Whilst the article was indeed ‘interesting’ and surprisingly lucid and cogent, I felt the author tried a little too hard trying to transpose his pre-conceived notions about Qawwalli onto reality. There was little that could convince him that Qawwalli is indeed flourishing. The Qawwalls themselves were decidedly upbeat about the future of this ancient art. Indeed in comparison to other similar artistic pursuits indigenous to south-asia, Qawwalli has done rather well for itself-testament to its great relevance even in today’s day and age…
Whilst personally I would agree that modern Qawwallis leave much to be desired, just the fact that it is still possible to hear gharanas practising the unadulterated versions of old is miraculous enough.
Which is not to say that hearing ‘Jhankar’, guitars and bass sets accompanying what is almost a sacred ritual isn’t unbearably painful for me; or that when I talk to people who pride themselves in having sung Qawwallis to DAT (i.e. Playback singing) I despair. But I guess we will just have to learn that music changes and ‘develops’ and whilst it may not be a direction that puritans (myself included) don’t like-I would be wary of branding it as the ultimate demise of a form of music so many love and appreciate..
of qawwali
By Qasim Abdallah Moini
Tou aan qatil kay az behray tamasha khoun-i-mun raezi
Mun aan bismil kay zaer-i-khanjer-i-khoun-khwar me raqsam.(Come, o my murderer, and see the commotion I create when my blood is spilled; I am that wounded one who dances beneath the life-taking dagger) - Attributed both to Khawaja Usman-i-Harooni (RZ) and Hazrat Usman Merwandi, aka Lal Shahbaz Qalandar.
Meandering through the crowded, garbage-strewn streets of Ranchhore Line, one of Karachi’s most densely populated neighbourhoods and little more than a giant slum, spiritual enlightenment is the last thing on one’s mind.
Here, amongst the kids in the streets and the cracks in the walls, nestled in between crumbling pre-Partition buildings and overflowing gutters lie the keepers of one the subcontinent’s most revered musical traditions: qawwali.
This area houses perhaps the greatest number of traditional qawwal families in the entire country. Bahauddin Qawwal, Farid Ayaz and the Niazi clan (all related) live right next to each other, while Zaki Taji Qawwal lives down the street. It is said that Anis-Khalique Nizami are also in the same neighbourhood.
But far from tracing qawwal bloodlines, Images set out to discover just what was happening to qawwali. To the uninitiated, qawwali might sound like little more than a pseudo-spiritual rumpus, but for those who see it with the mind’s eye as a refined form of higher learning, qawwali can be a route to spiritual ecstasy.
An ancient art form that traces its roots to a little after the advent of Islam, chaste qawwali, today, is dying. It is being replaced by a highly commercialized, shabbily put together hybrid which mixes elements of real qawwali, eastern classical music, ghazal and pop.
The inexperienced may be fooled, but for those who are associated with Sufi silsilay (orders) or simply have an appetite for the real thing, the current state of affairs is troubling.
Qawwali itself is a watered down version of sama (which in Arabic means to listen). Though not quite secular in nature, according to most purists, the criterion that distinguishes qawwali from sama is that a qawwali can happen anywhere, whereas sama is almost always performed at Sufi khanqas or astanas.
And while almost anyone can attend a qawwali, those who attend sama are a more select group, with a higher understanding of the sacred. Thus the argument pops up: is sama elitist? In a word, yes, for to quote Maulana Jalaleddin Rumi: ‘Tumaye har murgh ra injeer naist,’ (’the fig is not fit for every bird’).
But then, if it wasn’t for the magnetic power of qawwali, one assumes it would have been a tad more difficult for wave upon wave of native Indians to convert to Islam during the days of the Delhi Sultanate, roughly 800 years ago.
It is almost universally accepted that sama, and not the sabre, helped spread Islam throughout the Indian subcontinent. And despite what some revisionist historians might have you believe, it was not the Muslim kings but Sufi Shaikhs who helped proselytize the faith in India.
While the kings were more concerned with politics and state craft, the primary goal of the Sufis was to win over hearts. And the primary weapon of the Sufis was sama, as the locals already had an affinity for music.
Combining verses from the Holy Quran, sayings of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and other religious figures with spiritual poetry and often composing parallel lyrics in local languages, the early Sufis commenced their tableegh.
