Manizha Davlat (; born on December 31, 1982) (also spelled as Manizha Davlatova, Manija Davlat, Manizha Dawlat and Manija Dawlat) is a former

Tajikistani The Demographics of Tajikistan is about the demography of the population of Tajikistan, including population growth, population density, ethnicity, education level, health, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the popul ...

pop singer. She is associated with

Persian pop music Iranian pop music or Persian pop music () refers to pop music originated in Iran, with songs mainly in Persian and other regional Persian dialects of the country and region. History Early Iranian popular music Following the invention of radio i ...

. Manizha sings in

Tajiki Tajik, Tajik Persian, Tajiki Persian, also called Tajiki, is the variety of Persian language, Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by ethnic Tajiks. It is closely related to neighbouring Dari of Afghanistan with which it forms a dialect co ...

, a

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

Modern Persian New Persian (), also known as Modern Persian () is the current stage of the Persian language spoken since the 8th to 9th centuries until now in Greater Iran and surroundings. It is conventionally divided into three stages: Early New Persian (8th/ ...

native to her country. She performs in concerts regularly in her native Tajikistan as well as other neighboring countries. She has fans in parts of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

, mainly among the

Tajik people Tajik, Tajikistan or Tajikistani may refer to. Someone or something related to Tajikistan: Tajik * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik alphabet, Alphabet u ...

of Central Asia.

Background

When Manija was young, her behavior and speech were not unusual like children of the same age, and she discovered her affinity for singing in front of her family. As a result, she wanted to become a singer. Her father was her first teacher, prioritising in the field of art, although he passed away. Manija started her career in 2001 with the song "Dar Labi Joy”. She also considers singer Zikrullah Hakimov to be her first teacher in the field of art. Manizha was born in

Kulob Kulob or Khatlon is a city in Khatlon Region in southern Tajikistan. Located southeast of the capital Dushanbe on the river Yakhsu (a right tributary of Panj), it is one of the largest cities in the country. Its population is estimated at 106 ...

, Tajikistan. Since her concert in

Mazar-e-Sharif Mazar-i-Sharīf ( ; Dari and ), also known as Mazar-e Sharīf or simply Mazar, is the fifth-largest city in Afghanistan by population, with the estimates varying from 500,000-680,000. It is the capital of Balkh province and is linked by highway ...

and

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 ...

, she has gained popularity in Afghanistan in addition to building on her already established renown in Central Asian countries. A recent poll conducted in Kabul in 2003 named Manija (among

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

speakers) and

Nazia Iqbal Nazia Iqbal () (born 1984) is an Pashtun singer from Swat, Pakistan.Pashto Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

speakers) as the most popular female singers in that country. As of 2004, she has two albums, both recorded live in

. Her concert in

drew thousands of enthusiastic fans. Reportedly in both of these concerts, the stage was filled with flower bouquets. In 2006, she performed in a series of concerts along

Leila Forouhar Leila Forouhar (, ''Leilâ Foruhar''; born 23 February 1959) is a Persian pop and classical singer. She was a child star, acting from the age of 3. She relocated to next door Turkey in 1986, then to Paris, before emigrating to Los Angeles in 1988 ...

Dushanbe Dushanbe is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 1,564,700, with this population being largely Tajiks, Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as St ...

, Tajikistan. Manija has not been performing since 2006. She claims the reason for this is her disappointment in today's

Tajik Tajik, Tajikistan or Tajikistani may refer to. Someone or something related to Tajikistan: Tajik * Tajiks, an ethnic group in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan * Tajik language, the official language of Tajikistan * Tajik alphabet, Alphabet u ...

pop culture and her present interest in

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, which considers performing for entertainment as a sin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawlat, Manija 1982 births Living people Tajik-language singers Persian-language singers of Tajikistan Tajikistani women singers Tajikistani Sunni Muslims Tajik singers People from Khatlon Region 21st-century women singers 21st-century Tajikistani women singers