Farhad Darya (

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 ...

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 � ...

: ; born 22 September 1962) is an

Afghan singer The music of Afghanistan comprises many varieties of classical music, folk music, and modern popular music. Afghanistan has a rich musical heritage and features a mix of Persian melodies, Indian compositional principles, and sounds from ethn ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and music producer who has written and composed songs in various languages. Darya sings in various languages including mostly his native language of Persian/Dari and

but also in Uzbeki,

Hindi-Urdu Hindustani (; Devanagari: , * * * * ; Perso-Arabic: , , ) is the ''lingua franca'' of Northern and Central India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, the langu ...

and English. Darya serves as the

United Nations Development Program The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

(UNDP) National Goodwill Ambassador for Afghanistan and is involved in numerous charitable organizations, such as ''Music Village'' and others.

Early years and personal life

Farhad Darya 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 ...

, Afghanistan to a Nasher branch of the

Khilji The Khalji or Khilji (Pashto: ; Persian: ) dynasty was a Turco-Afghan dynasty which ruled the Delhi sultanate, covering large parts of the Indian subcontinent for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.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 ...

tribe and his family originating from

Kunduz Province Qunduz (Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northern part of the country next to Tajikistan. The population of the province is around 1,136,677, which is mostly a tribal society; it is one of Afghanistan's most ethni ...

. He is the grandson of

Sher Khan Nashir Sher Khan Nashir (also: Nasher) was the hereditary Grand Khan (Loy Khan) of the Nashir clan of the Kharoti (Ghilji) tribe and governor (Wali) of Northern Afghanistan in the 1930s, known as the "father of Kunduz. He was apparently poisoned by the K ...

. He studied Persian literature while attending

Kabul University Kabul University (KU; prs, دانشگاه کابل, translit= Dāneshgāh-e-Kābul; ps, د کابل پوهنتون, translit=Da Kābul Pohantūn) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd ...

. During this time, he wrote music for other artists under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Abr (Cloud), and started playing

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

and

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

. He later left the university and enrolled in the

Afghan Armed Forces ("The land belongs to Allah, the rule belongs to Allah") , founded = 1997 , current_form = , branches = * Afghan Army * Afghan Air Force , headquarters = Kabul , website = , commander-in-chief ...

. In 1990 he immigrated 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 ...

and began singing again. After traveling through

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Darya arrived in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, where he would meet Sultana Emam. The two were married in 1993 and moved to

Northern Virginia Northern Virginia, locally referred to as NOVA or NoVA, comprises several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is a widespread region radiating westward and southward from Washington, D.C. Wit ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1995. A year later they gave birth to a son, Hejran Darya.

Career

Since Darya's television debut on Afghanistan's television network in 1980, he has released over two dozen albums. He founded a band, ''Goroh-e-Baran'' (meaning "Rain Band") with

Asad Badie Asad Badie ( fa, أسد بديع) is a singer from Afghanistan of pop (music), pop music. He is one of the 1980s era singers that emerged as Afghan music was reaching the zenith of its international popularity. As a member of ''Goroh-e-Baran'' ...

, which became one of the best known Afghan bands in the 1980s. Throughout his career Darya has sold over 2 million copies of albums – the acclaimed ones produced in

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

, many of which deal with the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

and the resulting misfortunes of the war-torn nation. Most of the music is aimed at helping Afghans bringing peace and unity to their country, and deals with themes of national unity. He released his ''Salaam Afghanistan'' album in 2003, with a DVD release of music videos in March 2004. In September 2006, Darya's new single ''Salamalek'' in a collaboration with German musician

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), h ...

was released, as part of Maffay's album ''Begegnungen – Eine Allianz für Kinder''. It was Darya's first

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

song. In August 2007, Darya completed his new album ''HA!'' and was released in Afghanistan, followed by Germany in March 2008. The video of his song Dohle Bezan (Nazdeek Shodan) (''Talk To Me''/''Closer'') from the album HA! premiered on Afghan's national television in February 2008. Later that year, Darya's new album ''Yahoo'' was released. He has not worked on a new album since, although has released several singles, including ''Attan'', ''Dew Hai Mast'', ''Nashkenad'' and ''Oo Ghaita''.

Awards

*2003: Afghanistan: ''Best Singer of the Year'' *2005: Denmark: ''Best Singer of the Year'' *2006: Human Rights Award, by Commission of Human Rights *2008: Afghanistan: ''Best Album of the Year'' *2009: Afghanistan: ''Best Singer of the Year'' *2011: Dubai, UAE: ''Best Singer of the Year'' *2012: India: ''"Super Star" ATN Award''

Discography

Farhad Darya's Peace Concert in 2010-cropped

*Studio albums (Afghanistan-only releases) **''Rahe Rafta'' (راه رفته) (1981) **''Afghan Folk Music'' (محلي) (1982) **''Zaro Jane'' (زارو جانه) (1982) **''Baran'' (باران) (1983) **''Ghazal'' (غزل) (1985) **''Bolbole Awara'' (بلبل آواره) (1986) **''Mazdeegar'' (مازديگر) (1988) **''Bazme Ghazal'' (بزم غزل) (1988) **''Mehrbaani'' (مهربانی) (1989) *Studio albums (International releases) **''Begum Jan'' (بیگم جان) (1992) **''Teri Soorat'' (तेरी सूरत / تیری صورت) **''Afghanistan'' (افغانستان) (1995) **''Shakar'' (شكر) (1997) **''In Foreign Land'' (در سرزمين بيگانه) (1999) **''Qabila-e-Ashiq'' (قبیلهء عاشق) (2000) **''Golom Golom'' (گُلم گُلم) (2000) **''Salaam Afghanistan'' (سلام افغانستان) (2003) **''HA!'' (!ها ) (2007) **''Yahoo'' (2008) *Video-only releases **''Yaare Bewafaa'' (یار بی وفا) (1980) **''Ateschparcha'' (آتش پرچه) (1993) **''Live In San Francisco'' (كنسرت سانفرانسيسكو) (1996) **''Live In Europe'' (1999) *Compilations **'' Listen To The Banned'' (2010) **'' The Rough Guide To The Music Of Afghanistan'' (2010)

Filmography

Darya produced additional scoring and lyrics for ''Through Her Eyes'' a film by Mithaq Kazimi in 2007. Darya produced background music for the film ''In Foreign Land'' (1998).Review of ''In Foreign Land'' at Afghanland
Retrieved 1 December 2017.

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Darya, Farhad 1962 births Living people Pashtun people Afghan composers People from Kabul Afghan male singers Hindi-language singers Pashto-language singers Persian-language singers 21st-century Afghan male singers 20th-century Afghan male singers Afghan emigrants to the United States Afghan expatriates in the United States