Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

has had a number of different

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

s throughout its history.

History

The Royal Salute (1926–1943)

Afghanistan's first national anthem was adopted during its period as a

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy) ...

. It was instrumental and had no lyrics.

Grand Salute (Our Brave and Noble King) (1943–1973)

This was Afghanistan's second national anthem during its monarchical period.

National anthem of the Republic of Afghanistan (1973–1978)

Be ardent, be more ardent (1978–1991)

Another national anthem was adopted after the

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. The PDPA came to power ...

was set up in 1978. Its lyrics were written by Sulaiman Layeq on behalf of the government of the

People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), ''Hezb-e dimūkrātĩk-e khalq-e Afghānistān'' was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afgha ...

(PDPA) headed by

Nur Muhammad Taraki Nur Muhammad Taraki (; 14 July 1917 – 9 October 1979) was an Afghan revolutionary communist politician, journalist and writer. He was a founding member of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) who served as its General Secret ...

, who decided to change the national symbols after the Marxist coup d'état of 1978. The music was composed by Jalīl Ghahlānd and was arranged by Ustad Salim Sarmad. It is known alternatively by the title of "Garam shah lā garam shah" ( en, "Be ardent, be more ardent"), which is also the song's

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

. Like many national anthems, it was sometimes sung abbreviated, with only the chorus and the first stanza. In 1986, Afghanistan officially abandoned communism, but this song was kept as the national anthem until 1991, when it was discontinued.

Fortress of Islam, Heart of Asia (1991–1996, 2001–2006)

From 1991 to 2006,

used a

mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...

battle song composed in 1919 by

Ustad Qasim Qasem Jo (; 1878–1957), better known as Ustad Qasim (استاد قاسم), was an Afghan musician, composer, and singer. He is generally considered by musicologists to be one of the most well-known Afghan musicians of the 20th century. Early ...

as its national anthem. It is also known alternatively by the title "Fortress of Islam, Heart of Asia" ( fa, قلعه اسلام قلب اسیا), which is also the song's incipit. The song was reintroduced by the new

transitional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or f ...

of Afghanistan in 2002; it remained such when the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was established in 2004 and was used by the latter until 2006.

This Is the Home of the Brave (1996–2001, 2021-)

During the late 1990s, the

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

under the

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

took control over most of Afghanistan from the UN-recognized government and ruled most of the country until late 2001. The Taliban did not have formal laws specifying its symbols, including the flag and the anthem. An ''

a capella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

'' ''

nasheed A nasheed (Arabic: singular ', plural ', meaning: "chants") is a work of vocal music, partially coincident with hymns, that is either sung ''a cappella'' or with instruments, according to a particular style or tradition within Islam. Nasheed ...

'' song named ''

This Is the Home of the Brave "This Is the Home of the Brave" ( ps, دا د باتورانو کور, translit=Dā də bātorāno kor) is a Pashto-language nasheed and the national anthem of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (de facto). It is an a cappella song, meaning that ...

'' () was used in its media and official ceremonies, serving as a ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

'' national anthem.

National anthem of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2006–2021)

A new National Anthem (, ps, , translit=Millī Surūd; ) was adopted and officially announced as such by a

Loya Jirga A jirga ( ps, جرګه, ''jərga'') is an assembly of leaders that makes decisions by consensus according to Pashtunwali, the Pashtun social code. It is conducted in order to settle disputes among the Pashtuns, but also by members of other ethnic ...

in May 2006. According to Article 20 of the Afghan constitution, the

shall be in

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

with the mention of " God is Greatest" as well as the names of the ethnicities in Afghanistan. The lyrics were written by Abdul Bari Jahani, and the music was written by German–Afghan composer .

References

External links

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1992 to 2006 Afghan national anthem1992 to 2006 Afghan national anthem
{{Authority control Afghan songs National symbols of Afghanistan National Anthem of Afghanistan Asian anthems