Kharābat () is a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

in the old city of

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

, Afghanistan. It is a historic area near Hinduguzar, the quarter of

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

s and

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

s. It has long accommodated musicians. Kharābat has educated many famous musicians of Afghanistan in the Indian Patiali school.

Terminology

The reason why the area is called ''Kharabat'' can be traced back to the term in Persian poetry, where it originally referred to

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

s. 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.

Musical heritage

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 the rubab. During the time of Ali Shir Khan, it became a centre of art and music and home to many great artists such as Father Ustad Qasem Jo and the predecessor of

Mohammad Hussain Sarahang 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 a ...

War and rebuilding

During the rule of the

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

, many musicians emigrated. Many sons and daughters of Kharābat musicians returned after the fall of the Taliban in 2001 to rebuild the community, including Sitar Jo ("Sitar-student") and Qasem Jo ( Wahid Qasemi).

Notable people

Mohammad Hashem Cheshti Mohammad Hashem Cheshti, also known with surname Chishti and as Ustad Hashem (), was a contemporary classical musician and composer born in Kharabat area of Kabul, Afghanistan, who died in 1994 in Germany under unclear circumstances. Early l ...

(died 1994), classical musician and composer * Ghulam Dastagir Shaida (1916–1970), singer and musician

References

Sources

External links

Kharabat of Kabulold traditions and new virtuosos in kharabat
{{coord missing, Afghanistan Neighborhoods of Kabul