrilling voice, traditional chimta in hand.

Biography

Bulleh Shah is believed to have been born in 1680, in the small village of Uch, Bahawalpur, Punjab, now in Pakistan. His ancestors had migrated from Bukhara in modern Uzbekistan .

At the age of six months, his parents relocated to Malakwal. There his father, Shah Muhammad Darwaish, was a preacher in the village mosque and a teacher. His father later got a job in Pandoke, about 50 miles southeast of Kasur. Bulleh Shah received his early schooling in Pandoke, and moved to Kasur for higher education, to become a student of the prominent professor, Ghulam Murtaza. He also received education from Maulana Mohiyuddin. His spiritual teacher was the eminent Sufi saint, Shah Inayat Qadri.

Bulleh Shah was a direct descendant of Muhammad, through the progeny of Shaikh Abdul Qadir Gillani of Baghdad.

A large amount of what is known about Bulleh Shah comes through legends, and is subjective; to the point that there isn’t even agreement among historians concerning his precise date and place of birth. Some “facts” about his life have been pieced together from his own writings. Other “facts” seem to have been passed down through oral traditions.

Bulleh Shah practiced the Sufi tradition of Punjabi poetry established by poets like Shah Hussain (1538 – 1599), Sultan Bahu (1629 – 1691), and Shah Sharaf (1640 – 1724).

Bulleh Shah lived in the same period as the famous Sindhi Sufi poet, Shah Abdul Latif Bhatai (1689 – 1752). His lifespan also overlapped with the legendary Punjabi poet Waris Shah (1722 – 1798), of Heer Ranjha fame, and the famous Sindhi Sufi poet Abdul Wahad (1739 – 1829), better known by his pen-name, Sachal Sarmast (“truth seeking leader of the intoxicated ones”). Amongst Urdu poets, Bulleh Shah lived 400 miles away from Mir Taqi Mir (1723 – 1810) of Agra.

He died in 1758, and his tomb is located in Kasur, Pakistan.

Poetry Style

The verse form Bulleh Shah primarily employed is called the Kafi, a style of Punjabi, Sindhi and Siraiki poetry used not only by the Sufis of Sindh and Punjab, but also by Sikh gurus.

Bulleh Shah’s poetry and philosophy strongly criticizes Islamic religious orthodoxy of his day. At the time worldy corruption had been taken over as opposed to the true teachings of Islam.

A Beacon of Peace

Baba Bulleh Shah’s time was marked with communal strife between Muslims and Sikhs. But in that age Baba Bulleh Shah was a beacon of hope and peace for the citizens of Punjab. While Bulleh Shah was in Pandoke, Muslims killed a young Sikh man who was riding through their village in retaliation for murder of some Muslims by Sikhs. Baba Bulleh Shah denounced the murder of an innocent Sikh and was censured by the mullas and muftis of Pandoke. Bulleh Shah maintained that violence was not the answer to violence.

Bulleh Shah also hailed Guru Tegh Bahadur as a ghazi (Islamic term for a religious warrior).

Humanist

Bulleh Shah’s writings represent him as a humanist, someone providing solutions to the sociological problems of the world around him as he lives through it, describing the turbulence his motherland of Punjab is passing through, while concurrently searching for God. His poetry highlights his mystical spiritual voyage through the four stages of Sufism: Shariat (Path), Tariqat (Observance), Haqiqat (Truth) and Marfat (Union). The simplicity with which Bulleh Shah has been able to address the complex fundamental issues of life and humanity is a large part of his appeal. Thus, many people have put his kafis to music, from humble street-singers to renowned Sufi singers like the Waddali Brothers and Abida Parveen, from the synthesized techno qawwali remixes of UK-based Asian artists to the rock band Junoon.

Bulleh Shah’s popularity stretches uniformly across Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, to the point that much of the written material about this Muslim thinker is from Hindu and Sikh authors.

Modern Renditions

In the 1990s Junoon, Asia’s biggest rock band from Pakistan, has also rendered such poems as Aleph (Ilmon Bas Kareen O Yaar) and Bullah Ki Jaana. Bulleh Shah’s verses have also been adapted and used in Bollywood film songs. In 2004, Rabbi Shergill successfully performed the unlikely feat of turning the abstruse metaphysical poem Bullah Ki Jaana into a Rock/Fusion song, which became hugely popular in India and Pakistan. Another version was performed by Lakhwinder Wadali titled simply Bullah. Examples include the songs Chhayya Chhayya and Thayya Thayya in the movie Dil Se. The Wadali Bandhu, a Punjabi Sufi group from India, also released a version of Bullah Ki Jaana on their album Aa Mil Yaar…Call of the Beloved.

