Mohammad Hussain Sarāhang (Farsi: محمدحسین سرآهنگ - Sarāhang ; 1924–1983) was an Afghan ghazal singer and an exponent of Indian classical music from Kabul , Afghanistan . He is popularly known with the honorific Ustad Sarahang and has been renowned as the "crown of Afghanistan’s music".
7-573: Mohammad-Hussain Sarahang ( née Mohammad-Hussain ) was born in 1924 in the Kharabat area of Kabul, an old district known for producing some of the country's greatest musicians. He was the second oldest son of musician Ghulam Hussain, who taught his son the basics of music. Sarahang studied Indian classical music in the Patiala style of singing under Ashiq Ali Khan. After 16 years, Sarahang returned to Kabul at
14-513: The Pashtun Ghag newspaper in Kabul. He earned the following titles and degrees from various music schools of India: Upon his last trip to India in 1982, Sarahang fell ill and was hospitalized and ordered not to sing and to keep his talking to a minimum. Sarahang told his doctors he was feeling homesick and he would get better if he went back to Afghanistan. He returned to Afghanistan but disregarded
21-473: The age of 25 (c. 1949). Sarahang typically performed various genres of classical and semi-classical music including khayal , thumri , tarana and ghazal . He usually sang the ghazals of Amir Khusrow and Abul Ma'āni Bedil , famous poets who wrote in Persian, as he was a Bedil Shenās (Bedil Expert). At the age of 25 (c. 1949), Sarahang participated in a festival of music held at Kabul's Pamir Cinema. Amongst
28-514: The area is called Kharabat can be traced back to the term in Persian poetry , where it originally referred to taverns . Like taverns, where people dance and listen to music, the area in Kabul was a place where many local musicians lived as well as where private concerts took place. Important Afghan musicians were born there, as well as the songs of the Indian Dari poets Ustad Qasem Jo , Ustad Natu , Rahim Bakhsh , and Mohammad Omer , master of
35-434: The orders of his doctors and continued his performance. In 1983 he became ill again and was hospitalized in Kabul where he died from a heart attack. The Afghan Ministry of Information and Culture has commemorated his death in later years on the date of June 12. It commemorated the 39th anniversary of his death on that day in 2021 and mentions his age was 65, which would imply that Sarahang was born circa 1917 and his death year
42-437: The participants were Qasim and Bade Ghulam Ali Khan. At this festival, Sarahang was awarded a Gold Medal. A few years later, the government of Afghanistan awarded him the title of Sarāhang. He wrote two books about classical music, Qānūn-e Tarab (The Law of Music) and Mūssīqī-e Rāg-hā (Music of Ragas). He has also created or composed several ragas including Hazra and Minamalee . In addition he once also wrote articles for
49-468: Was 1982. His son Eltaf Hussain Sarahang, is also a ghazal performer. Kharabat (Kabul) Kharābat ( Dari : خرابات ) is a neighborhood in the old city of Kabul , Afghanistan. It is a historic area near Hinduguzar , the quarter of Hindus and Sikhs . It has long accommodated musicians. Kharābat has educated many famous musicians of Afghanistan in the Indian Patiali school. The reason why
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