Momin Khan Biltoon ( ps, مومن خان بیلتون; fa, بلتون), also known as his

honorific An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...

title

Ustad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from 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, , Azerbaijani, Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Marat ...

Beltoon, was an Afghan Pashtun singer from

Kabul Province Kabul (Persian: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is also Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province i ...

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 borde ...

. He was born in Chakari village of

Khaki Jabbar District Khaki Jabbar District (Persian: ولسوالی خاک جبار) is a mountainous district situated in the southeastern part of Kabul Province, Afghanistan. The district headquarters is Khak-i Jabbar village, which is located in the central part ...

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 #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

. However, he spent most of his life in

Logar Province Logar (Pashto/Dari: ; meaning Greater Mountain ( لوې غر)) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan located in the eastern section of the country. It is divided into 7 districts and contains hundreds of villages. Puli Alam is the capital of ...

of Afghanistan. Biltoon sang in both

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 ...

and

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 ...

languages. His style of music reflects the Kharabat style of

. Biltoon's father died before he was born, and his mother did so when he was young. He was raised by his sister in

of Afghanistan. Biltoon learned the rubab and

tanbur The term ''Tanbur'' ( fa, تنبور, ) can refer to various long-necked string instruments originating in Mesopotamia, Southern or Central Asia. According to the '' New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', "terminology presents a compli ...

at a young age. He started singing at the age of 15. His first song was in both Persian and

. Having made contributions to Afghan traditional music for over 70 years, Biltoon died at the age of 95 in Kabul. He was buried in Beni Hesar of Kabul.

References

Date of birth missing 2015 deaths 20th-century Afghan male singers Persian-language singers Pashto-language singers {{afghanistan-singer-stub