Reshma

Reshman was born to a Pakkhiwas(gypsy) family in Rajasthan one year after Independence. They traded in horses, cows and goats. She belonged to a tribe which had converted to Islam. Her tribe migrated to Karachi shortly after Independence.

Gifted with a melodious voice, Reshman did not receive any formal education. She spent much of her childhood singing at the mazars (shrines) of the mystic saints of Sindh. When she was hardly twelve years old, she was spotted by a music director, Salim Gilani, who arranged for her to make a recording for radio. She became an instant hit, and since that day, Reshman has been one of the most popular folk singers of Pakistan, appearing on television in the 1960s, recording songs for both the Pakistani and Indian film industry, and performing at home and abroad. Whereever she goes, she mesmerizes the audience with her husky voice.

Reshman lives very simply in Lahore. She is proud of her gypsy heritage and married a man from the same tribe. Her four sons and three daughters also married within the tribe. She still loves going to the mazars, where several of her pirs (holy men) reside. She has been visiting Pir Mushtaq Hussain, Pir Shafqat Hussain in Okara for the last twenty-five years. She also visits the mazar of Shahbaz Qallander.

Shah Hussain (1538-1599) was a Punjabi poet and Sufi saint. He was born in Lahore (present-day Pakistan). His tomb and shrine lies in Baghbanpura, adjacent to the Shalimar Gardens.

His urs (annual death anniversary) is celebrated at his shrine every year. It is known as “Mela Chiraghan” (”Festival of Lights”) and is the second largest festival in Lahore after Basant. It used to be the biggest festival of the Punjab. Shah Hussain’s love for a Brahmin boy called “Madho” or “Madho Lal” is famous, and they are often referred to as a single person with the composite name of “Madho Laal Hussain”. Madho’s tomb lies next to Hussain’s in the shrine.

Shah Hussain was the pioneer of the kafi form of Punjabi poetry.

The most famous singer of the works of the Sufi poets, especially Sindhi kafis, is undoubtedly Abida Parveen. Born in 1957 in Larkana, Sindh, she received her initial musical training from her father, Ustad Ghulam Haider. Later, she studied under Ustad Salamat Ali Khan of the Sham Chorassi gharana of classical music.

Early Life

Abida was born in Larkana (Sindh province, Pakistan) in 1954. She received her musical training initially from her father, Ustad Ghulam Haider, and subsequently from Ustad Salamat Ali Khan.

Although she is a famous figure in the world of music, Abida Parveen is simple, soft-spoken, and courteous woman. In 1975 she married Sheikh Ghulam Hussain of Radio Pakistan, Hyderabad. She is the mother of two daughters and a son.

Career

When in 1970 she performed in public for the first time at the Urs of Hazrat Shah Latif, a new era began in the world of music. But she says, “It is the kalam [works] of the Sufi saints, not my voice, that involves the listeners in my music.” Abida Parveen first sang for radio in 1977 and for television in 1979. Her popularity reached new heights after she sang “Gharooli”,” a Punjabi kafi, for Karachi Television’s “Awaaz-o-Andaaz” in 1980. Until then, Sufi songs were seldom presented on the national hookup, but Abida’s renditions changed that.

Her fame travelled through Pakistan and across the seas, and she toured USA, UK, and France in 1985 and 1988. Her 1988 performance in Chicago was recorded by the Hazrat Amir Khusro Society of Art and Culture, which issued a long-play record of her renderings, and her 1989 performance in London’s Wembly Conference Hall was recorded by the British Broadcasting Corporation and aired for an hour. She has represented Pakistan in India and has performed for huge audiences in Pakistan and the Middle East. Abida Parveen sings semi-classical and classical music, ghazals and geets, and kafis in Sindhi, Punjabi, and Seraiki with equal ease.

Her classical training enables her to render folk and traditional music with great sophistication without losing its regional flavour. Her command of the kafis of Sufi poets Shah Latif, Sachal Sarmast, Bulley Shah, Khawaja Farid, and Shah Hussain is unmatched. As a ghazal singer, Abida prefers the poetry of Nasir Kazmi, Mustafa Zaidi, Ibne Insha, and Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Awards

Abida Parveen is the recipient of many awards: the Shah Abdul Latif Award (twice,) the Sindh Graduate Association Award, the Sachal Sarmast Award, the Pakistan Television Award, the Qalandar Lal Shahbaz Award, and of course the President’s Pride of Performance.