Pakistani folk music refers to the local genre of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

that originates from Pakistan.

Major folk singers

Malika Pukhraj Malika Pukhraj ( Punjabi, ur, ملكہ پکھراج ) (1912 – 2004) was a highly popular Ghazal and folk singer of Pakistan. She was generally known as "Malika", meaning "The Queen", publicly. She was extremely popular for her rendition ...

(1912 - 2004) (sang in

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 ...

Dogari Pahari language) *

Tufail Niazi Tufail Niazi (Punjabi, ur, طفیل نیازی) (1916 – 21 September 1990) was a Pakistani folk singer whose songs include "Saada Chirryan Da Chamba Ae," "Akhiyaan Lagiyaan Jawaab Na Daindian," "Layee Beqadran Naal Yaari, Tay Tut Gai Tarak K ...

(1916 - 1990) (sang in Punjabi language) *

Alam Lohar Alam Lohar ( pa, ) was a prominent Pakistani Punjabi folk music singer. He is credited with creating and popularising the musical term Jugni. Early life and career Alam Lohar was born in 1928 in Achh, near Kotla Arab Ali Khan, Gujrat Tehsil, ...

(1928 - 1979) (sang in Punjabi language, especially famous for popularizing

Jugni Jugni is an age-old narrative device used in Punjabi folk music. It is the traditional music of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Jugni is sung at Punjabi weddings in India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Australia and UK. In folk music, i ...

folk songs) *

Arif Lohar ) , native_name_lang = ur , birth_name = , alias = , birth_date = , origin = Punjab, Pakistan , instrument = Chimta , genre = Punjabi Folk music , occupation = Vocalist, musician , ...

(he is maintaining his father

's tradition as well as updating it by using more modern musical instruments) *

Pathanay Khan Pathanay Khan or Pathane Khan (Urdu: پٹھانے خان ; born Ghulam Mohammad; 1926 – 2000) was a legendary Saraiki people, Saraiki folk music, folk singer from Pakistan. He mostly sang Kafis or Ghazals (in Saraiki dialect, Saraiki), us ...

(1926 - 2000) (sang in Saraiki language) *

Muhammad Juman Ustad Muhammad Juman ( sd, استاد محمد جمن) (10 October 1935 – 24 January 1990) was a Sindhi musician and classical singer from Pakistan, whose impact on Sindhi music is still pervasive. Early life and career Muhammad Juman was ...

(1935 - 1990) (sang in Saraiki language) *

Reshma Reshma ( ur, ; c.1947 – 3 November 2013), was a Pakistani folk singer. Awarded with Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Distinction), the third highest honour and civilian award in Pakistan among other honours, she is remembered for folk songs and h ...

(1947 - 2013) (sang in Punjabi and Saraiki languages) *

Inayat Hussain Bhatti Inayat Hussain Bhatti ( ur, ), (12 January 1928 – 31 May 1999) was a Pakistani film playback singer, film actor, producer, director, script writer, social worker, columnist, religious scholar and a promoter of the development of the Punj ...

(1928 - 1999) (sang in Punjabi as well as Saraiki languages) * Mumtaz Lashari, (born 1945) *

Allan Faqir Allan Fakir (1932– 4 July 2000) ( Sindhi: ''علڻ فقيرُ'', Urdu: ''علن فقیر''), was a Pakistani folk singer. He was particularly known for his ecstatic style of performance, marked with extreme devotional rhetoric and Sufi dance-si ...

(1932 - 2000) (sang in Sindhi language) * Jamal-ud-Din Faqir (1952 - 2016) *

Faiz Muhammad Baloch ''Fāʾiz'' () is a male Arabic name meaning "successful" and "victorious" overflowing, plenty. It is derived from its root word ''Faʾz'' ( which means "successful". People with the name * Faiz Mohammad Katib Hazara (1862/63–1929), a Hazar ...

(1901 - 1982) (sang in Balochi language) *

Farida Khanum Farida Khanum (Urdu language, Urdu: ) is a Pakistani Music of Pakistan#Classical music, classical singer from the city of Kolkata West Bengal, India, West Bengal. She is also known by her honorific title ''Malika-e-Ghazal'' (The Queen of Ghazal) ...

