Pathanay Khan or Pathane Khan (Urdu: پٹھانے خان ; born Ghulam Mohammad; 1926 – 2000) was a legendary Saraiki

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

singer from

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. He mostly sang

Kafi Kafi ( pa, ਕਾਫ਼ੀ (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi), Hindi: काफ़ी, Urdu: کافی, Sindhi:ڪافي) is a classical form of Sufi music mostly in the Siraiki, Punjabi and Sindhi languages and originating from the Punjab, and Sindh re ...

s or Ghazals (in Saraiki), usually drawing on the Sufi poetry of

Khwaja Ghulam Farid Khwaja Ghulam Farid (Urdu: ) or Khwaja Fareed (1845–1901) was a 19th-century Sufi poet from Punjab. He was a member of the Chishti Nizami Sufi order. He wrote poetry in several languages, and his literary heritage has been claimed by both th ...

and

Shah Hussain Shah Hussain ( pa, ; ; 1538–1599), also known as Madhoo Lal Hussain, was a 16th-century Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet who is regarded as a pioneer of the Kafi form of Punjabi poetry. He lived during the ruling periods of Mughal emperors Akbar ...

. He was born in 1926 in the village Basti Tambu Wali, situated in the heart of the

Thal Desert The Thal desert (Urdu, Punjabi: ) is situated at 31°10’ N and 71°30’ E in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. Located near the Pothohar Plateau, the area falls under the Indomalayan biogeographic realm and stretches for a length of approximat ...

, several miles from Kot Addu, (

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

Story behind the name

When he was only a few years old, his father brought his third wife to the family home, so his mother decided to leave his father. She took her young son along and went to Kot Addu to stay with her father. When the boy fell seriously ill, his mother took him to a 'syed's' house (a spiritual leader's house). The syed's wife looked after him, and advised his mother to change the boy's name because it seemed 'spiritually too heavy' for him. Syed's wife's daughter commented that he looked like ''Pathana'' (in that region, a name symbolising love and valour), and so from that day onwards, he was known as 'Pathanay Khan'. His mother credited the new name for saving the child's life.

Early life

Pathanay Khan was very attached to his mother. She took good care of him and tried to get him educated. However, he, like his father Khameesa Khan, spent his time wandering, contemplating and singing. His inherent nature lured him away from school after the seventh standard or grade class in his high school. He began singing, mostly the

s of

, the saint of

Mithankot Mithankot ( ur, ) also known as Kotmithan, is a city in Rajanpur District in Punjab, Pakistan. Mithankot is located on the west bank of the Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South ...

. His first teacher was Baba Mir Khan, who taught him everything he knew. Singing alone did not earn him enough, so the young Pathanay Khan started collecting firewood for his mother, who used to make bread for the villagers as a village baker. This enabled the family to earn a very modest living. It is said that remembering those days brought tears to his eyes and he believed that it was his love for God, music, and

that gave him strength to bear the burden. Pathanay Khan adopted singing as a profession in earnest after his mother's death. His singing had the capacity to bewitch his listeners, and he could sing for hours on end. Pathanay Khan was totally devoted to Khwaja Farid. He gave his own deeper meaning to Khwaja Sahib's poetry through his typical style of spirited singing. For example, Khwaja Farid's kafi "Piloo pakian ni vay" has been sung by Suraiya Multanikar, Hussain Bakhsh Dhadhi and many others. Suraiya Multanikar's composition presents it as a light folk song, while Hussain Bakhsh Dhadhi presents it as a classical piece decorated by his unique 'taans' in the style of classical music singer ''Ashiq Ali Khan''. However, Pathanay Khan's version of this kafi brings a deeper cosmic meaning to it. On the death anniversary of Pathanay Khan in 2016, folk icon

Shaukat Ali Shaukat Ali, also known as Shaukat Ali Khan, (3 May 1944 – 2 April 2021) was a Pakistani folk singer. Early life and career Born on 3 May 1944, into a family of artists in Malakwal, a town in District Gujrat (now falls in new District Mand ...

recalled that Pathanay Khan gave a new dimension to folk music in

by introducing his specific style of singing

kafi Kafi ( pa, ਕਾਫ਼ੀ (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi), Hindi: काफ़ी, Urdu: کافی, Sindhi:ڪافي) is a classical form of Sufi music mostly in the Siraiki, Punjabi and Sindhi languages and originating from the Punjab, and Sindh re ...

s and 'sufiana kalaam'. In 1976,

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...

, then prime minister of

, invited him to

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

for a private performance. When Pathanay Khan sang "Jindarri lutti tain yaar sajan, Kadi mor maharan tay wal a watan", Bhutto broke into tears. After the programme, the prime minister asked Pathanay Khan three times if he had any 'wish' to make that the Prime Minister could then fulfill. Each time the singer's reply was, "Bhutto Sahib, aap ko gharib awaam ki parat ho" (Bhutto Sahib, take care of the poor). At this, Bhutto hugged Pathanay Khan and said "I will surely take care of the poor".Pathanay Khan's relics up for auction
Dawn (newspaper) newspaper, Published 1 May 2007, Retrieved 5 September 2022

Popular hits on television

*"Chheena een chhaneeda yaar" *"Meda ishq vee toon" *"Peelu pakkian nee" *"Jindari lutti" *"Kia haal sunanwan dil da, koi mehram yaar na milda"Tribute to Pathanay Khan on YouTube
Retrieved 5 September 2022 * ''Ghoom Charakhreya, Teri Kattan Wali Jeevay''

Albums

Awards and recognition

Pride of Performance The Pride of Performance ( ur, ), officially known as Presidential Pride of Performance, is an award bestowed by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to recognize people with "notable achievements in the field of art, science, literature, sports, an ...

Award in 1979 by the President of Pakistan.Pathanay Khan's Profile and Pride of Performance Award info on The Express Tribune (newspaper)
Published 9 March 2016, Retrieved 5 September 2022Folk singer Pathanay Khan being remembered
Samaa TV News website, 9 March 2017, Retrieved 5 September 2022

Death

Pathanay Khan died after a protracted illness at his native town of Kot Addu on Thursday 9 March 2000.Pathanay Khan's death anniversary observed
Dawn (newspaper), Published 11 March 2017, Retrieved 5 September 2022 His funeral was attended by a large number of people including poets, intellectuals, lawyers, educationalists and district officials. He was buried in his native graveyard in Kot Addu.

References

External links

Pathane Khan on BBC Music website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Pathanay 1926 births 2000 deaths Pakistani classical singers Pakistani folk singers People from Muzaffargarh District Punjabi people Punjabi singers 20th-century singers Recipients of the Pride of Performance Performers of Sufi music