IRANIAN AND INDIAN INFLUENCE ON THE MUSIC OF AFGHANISTAN

Helai Karim
HIST 372: Afghanistan in Regional and Global Systems
December 12, 2014
 Introduction

Afghanistan has a mixture of cultures and influences, which serve as its distinctive identity.

The historical background of this region is unique in the sense that its crossroads characteristics

make it what it is. It was a region in the middle of many influential empires that made their mark

on the area. Multiple cultures continue to latch on to the Afghan region, adding more and more

influences, but never letting go of any completely. Iranian, Indian, and other influences continue

to be a part of Afghanistan. The region will still add on what it has learned, but it will never let go

of what it has already known.

Studying Afghanistan critically can be challenging due to the vast number of influences

the country has from its borders. Its central location creates a unique dynamic within the country

itself and on its borders. Afghanistan was a borderland between the Safavids and Mughals from

the 1500-1750. Historically Afghanistan is more so connected to South Asia, but is culturally more

so connected to Iran by means of language and culture. There have been many studies done on

Afghanistan by anthropologists, historians, economists, and political scientists. Though

anthropologists study culture, there is little study on Afghan music. The music of Afghanistan is a

significant part of Afghan’s lives, and the country’s people take pride in it, yet, little

ethnomusicology and musicology research has been done in the region compared to other areas in

the world.

Ethnomusicology is the study of music in its cultural context alongside critical musical

analysis. Musicians take a global approach to music in order to consider what music is, and how

it came to be that way. When analyzing Afghan music, Iranian and Indian music must be taken

into consideration. Afghanistan’s musical identity is as complex as the country’s identity itself. It

is evident through multiple forms of musical analysis that Afghanistan’s music has developed
through a combination of the two major influences of the region, Iran and India. This influence

can date back to Safavid and Mughal interactions from the 16th and 17th centuries. Afghanistan

was a borderland between these two empires at the time, which make their cultural influences both

prominent in the region.

An understanding of both Iranian and Indian music is important individually before

connecting them to Afghan music. Research is more prominent on Iranian and Indian music,

compared to Afghan music, which make it necessary to address the influential musical cultures

and their characteristics first. Through the similarities and differences found between Iranian,

Indian, and Afghan music, it can be stated that Afghanistan absorbed musical influences from

Safavid, Iranian culture and Mughal, Indian culture. These influences molded together served as

the basis of the identity of Afghan music.

Iranian Music

Research of Iranian music does not date back as far as desired, making it difficult to make

conclusions about the connections the culture had to Afghanistan during the Safavid era to the

present. Despite the gaps in research, the music speaks for itself, and its characteristics can be

identified.

Keith Howard’s Theory and Method in Historical Ethnomusicology, addresses the history

of Persian music in a chapter written by Ann E. Lucas. Lucas begins by clarifying that most

research done on Persian music has been done so on Traditional Persian Music, which developed

in the 19th century. She states that most research is largely written based on actual documents that

discuss music, making it more of a challenge to understand much older Persian musical ideas and

practices. Just like all other aspects of the deeper past, the earlier centuries in the region had much

older musical realities that are not well known. Lucas describes pre-modern writings about Persian
music to typically describe music making, as opposed to musical characteristics. It can be inferred

that they were simplified versions of musical characteristics developed in the 19th century.

Traditional Persian Music fits within other Middle Eastern musical ideas and practices, but does

not portray a linear continuity from the Middle Eastern musical past.

Based off of what is known, Lucas begins to discuss Traditional Persian Music and its

characteristics. Characteristics in this case describe melody and pitch, rhythm, lyrics and poetry,

instruments, and notation to name a few. There are different definitions of Persian terms, which is

also important to consider. Knowing what terms mean create the basis of understanding the

culture’s music. Lucas describes three specific aspects of modern Persian music making: pitch

modalities (dastgah), rhythmic cycles (usul/arud, meaning poetic meter), and musical form

(instrumental vs. vocal).

Lucas begins by describing radif as “a specific collection of monophonic melodies that

provide the structure of Traditional Persian Music theory and pedagogy while establish the specific

parameters of its performance practice.”1 Another important term for understanding melody and

pitch in Persian music is dastgah, or modal complexities according to Lucas. Each dastgah is a

separate modal framework creating a melodic template.

Persian musicians are known to learn by rote, or by ear, which has been the Middle Eastern

way of learning music for centuries across the region. Musical notation and theoretical learning

are said to have begun in the 1860s when Naseraddin Shah established a music school with

Western influence in Iran. This resulted in compromise of Persian intervals and pitches by

adjusting tones to fit a nonexistent, Western template.

1
Howard, Keith, Lucas Ann E., Theory and Method in Historical Ethnomusicology. (Lexington
Books, 2014),180.