Ahmad Wali (
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 langua ...
/
Dari
Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...
: ) is an Afghan
Ghazal singer. He began his career in the 1970s, becoming popular in his native country before he was forced to flee by political upheaval in Afghanistan. He continued his work after resettling in Germany, performing throughout Europe and North America.
Background
Ahmad Wali was born in
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) 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; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
to an ethnic
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
family belonging to the
Mohammadzai
Mohammadzai ( ps, محمدزی), also spelled Moḥammadzay (meaning "descendants of Mohammad"), is a Pashtun sub-tribe or clan of the Barakzai which is part of the Durrani confederacy of tribes. They are primarily centered on Kandahar, Kabul a ...
tribe. His father, Mohammad Akram Nawabi, was a former police commander who served in various provinces across
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 ...
.
He began exploring music as a
Tabla
A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల ...
player at the age of 12, gradually expanding into singing. While a student at
Habibia High School
Habibia High School ( fa, لیسه عالی حبیبیه) is a school in southwestern Kabul, Afghanistan which has educated many of the former and current Afghan elite, including President Ashraf Ghani and musician Ahmad Zahir. It was founded by K ...
, he recorded a
demo tape which came to the attention of
Radio Kabul
Radio Afghanistan, also known as Radio Kabul or Voice of Sharia, is the Public broadcasting, public radio station of Afghanistan, owned by Radio Television Afghanistan. The frequencies are 1107 kHz (AM) and 105.2 MHz (FM) for the Kabul area. The ...
director and famous Afghan singer
Ustad Zaland
Jalil Zaland (Dari/Pashto: ) (also spelled as Jalil Zoland and Ustad Zoland; or ) was a veteran singer of Afghanistan's golden music era. He is also a poet and music composer.
He is the father of Farid Zoland, Shahla Zaland, Soheila Zaland, W ...
. Soon afterward, Ahmad Wali performed two other songs: "Chashman–e–Abee," a piece composed by Zaland, and "Mah-ruye-tu" a song composed by Ahmad Wali himself. Wali performed live throughout Afghanistan until after his high school graduation when he joined an international musical performance in
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
.
Career
At the early stages of his career, Wali had not yet committed to life as a professional musician, and enrolled in the Kabul Police Academy.
He continued performing and soon committed to a career in music, being taken as a student by Ustad Zaland. He developed a following throughout Afghanistan, with frequent appearances on national television and radio programs, as well as live performances.
After the
Saur Revolution of 1978, life in Afghanistan became difficult, and in 1980, shortly after the
invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union, Wali—then a well-known musician in his homeland—fled the country with a forged passport.
Wali's forged passport got him as far as
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, where he obtained a
visa
Visa most commonly refers to:
*Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company
** Visa Debit card issued by the above company
** Visa Electron, a debit card
** Visa Plus, an interbank network
*Travel visa, a document that allows ...
to
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
by faking an illness.
In 1984 and 1985 Wali's concerts in Germany,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Switzerland,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, and
Sweden helped raise funds in support of Afghan refugees displaced by the Soviet-Afghan conflict. During the same years, he held a joint fundraising concert with
Peter Maffay
Peter Alexander Makkay (born 30 August 1949), known as Peter Maffay (), is a Romanian-born German musician, singer, and composer.
Early life
Born in Braşov (german: link=no, Kronstadt), Romania, the son of a German ( Transylvanian Saxon), ...
, a famous German singer, as well. In 1987, Ahmad Wali performed a series of benefit concerts with Abdullah Atemadi and Ensemble in New York, California, and Virginia.
[Advertisement in '']Washington City Paper
The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focu ...
'', circa 1987 On 18 August 2005, Ahmad Wali performed at the
Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington D.C., to celebrate and honor
Afghanistan's National Independence Day.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wali, Ahmad
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Afghan ghazal singers
20th-century Afghan male singers
Afghan emigrants to Germany
Pashtun people
People from Kabul
Male ghazal singers