Pashto Folk Music Links Root Of Hindi Classic Melody With Hindu Kush Region; Dr Rashid

PESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 9th Jan, 2023 ) :Famous singer, poet and the first ever PhD scholar on Pashto music, Dr. Rashid Ahmad Khan has claimed the origin of the Hindi classical music in Pashtoon belt of Hindu Kush region whose folk melody is as old as ancient the Gandhara civilization, dating back to 1500 BC.

"The breeze flattering above the mountains of Hindu Kush region became melodious rhymes flowing down to the flat region between river Amu and river Aba-sind," observed Dr. Rashid while summarizing the finding of his eight years research work for PhD on "Critical Analysis of Pashto Music".

After successfully defending his PhD on December 15, 2022 at Pashto Department of Peshawar University, Dr. Rashid became the first ever PhD scholar of Pashto Music in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well.

This research and critical thesis is the first ever attempt to explore the Pashto music and to define the nature of the variations between its different traditions, Rashid told APP in an interview.

Referring to his claim, Dr. Rashid said the origin of Indian classical music dates back to the sacred Vedic scriptures over 3500 years ago where chants developed a system of musical notes and rhythmic cycles.

It is an agreed fact by historians and also proved in my research that the Vedic initial phrases are written in Pakhtunkhwa mountainous terrain as the holy book also have mention of different rivers of our region like Swasto for Swat, Somo Kromo for Kurram and famous Kabul river, said Rashid to substantiate his viewpoint.

Mention of these locations also substantiate the view point that the initial phrases of Vedic are related to areas including Hindu Kush, Nangarhar, Mardan, Swat and Peshawar valley.

At that time the elders of Hindu religion formed three rhymes including Odat, Anudat and Swarit which were the beginning of Hindi classic music learning and later transformed into the very basic lesson of 'Sare Gama Pa da ni Sah', he maintained.

The Hindi classical music has very close connection with Pashto folk music which has tuned finer and finer with the passage of time and with the progress of civilization, he went on to say.

In his research, Dr. Rashid also argued over the meaning of Gandhara which is considered as `Perfume' but according to him its original name was `Ghandharvas' which means 'Beautiful Deities' of melody who are in heaven.

The name Ghandharvas late transformed into Ghandhav which means `Music' and finally became Ghandhara means a place where music is played, he opined.

Later after arrival and spread of Buddhism in the region during Kushan dynasty, the Hindus migrated to other parts of the sub-continent and shifted along with them their religious as well as musical instruments and norms to down country, he opined.

Dr. Rashid said for compilation of his research thesis on Pashto music, he visited different cities of Pakistan and Afghanistan and interviewed over 2000 musicians, experts and folk artistes.

"I traveled many cities and museums in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan and even in Afghanistan to dig out history, eras and evolution of Pashto folk music alongside musical instruments that helped survive Pashto folk rhythmical expressions till present day," he apprised APP.

In my thesis, I have tried to introduce the five main traditions in Pashto music including the Kandahari, the Logar, the Yousafzai, and Pakitiaee, explains Dr. Rashid whose songs have great liking in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

I have defined the rules, modes, vocals, instruments, instrumental sounds, chords and features to elaborate the differences in between these music traditions.

Rashid also claimed roots of Rabab (a traditional wooden musical instrument with strings tied from one end to other like guitar) in Pashtoon belt and said its historic name is Veena.

He said majority of Rabab players are in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Afghanistan and is found in different shapes in historic evidences of Gandhara period.

The oldest historic evidences about rabab playing are found only in this region and not in Arab, India or Syria, he added.

He said the present veena musical instrument being played in India is not real rabab and is only 1200 to 1400 years old. Whereas the history of rabab goes back to 1800 to more than 2000 years back.

Pashto music scholar said the prevailing wave of extremism in Afghanistan and Pashtoon belt of Pakistan is detrimental to promotion of music.

Rashid plans to do postdoctoral research in his field and has also urged the youngsters to concentrate on the preservation of music and old traditions of the region by doing further studies in these fields.

"The rich musical history of Ghandhara region needs exploration of more facts and for this purpose, music should be introduced as a subject in our curriculum for providing an opportunity to students to do research for digging out more information," he suggested.