And of the early Sufi spiritual masters, perhaps the greatest name is that of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishty (RZ), better known as Ghareeb Nawaz. Dubbed Sultan-ul-Hind and Hind-ul-Wali (representative of the faith in Hindustan), Khawaja Sahib laid the foundation of sama in the Indian subcontinent at his khanqa (a sort of spiritual centre) in the desert city of Ajmer, then the bastion of Prithvi Raj Chouhan’s power.
To this day, sama is still performed at the dargah in Ajmer in the way that it was heard by Khawaja Sahib and his contemporaries: in a style known as karka, with a simple dholak beat and poetry sung in early Hindustani (with shades of Brij Bhasha).
Sama evolved further in the following decades under the influence of Hazrat Ameer Khusrau, court musician of the Turkish Sultan of Delhi, Alauddin Khilji, and more importantly, the disciple of another great Chishty Sufi master, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, Mehboob-i-Illahi (RZ).
Ameer Khusrau helped give qawwali the form it has today, establishing the musical metres and composing the immortal lines that are to this day recited the world over by qawwals of all hues and affiliations.
Khusrau’s Badhawa, Rang and Qaul (based on the hadith of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), ‘Man Kunto Maula, Fa Haza Ali un Maula’), have survived through the centuries and helped transport countless devotees into a spiritual state known as wajd, where one often loses oneself in realization of the Almighty, or as the late German authority on Sufism, Annemarie Schimmel, so beautifully put it, into “the ocean of the soul.”
But the wisdom of our spiritual masters seems to be a thing of the past. Today, the traditional sama is being wiped out and qawwali, as we once knew it, is on its deathbed. What remains makes qawwali purists (the few left) bury their heads in shame. What is wrong? For one, the level of poetry has plummeted.
Qawwali was once an art-form where one could cut his or her teeth on chaste Arabic or Persian. Now, almost anything goes, as poets are a dime-a-dozen. Appalling lyrics, some only a little better than cheap Indian film lines, and poetry that strays into ghuluw (exaggeration) territory is more and more common.
The orthodox ulema have always looked down upon sama and while the Sufi masters of old had the wisdom to counter their objections, the present crop of mostly pseudo-Sufis hardly have tangible answers.
Today, qawwali is used at times as an exotic entertainment tool by corporations and five-star hotels. Sama in luxurious surroundings, attended by men in expensive designer suits and women made up to the hilt, would surely vex the humble men of God who devised this form for the spread of the good word.
If qawwali is surviving, it is at handful authentic khanqas, for there is no dearth of fake pirs in this country. But what do the traditional qawwals, the ones who carry the burden of bringing qawwali through this troubled time, have to say?
Zaki Taji Qawwal of the Sikandarabad gharana, accompanied by his son Zamman Zaki Taji, is one of the senior-most qawwals of the country. The son starts off explaining what he thinks is happening to qawwali.
“The atmosphere has changed. At the astanas and dargas, one still gets to hear qawwali in the same vein as was heard at the dargah of Khawaja Ghareeb Nawaz. The khandani qawwals are carrying on the tradition of classical qawwali and I personally think qawwali has a very bright future. Yes, the number of qawwali purists may have declined, but they are still around and very passionate. But it’s true: today, true qawwali is restricted to the silsilas.”
But is today’s qawwali faithful to the spirit of sama, or has it transformed into something else?
“Yes, one can say it is not the same as the original sama, mainly because more and more non-khandani qawwals are coming into the picture. That’s not a bad thing, because everybody should get a chance to do what they want, but it should be very clear that that is not the qawwali of our forefathers,” Taji says.
By khandani qawwals, Taji goes on to explain that these are the descendants of the qawwal bachchay, a set of 12 young men who were taken under the wing of Ameer Khusrau, who personally instructed them in the art of qawwali. Surprisingly, considering the presence of the ancient khanqas in India, Zamman Taji observes that the state of qawwali is much worse in India than it is in Pakistan.
“Without a doubt, the form of qawwali that is most faithful to sama is being practised in Pakistan. Indian qawwali has more of a filmi character to it. It is more of a muqabla or competition between ladies and gentlemen. That is not the qawwali of our spiritual masters. In fact, that’s not even qawwali.”
A lot of qawwal parties have started adding modern instruments to their live setups. The instruments used in traditional qawwali are usually not more than a dhol, tablas, sitar and harmonium, known in qawwal parlance as a baja. Now, it is not uncommon to see synthesizers, drum machines and even bass guitars in the qawwal repertoire. Is this a good thing?
