Ghulam Mohammad , known popularly as Pathanay Khan (; 1926 – 9 March 2000), was a Pakistani folk singer from Kot Addu,

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. He was associated with the

folk music of Punjab Punjabi folk music (, or Punjabi Folk) is the traditional music on the traditional musical instruments of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. There is a great repertoire of music from the time of birth through the different stages of j ...

and mostly sang ''

kafi Kafi is a classical form of Sufi music in the Punjabi and Sindhi languages that originated from the Punjab and Sindh regions of South Asia. Some well-known Kafi poets are Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Sa ...

s'' and ''

ghazal ''Ghazal'' is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry that often deals with topics of spiritual and romantic love. It may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss, or separation from the beloved, and t ...

s'', usually drawing on the

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

poetry of

Bulleh Shah Sayyid Abdullāh Shāh Qādrī (; ), popularly known as Baba Bulleh Shah and vocatively as Bulleya, was a Punjabi revolutionary philosopher, reformer and Chishti Sufi poet, regarded the 'Father of Punjabi Enlightenment'; and one of the g ...

Khwaja Ghulam Farid Khawaja Ghulam Farid (also romanized as Fareed; /1845 – 24 July 1901) was a 19th-century Sufi poet and mystic from Bahawalpur, Punjab, British India belonging to the Chishti Order. Most of his work is in his mother tongue ''Multani'', or what ...

, Pir Meher Ali Shah and

Shah Hussain Shah Hussain (; 1538 – 1599), also known as Mādhū Lāl Hussain, was a Punjabis, Punjabi Sufi poet, who is regarded as a pioneer of the ''Kafi'' form in Punjabi poetry; and the first major History of Punjab#Early Modern period (1526 AD – ...

. He is regarded as a "legendary" figure of folk music. He was born in 1926 in the village Basti Tambu Wali, situated in the heart of the

Thal Desert The Thal desert (, ''Thal Sahrā'h''; Urdu: , ''Sehrā-é-Thal'') is situated at 31°10’ N and 71°30’ E in the province of Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab, Pakistan. Located near the Pothohar Plateau, the area falls under the Indomalayan realm, I ...

, several miles from Kot Addu, (

Early life

Ghulam Mohammad was born in 1926 in his ancestral village, Basti Tambu Wali, in Kot Addu,

British Punjab The Punjab Province, officially the Province of the Punjab, was a province of British India, with its capital in Lahore and summer capitals in Murree and Simla. At its greatest extent, it stretched from the Khyber Pass to Delhi; and from th ...

to a Saraiki-speaking family. 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

Kafi Kafi is a classical form of Sufi music in the Punjabi and Sindhi languages that originated from the Punjab and Sindh regions of South Asia. Some well-known Kafi poets are Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah, Shah Hussain, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Sa ...

s of

, the saint of

Mithankot Mithankot ( Punjabi / ) also known as Kot Mithan, is a city in Rajanpur District in Punjab, Pakistan. Mithankot is located on the west bank of the Indus River, a short distance downstream from its junction with Panjnad River. Most of its inhabita ...

. 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.

Story behind the name

When he was only a few years old, Pathanay Khan's father married a third time, upon which 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'' (a spiritual leader) 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 a

Pathan Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

, and so from that day onwards, he was known as 'Pathanay Khan'. His mother credited the new name for saving the child's life.

Career

Pathanay Khan was totally devoted to

and

. He gave his own deeper meaning to Khwaja'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 Suraiya Multanikar (born 1940) is a Pakistani singer mostly known for her folk songs especially kafis. Her repertoire includes classical, semi-classical, ghazal, folk songs, kafis and film songs. Early life and family Multanikar was born i ...

, 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

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

by introducing his specific style of singing

s and 'sufiana kalaam'. In 1976,

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

, then prime minister of

, invited him to

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

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

Award in 1979 by the

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan () is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The president is the nominal head of the executive and the supreme commander of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

.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.

Notes

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 singers 20th-century singers Recipients of the Pride of Performance Performers of Sufi music People from Punjab Province (British India)