Mir Maftoon ( fa, میر مفتون) also written as Mehri Maftun, is an

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 ...

musician. Born 1962s in Badakhshan. He specialized in authentic instruments, principally the

dambura The ''dombra'', also known as ''dombyra'' ( kz, домбыра, uz, dombira, ba, думбыра) is a long-necked Kazakh, Uzbek and Bashkir lute and a musical string instrument. The dombyra shares certain characteristics with the komuz ...

(a two string

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

), the harmonium and the ghaychak (a two string violin). He combines the music styles from the region of Badakhshan (Northern Afghanistan) with each other and mixes musical elements of different ethnic origins of other Central Asian region's as well. In the West, Maftun is mainly known as an instrumentalist; in Afghanistan he is known as a singer as well.Prince Claus Fund
profile
/ref> His texts vary from romantic and humoristic to social critic. Maftun knew to survive in a country where music had been forbidden by the Taliban. He performed in Europe as well, like in 2001 in Arnhem in the Netherlands. In 2001 he was honored with an international

Prince Claus Award The Prince Claus Fund was established in 1996, named in honor of Prince Claus of the Netherlands. It receives an annual subsidy from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Fund has presented the international Prince Claus Awards annually si ...

"''for his musical talents and his role as a culture medium of the traditional music of North Afghanistan''."Trouw (11 December 2001
''Afghaanse luitspeler een van de twaalf prijswinnaars Prins Claus Fonds''

Discography

;Contributing artist *2005: ''Music From Afghan Badaksh'' *2010: '' The Rough Guide To The Music Of Afghanistan''

External links

Mehri Maftun (Massoud)
solo

References

Keyboardists Living people Afghan violinists Afghan Tajik people Afghan male singers Persian-language singers People from Badakhshan Province 20th-century Afghan male singers Year of birth missing (living people) {{Afghanistan-singer-stub