“Experimentation is always good. The thing is, the younger crowd is attracted by these instruments. Today, if they are being pulled in by the lighter fare, maybe later they’ll start listening to the pure stuff as well. If you want to pull someone towards you, you have to first listen to what they have to say,” the younger Taji says.
“But these modern instruments never are and never should be used when performing at the khanqas,” cautions Zaki Taji. As for comparing the poetry of spiritual masters past and the poets of today, the elder Taji is resolute that there is no competition.
“Take, for instance, the famous na’at written by Ghareeb Nawaz, Janaan-i-ma-Muhammad (Peace be upon him). To this day, after so many centuries, it still has a magnetic pull to it.
It was written with purity of heart. The kalaams of our Sufi masters have such sweetness that modern poetry cannot compete. When we record a qawwali written by a modern poet, at the most it is remembered for about six months to a year. This has survived for 800 years.”
Classical qawwali has nearly always been performed in Persian or Hindi. But that trend, too, is changing, with qawwalis being rendered in extremely pedestrian Urdu. What say the qawwals?
“The purists still demand to listen to qawwali in farsi. If there are only 100 true listeners and 900 non-listeners, we’d rather have the respect and appreciation of those 100 over the 900 any day. This silsila of sama is ancient, and is not going to die just yet,” sums up Zamman Zaki Taji.
Bahauddin Qawwal, recipient of the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, is another senior-most qawwals of the country. Though now in frail health, he is still passionate and animated in his speech when talking about the state of qawwali.
“Qawwali is indeed on the rise, but at the same time, its face is being disfigured more and more. In its essence, qawwali is a mode of communication to express peace and love to the world.
Some elements are trying to modernize qawwali, when most people in the subcontinent want to hear qawwali in its original form. I’ve toured the world, and all over the demand is for qawwali as it was performed in the time of Ameer Khusrau.
Today, there is an effort to transform qawwali into a mere ruckus; something for nach, kood. I don’t like taking names, but if you perform qawwali in a disco or pop format and sing lyrics like ‘mere naal pyar kar lai,’ that’s not qawwali, that’s disco,” the senior qawwal observes. “If people stand up and start singing qawwali, what’s the difference between it and nach gana?”
Through the mouths of its own master practitioners, qawwali seems to have a mixed future ahead. While mainstream qawwali - the proverbial music for the masses - might be on the rise (admittedly, ARY’s QTV has devoted a fair share of its broadcast day to airing qawwalis), sama, the immortal voice of the Sufi soul, may just be ready for fana, or annihilation.
When qawwals start dressing up in gaudy costumes not much different from rock stars; when the spiritual essence of qawwali is lost and it is turned into a mere pop spectacle, perhaps the end is near.
But like tasawwuf itself, it shall survive in one form or another, as latent energy brewing at the edge of the subconscious, waiting to be discovered by the true seeker.
Ultimately, the state of qawwali can best be summed up in the following dhoha of Khusrau’s, uttered when the sage arrived in Delhi to find that his beloved spiritual master, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, had passed away into the hereafter: ‘Gori sovay sej par, mukh par daaray kes, Chal Khusrau ghar aapnay, saanjh bhayee chahu des,’ [the fair maiden rests on the wreath (of roses), her tresses covering her face. Let us, Oh Khusrau go back now, the dark dusk settles in four corners].
‘Images’ would like to acknowledge the contribution of Mr Tauseef Ansari to this piece. Without his invaluable coordination, it would have been extremely difficult contacting the respective qawwals.
its very nice article.but qawal bahauddin’s comments are too short.he is a very big artis in qawali.please i want to see his{qawalbahauddin} seprate interview.if possible
i am waiting your reply
Comment by meer — 13/2/2005 @ 7:37 pm
hallo sir i want to do photography cource. so i want to know process of admission and there feesh.
Comment by Mukesh kumar — 22/2/2005 @ 6:38 am
Certainly one of the best articles I have read written about qawwalis … was wondering if possible to put it on my site… Ill give full credits to the writer of course … and if not then a link would be good to… thank you
Comment by Farah Mahbub — 1/3/2005 @ 4:07 pm
Well it is very well researched indeed.
