Afghanistan: Female Musicians of Herat

In Afghanistan, gender ideology profoundly affects musical life, as nearly all musical activity is segregated between women and men. Women perform primarily in small groups in domestic contexts, especially at private gatherings, weddings, and other rites of passage. The city of Herat was known for its professional female musicians, who had no parallels elsewhere in the country.

These 1970s recordings of women and children singing love songs, lullabies, and melodies based on traditional quatrains (chahârbeit), accompanying themselves on large frame drums (dâireh), tabla, and Indian portable harmonium, capture a time before the civil wars and ongoing political unrest that severely disrupted Afghani music-making.

Veronica Doubleday recorded this music during ethnomusicological fieldwork in Herat. John Baily, her husband, produced Afghanistan: The Traditional Music of Herat as a result of that same trip, documenting Afghanistan’s male-dominated classical music tradition.

Track Listing

101	Bibi Gol Afruz	Zainab Herawi, Anar Gol	04:41
102	Galeh dokhtar	Adeh	02:02
103	Girls' music: clapping and drumming / O bacheh aughân / Anâr dâneh nadâre	n/a	02:35
104	Chahârbeiti sâbeqeh / Chahârbeiti Siâh Mu o Jalâli	Zainab Herawi, Anar Gol	09:14
105	Lullaby	Madar-e Zahir	03:00
106	Adam Khân	Adeh	03:00
107	Urban band dance music: Logâri / Mustafa / Shishkebâb	Zainab Herawi, Anar Gol, Urak, Halimeh	03:54
108	Dâireh dance pieces: Chahârtâi and Bâjekhâneh	Madar-e Abdul	01:46
109	Hawâbeh jân Hawâbeh / Ghu ghu balg-e chenâr	Mah Gol, Shah Gol	00:57
110	Alâ zan-e biweh / Sar-e pul-e Mâlân	Nassimeh Massieh	03:02
111	Asp-e khâseh zin konum	Madar-e Zahir	01:28
112	Yâr-e hamdam chere nemiyâyi?	Bobo	01:21
113	Tambaku / Arus gham nakhor	n/a	01:53
114	Processional drumming on the dâireh	Shah Gol	00:44
115	Wedding ritual sequence: Olang olang and Shelengi / Bâdâ bâdâ / Logari	Lagha, Gohar, Zuleikha	06:33
116	Bibi gol arus	Zainab Herawi, Anar Gol	01:32
117	Shâh dokhtar shekar dokhtar	Zainab Herawi, Anar Gol	02:32
118	Chahârbeiti	Hawa	02:58
119	Chahârbeiti barâye khodâhâfez	Madar-e Zahir	01:44
120	Najibeh gom shode	Zainab Herawi, Anar Gol	04:26
121	Leilâ Leilâ Leilâ	Adeh	02:21
122	Sefid kheimeh siâh kheimeh khorâmân	Zainab Herawi, Siah	02:30