Music & song from the mountains of Central Asia  
Music and Song of Badakhshan

Aqnazar Alovatov: vocals, Pamiri tanbur
Saheba Dovlatshaeva: vocals, daf, Pamiri rubab, dance
Shodikhon Mabatkulov: vocals, daf

Situated within Tajikistan, Badakshan is an autonomous region in western Pamir, adjoining Afghanistan and China.

In this region where the mountain peaks rival their Himalayan neighbours, the local traditions of religious music and mystical songs and dances have long prospered among the mountain peoples of Pamir, among whom many are Ismaelite Shiite Muslims.

His Highness The Aga Khan is the spiritual leader, or Imam, of the Ismaelite Shiite Muslims. They have developed distinct religious and cultural practices, and these local traditions have largely been preserved by the obscure geographical position of Badakshan.

Aqnazar, Saheba and Shadikhan live in Khorog, the regional capital and the largest city of Badakhshan, with some 40 000 inhabitants. Their repertoire includes Maddah (songs of praise), bearers of Baraka (divine protection), lamentations accompanied by specific instruments called falak, and les khalqi (popular traditional songs).

For Badakhshanis, music and dance are intimately connected and Saheba, an exceptional dancer who is also the best singer in the country, illustrates the rich symbolism of the Pamiri dances. Aqnazar is best known for his renditions of the poems of Jallaleddin Rumi, the great mystic and Sufi writer of the 13th century, author of the Mesnevi and the inspiration behind the Brotherhood of the Whirling Dervishes of Konya.

With the support of The Aga Khan Trust for Culture
and
the Aga Khan Music Initiativei in Central Asia (Akmica)

The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA) works to protect and to promote the musical traditions of Central Asia and the Silk Route, in Kazakhstan, Kirghizistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The Aga Khan Trust for culture (AKTC)is the cultural agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, which promotes and realises projects the objective of which is to revitalise the heritage of the communities of the Muslim world and to contribute to their social and economic development