As for republishing rights, you would have to ask DAWN
(but im sure they’ll forgive you if you dont)
Comment by JNS — 5/3/2005 @ 12:34 pm
So Mr.JNS do you have a name? Your intelligent but subtle idea certainly brought a smile to my face thank you… I think ill do just as you suggested.
Comment by Farah Mahbub — 6/3/2005 @ 11:33 am
So what makes you so sure I am indeed Monsieur JNS, and not Mademoiselle JNS?
Years of male chauvinism take their toll perhaps?
Comment by JNS — 9/3/2005 @ 10:57 pm
this is nice article but there are many Lengend Qawwal for example Jaffar Hussain Nizami Qawwal and their sons Shakir Ali,Tahir Ali,Mahir Ali Nizami Qawwal i send u for More information about thaYoung and talented Qawwals Shakir ALi, Tahir Ali, Mahir Ali Nizami.
The art of Qawwali has proven that it is important factor for the spreading Islam. Ameer Khusro
(RA) played key role in progress of Qawwali. He included new colors into Persian, Hindi and Purbi
Languages in Qawwali, and later the saints and religious grand names gave a beautiful spiritual
Qawwali followed by the tomb Qawwali in Pakistan . Shakir Ali, Tahir Ali, Mahir Ali Nizami Qawwal
(popularly known as Nizami Brothers) has leading part in progressing the religious Qawwali who
were trained by their father (Late) Jaffar Hussain Nizami.
Shakir Ali, Tahir Ali, Mahir Ali Nizami in their childhood accompanied their internationally reputed
father having the title of “TOOTI-E-CHISHT” and got the in-depth training in Qawwali. Nizami
Brothers belong to a renown family of Indian subcontinent namely “HAPAR GHARANA” which enjoy
a peak status in classical music. His elders include big name like Shadi Khansab, Murad Khansab,
Safdar Khansab, Bahadar Khansab, Dildar Khansab, Dilawar Khansab, Yawar Khansab, Jaffar Hussain
Nizami etc. Because all these noble persons belong to the tomb of Hazrat Nizam-ud-din Aulia
(RA), therefore, Nizami Brothers started training of Qawwali in their childhood under the supervision
of their father (Late) Jaffar Hussain Nizami world renowned Qawwal and ensured that his sons
have proper pronunciation of their father have got nice acclaim.
Shakir Ali, Tahir Ali, Mahir Ali Nizami have the ability to sing in various languages including Urdu,
Persian, Purbi and Punjabi.
Nizami Brothers have been awarded with innumerable titles and medals, the outstanding title of
course was awarded by Nizami Foundation on the Urs of celebration of 700th anniversary Hazrat
Nizam-ud-din Aulia (RA) whereby, they were awarded with the copious title of “TOOTI-E-NIZAM”. In
addition Haji Syed Sardar Ali and Al Haaj Gulshan Elahi Qadri Fareedi credited them with “Two Gold
Crowns” at Hyderabad , Sindh.
Also Pakistani Theatre handed over them “The Best Qawwal Award” in the year 1996 while the
Friends of Art gave them Munawwar-uz-Zaman in “Best Performance in Qawwali”. In the year 1997
they got “Ahmad Rushdi Award for Qawwali” and in then even year got “Ghulam Fareed Sabri Award”
and “Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Award”. Equally appreciating Anjuman Tehaffuzz- e-Sehat gave them
“Best Qawwal” of the year in 2002. Nizami Foundation International coveted Nizami Brothers with
“Mehboob- e-Ilahi Award” while the Anjuman Saya-e- Panjetan gave them “First Qawwali Festival
Award” and the Minister for Health Mr. Naeem Ishtiaq gave them “Best Performance in Qawwali
Award” for the year 2004 in Mefil-e-Jashan-e-Eid Miladun Nabi arranged by Ghulaaman-e-Baba
Fareed Shakar Ganj.
Nizami Brothers has been associated with various media branches and most of the channels telecast
their popular Qawwalies. At the same time various recording companies have been released their
Audios, Videos and VCDs. One of the Indian most celebrated Showbiz Company released their
Audio which gave the record breaking business to the Company. Shakir Ali, Tahir Ali, Mahir Ali
Nizami are grateful to those who loved them and still love them after death of their father
Jaffar Hussain Nizami Qawwal (Late)t Qawwal. (www.nizamiqawwal.com)
Comment by Aamir Nizami — 3/5/2005 @ 9:22 am
sir i am agreed with you it is a good site ive seen it it is a good site….