(born 1929) (sings in Punjabi language) *

Abida Parveen Abida Parveen (Urdu, sd, ; born 20 February 1954) is a Pakistani singer, composer and musician of Sufi music. She is also a painter and entrepreneur. Parveen is one of the highest paid singers in Pakistan. Her singing and music has earned he ...

(born 1954) (sings in Punjabi language) *

Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi Attaullah Khan Niazi, SI PP (Urdu, Pashto: ) (born 19 August 1951), known professionally as Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi also known as Lala (meaning "elder brother" in Pashto and Punjabi), is a Pakistani musician from Isakhel, Mianwali, Punjab. ...

(born 1951) (sings in Saraiki language) *

Suraiya Multanikar Suraiya Multanikar (born 1940) is a Pakistani singer mostly known for her folk songs. Her repertoire includes classical, semi-classical, ghazal, folk songs and film songs.

(born 1940) (sings in Saraiki language) *

Taj Multani Taj may refer to: Buildings *Taj Mahal, a medieval mausoleum in the Indian city of Agra *Taj Palace, an Abbasid palace in medieval Baghdad *Taj-ul-Masajid, mosque in Bhopal * Taj building, Nowshera, Pakistan *Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, inte ...

(died 2018) *

Saieen Zahoor Saieen Zahoor Ahmed or Ali Saain Shafiu ( Punjabi: سائیں ظہور, born 1936) is a leading Punjabi Sufi musician from Pakistan. He has spent most of his life singing in Sufi shrines, and didn't produce a record until 2006, when he was nom ...

(born 1945) (sings in Punjabi language) *

Iqbal Bahu Iqbal Bahu ( ur, ; 4 September 1944 – 24 March 2012) was a Pakistani sufi and a folk singer. He is considered one of the greatest folk singers in subcontinent. Early life and career Iqbal Bahu was born as Muhammad Iqbal in Gurdaspur, Briti ...

(1944 - 2012) (sings in Punjabi language) * Ghulam Ali (born 1940) (sings in Punjabi language) *

Fida Hussain (ghazal singer) Fida Hussain (born 10 June 1988) is an Italian cricketer. He was named in Italy's squad for the 2017 ICC World Cricket League Division Five tournament in South Africa. He played in Guernsey's opening fixture, against Guernsey, on 3 September 201 ...

(1951 - 2020) *

Shaukat Ali Shaukat Ali, also known as Shaukat Ali Khan, (3 May 1944 – 2 April 2021) was a Pakistani folk singer. Early life and career Born on 3 May 1944, into a family of artists in Malakwal, a town in District Gujrat (now falls in new District Mandi ...

(1944 - 2021) (sang in Punjabi language) *

Surriya Khanum Surriya Khanum also spelled as Suraiya Khanum is a veteran Pakistani folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Fo ...

(sings in Punjabi and Saraiki languages)Surriya Khanum performing at Coke Studio (Pakistan), videoclip on YouTube
Retrieved 23 July 2019 *

Hamid Ali Bela Hamid refers to two different but related Arabic given names, both of which come from the Arabic triconsonantal root of Ḥ-M-D (ِِح-م-د): # (Arabic: حَامِد ''ḥāmid'') also spelled Haamed, Hamid or Hamed, and in Turkish Hamit; it m ...

(died 2001) (sang in Punjabi language) *

Sadiq Fakir Sadiq Fakir (Urdu: صادق فقیر) ( Sindhi :صادق فقير ) born on 20 March 1967, in Diplo, Pakistan was a singer and performer of Sindhi music from Sindh, Pakistan. Early life He belonged to the Manganhar tribe, and was born to Faqir F ...

(1967 - 2015) *

Sanam Marvi Sanam Marvi ( sd, ) (born : 17 April 1986) is a Pakistani folk and sufi singer. She sings in Sindhi, Punjabi, and Balochi languages.Rahim Shah Rahim Shah ( ps, ) is a Pakistani pop singer, composer and music producer, predominantly working in Pashto music industry. He sings primarily in Pashto language, Pashto, however he has also created songs in Urdu and Punjabi language, Punjab ...

