Qasem Jo (; 1878–1957), better known as

Ustad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian language, Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian language, Persian, , Azerbai ...

Qasim (استاد قاسم), was an Afghan musician, composer, and singer. He is generally considered by

musicologists Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

to be one of the most well-known Afghan musicians of the 20th century.

Early life and education

Qasim was of

Kashmiri Kashmiri may refer to: * People or things related to the Kashmir Valley or the broader region of Kashmir * Kashmiris, an ethnic group native to the Kashmir Valley * Kashmiri language, their language People with the name * Kashmiri Saikia Baruah ...

descent and was born as ''Qasem Jo'' in the Gozar Barana district of the Afghan capital city of

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 ...

during the late 1870s. He descended from a musical lineage, as his father, Sitar Jo, was both a musician and a ''nawab'' (viceroy). Upon a friend's invitation, Qasim's father immigrated from his native Kashmir to Afghanistan to provide his musical services to the country's

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) ...

, and it is here where Qasim was born. Qasim attended a ''

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

'', an Arabic educational institution, which specialized solely in religious studies; as such, he learned

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

from his father. He also learned to play such musical instruments such as the ''

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

'' and the ''

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� ...

'', as well as a number of languages, including

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 � ...

from his mother,

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 ...

from his teacher,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

from his religious school. At the same time, his geographical proximity to Barana, a famous musical quarter of Kharabat, contributed to his development as a musician.

Career

Ustad Qasim at the British embassy, circa 1917

Qasim developed his own musical style, as required by the Afghan court, from the

symbiosis Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

between

classical Indian 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 ...

and Afghan

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

. He primarily sang composed songs in Dari, the official court language of both the

Iranian plateau The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature in Western Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia. It comprises part of the Eurasian Plate and is wedged between the Arabian Plate and the Indian Plate; situated between the Zagros ...

and

northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

, but also wrote and performed songs in Urdu,

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

, and Pashto. During Qasim's life, Afghanistan was ruled by a monarchy. From the age of 20 onward, Qasim provided his musical services to various Afghan sovereigns, including

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...

, who was known as the "Bismarck of Afghanistan" and who made him the court's royal singer. This promotion is said to have consisted of a '' rubab'' and 200 Afghanis, known at the time as

rupees Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

. As such, Qasim performed in a

British embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Com ...

in 1917. Music composed by Qasim in 1919 was used in 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 and, in turn, as the

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 ...

of Afghanistan from 1992 to 2006. Qasim reached the high point of his career during the administration of Emir Habibullah Khan. The reform king continued to support Qasim's music, even after his father's murder. Qasim opened a

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

and, as a result of his talents, received the title of "

" (master) from Habibullah Khan. His popularity increased even further as

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

came to Kabul. Amanullah Khan was allegedly so enthralled by Qasim's voice and his songs that he even had Qasim's

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

played on gramophones during

state visits A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Credits

Qasim often used the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

''Kassim Afghan'' (قاسم افغان) as well as other pseudonyms using the word ''Afghan'', in order to pay tribute to the land in which he was born. Due to his popularity and influence, Qasim eventually became known as the "father of Afghan music" and the "founder of classical Afghan music." He was also a leader of Kharabat and both Qasim and his students contributed significantly to music and the construction of musical instruments in Afghanistan, especially for the rehabilitation of musicians and artists who were still occasionally suffering

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

by music-averse rulers in Afghanistan, such as in the times of

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 ...

rule, among others. Qasim influenced many Afghan musicians, such as

Rahim Bakhsh Rahim Bakhsh ( fa, رحیم‌بخش), commonly known as an ustad (maestro) of Hindustani classical music and classical music culture from Afghanistan. He is also well-renowned and popular in a few neighboring countries. He was born in Kharabat (Ka ...

and Mohammad Omar. Many of his direct descendants also carried on his musical legacy, becoming musicians like him. The most famous first- and second-generation students of Qasim include: * Ustad Natu (singer) * Ustad Saber * Ustad Rahim Baksh (singer) * Ustad Nabigul * Ustad Mohammad Omar (''rubab'' player) * Ustad Nazar (''

dilruba The dilruba (also spelt dilrupa) is a bowed musical instrument originating in India. It is slightly larger than an esraj and has a larger, square resonance box. The dilruba holds particular importance in Sikh history. It became more widely k ...

'' player) Further prominent descendants and students of his include Ustad Yaqob Qasimi, Esa Qasimi, Yusuf Qasimi, Asef Qasimi, Musa Qasimi, Ustad Breshna,

Zahir Howaida Zahir Howaida, also spelled as Zahir Huwaida (Dari: ) (February 28, 1945 – 5 March 2012), was an Afghan musician. He had been active since the 1960s and his popularity peaked with the hit songs "Kamar Bareek-e-Man" and "Shanidam Az Inja Safar ...

, and

Nashenas Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Fitrat, born Sadiq Fitrat Habibi, (Pashto/Dari: ), known professionally as Nashenas (Pashto/Dari: ), is one of the oldest surviving musicians from Afghanistan. His fame began in the late 1950s, and since then he has produced ma ...

Awards in Afghanistan

* Award of an ivory ''rubab'' * The title of Ustad *

Medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

for music by the independent concerto * Title of "Star of the East" * Man of the Year in 1929 * A gift of 20

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

of land from

Mohammed Nadir Shah Mohammed Nadir Shah ( Persian and ps, محمد نادر شاه – born Mohammed Nadir Khan; 9 April 1883 – 8 November 1933) was King of Afghanistan from 15 October 1929 until his assassination in November 1933. Previously, he served as Mini ...

Gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

and a new Chrevolet * A bust of Ustad Qasim in front of the station headquarters of Radio Kabul * After his death, a gravestone in the capital city of Kabul

Notes

The Art of Afghan Music: Ustād Mahwash, Vocals
at asia.si.edu, accessed on November 20, 2020.

References

External links

A selection of Qasim's music in FLAC format
at the Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Qasim, Ustad 1878 births 1957 deaths Afghan musicians Afghan people of Kashmiri descent Afghan composers Afghan culture Afghan singers Sitar players Harmonium players National anthem writers