(born 1975) (sings in

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 ...

language) *

Nazia Iqbal Nazia Iqbal ( ps, ) (born c.1984) is a Pashtun singer from Pakistan.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 ...

language) *

Gul Panra Minhaz, known professionally as Gul Panra ( ps, ; sometimes spelled Gulpanra), is a Pakistani Pashto language, Pashto folk singer and Concert tour, touring artist. Her Concert, live concerts include United Kingdom and Afghanistan. In 2015, she ...

(sings in Pashto Language)

Kafi

The Sindhi

kafi Kafi ( pa, ਕਾਫ਼ੀ (Gurmukhi), (Shahmukhi), Hindi: काफ़ी, Urdu: کافی, Sindhi:ڪافي) is a classical form of Sufi music mostly in the Siraiki, Punjabi and Sindhi languages and originating from the Punjab, and Sindh ...

is an indigenous musical form of

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

and

Punjab, Pakistan Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...

. The word kafi, is of

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 ...

origin, used in the sense of "final" or "enough" in the expression “Allah Kafi”, which means, “God Almighty is Supreme”. Thus the kafi is a devotional form of music composed in a particular form derived from a mixture of classical, semi-classical, and light music forms (specifically, the

khayal Khyal or Khayal (ख़याल / خیال) is a major form of Hindustani classical music in the Indian subcontinent. Its name comes from a Persian/Arabic word meaning "imagination". Khyal is associated with romantic poetry, and allows the perfor ...

, tappa,

thumri Thumri () is a vocal genre or style of Indian music. The term "thumri" is derived from the Hindi verb ''thumuknaa'', which means "to walk with a dancing gait in such a way that the ankle-bells tinkle." The form is, thus, connected with dance, dra ...

, and

geet Geet may refer to: Media * geet (song), a traditional Hindi or Urdu song * ''Geet'' (1944 film) * ''Geet'' (1970 film), a Bollywood film directed by Ramanand Sagar * ''Geet'' (1992 film), a Bollywood film directed by Parto Ghosh * ''Geet'' (TV ...

). The mystic poetry of the

Sufi Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

saints is usually sung in this mode. There is a Punjabi variant of kafi singing. Like Sindhi kafi, the mood and the theme of Punjabi Kafi may also be termed as secular and humanistic. In their Kafis,

Shah Hussain Shah Hussain ( pa, ; ; 1538–1599), also known as Madhoo Lal Hussain, was a 16th-century Punjabi Muslim Sufi poet who is regarded as a pioneer of the Kafi form of Punjabi poetry. He lived during the ruling periods of Mughal emperors Akbar ...

(16th century) and

Bulleh Shah Syed Abdullah Shah Qadri ( pa, ; ; 1680–1757), known popularly as Bulleh Shah ( pa, ; ) and Bulleya, was a Punjabi philosopher and Sufi poet during 17th-century Punjab. His ancestors had migrated from Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan) ...

(18th century) have adopted a strategy to communicate their thoughts, serving the humanity in a powerful and effective way. The satirical tone of these kafis, sometimes, depicts true picture of political situations and social conditions of their own days. The Sindhi kafi is short, simple, and lucid in composition and tone.

Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai ( sd, شاھ عبداللطيف ڀٽائي, ur, ; 1689/1690 – 21 December 1752), commonly known by the honorifics ''Lakhino Latif'', ''Latif Ghot'', ''Bhittai'', and ''Bhit Jo Shah'', was a Sindhi Sufi mystic, an ...

, a renowned Sufi saint and mystic poet of Sindh (d. 1752), contributed considerably to the development of the Sindhi kafi, writing many verses and composing tunes which he named “The Sur of Shah Latif”. His tunes are still popular. The late ''

Zahida Parveen Zahida Parveen is an Indian actress. She is most known for playing Badi in '' Thief of Baghdad'', the evil Yashodhara Masi in ''Yahaaan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli'' and Gayatri Scindia in ''Punar Vivah''. She was most recently seen in Zee TV’s ' ...

'' was a master of kafi singing. Her daughter, ''Shahida Parveen'', possesses her mother's command of the form and her devotional urge. Yet today's trends, and perhaps necessity, have led her away from kafis and towards the geet, the ghazal, semi-classical and folk forms.

is another renowned kafi singer of Sindh, but she, too, sings in many other genres. Folk artist with an accent music instrument

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Folk Music Of Pakistan

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

Major folk singers

Kafi

See also

References