Comment by Rasheed Ahemd — 13/5/2005 @ 1:31 pm
www.akhter.com
www.pakqawwal.com
www.alimohammedtaji.com
www.qawwalgmn.com
Comment by akhter ali — 20/11/2005 @ 9:04 pm
hi,
foreign-born south-asian here. loved your essay. But, although it is true that qawwali was used to spread isalm accross south-asia, i feel the following paragraph diminishes the severity and extent of forced-conversion of hindus, and the like. please change…but the rest is very good.
“But then, if it wasn’t for the magnetic power of qawwali, one assumes it would have been a tad more difficult for wave upon wave of native Indians to convert to Islam during the days of the Delhi Sultanate, roughly 800 years ago.”
i dont think it would be difficult at all for them to convert, because alot were forced to.
and if im wrong, well, i’ll take my stance that neither you, or I, were there…
great work though…
kanwar anit.
Comment by kanwar anit singh saini — 21/11/2005 @ 6:59 pm
:: Qawwali ::
Qawwali as a musical form is closely linked to the Sufic traditions of Islam and the particular practices that Sufi scholars developed to achieve closeness to God.
“The Qawwali is Sufi music, which originated from Iran. But Qawwali means `word’, the wise word representing the divine voice. The basic principles of this Sufi art lie in the listening, voice and words.” Munshi Raziuddin.
The group sings Sufic poems in Arabic, Persian, Hindi and Urdu. They have been presenting not only popular traditional Qawwalis but also the ancient traditional, classical and Sufi Qawwali inherited from their forefathers.
:: Bigraphic data of Raziuddin, Farid Ayaz, qawwal ::
Learned the art of qawali from his forefathers, Munshi Raziuddinis working in the field of qawali for more than 65 years, Munshi Raziuddin and Fareed Ayaz belongs to the delhi gharana of Ustad Tanras Khan Sahab who was the teacher of the last mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Ustad Tanras Khan was awarded the chandni mahal in Delhi by the last mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar for his contribution in the filed of traditional music.
Munshi Raziuddin was decorated with the pride of performance by the Government of Pakistan in 1990 for his devotions in the field of qawalli Traditional music and Research in music.
For the last 25 years or so Munshi Raziuddin has passed the art of qawali to his sons. So the group now consists of Munshi Raziuddin and four sons and grandsons and others.For the last twenty five years. The group has been transformed into the name of his eldest?s son Farid Ayaz qawal and brother.
This group has a unique specialty in the field of qawali. They have been presenting not only the popular Traditional qawalis but also the ancient Traditonal, classical and Sufi qawali being inherited by themselves from their forefthers. This unique Traditional qawali belongs to Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia and Hazrat Ameer Khusroo.
Munshi Raziuddin belongs directly to Main Samad bin Ibrahim who is the first pupil of Hazard Amber Khusroo and the Group leader of the team, which is formed by Hazrat Ameer Khusroo called “qawal Bachoon ka gharana”
Fareed Ayaz Qawwal and Party are famous amongst people who understand and appreciate the arts as well as casual listening. The group members are specialise in classical qawwali. Which they inherited from their forefathers who belonged to the Dehli Gharana of Ustad Tan Ras Khan Sahib. The Group sings in various languages like Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Hindi, Persian, Arabic , Bangladesh and Purbi.
This group has presented the traditional music and qawli in urdo, Punjabi, Sindhi, Persian, Arabic, Bangladesh and purbi.
This group is constantly working hard to promote the art of qawali and traditional Sufi music.
Designed and Developed by Tabarak Siyal
Comment by moiz — 9/12/2005 @ 3:27 pm
Sir,
It is very awful to learn that my father Moin niazi qawwal (pride of performance pakistan) also got an street his name which is moin niazi qawwal street which is situated shoe Market karachi pakistan. can claim to haveing the 6 great personalities who got the pride of performance and tamga-e-imitaz from government of pakistan are living on this street. and you forgoton to include this name in your article.
I hope you will include this in your article and oblige.
Ghouse muhammad Nasir Niazi qawwal
Comment by imran ahmed — 25/9/2006 @ 8:20 pm
MOIN NIZAMI SUNG A VERY FAMOUS AND MELODIOUS QAWWALI
‘KHATAWARAM GUNAHGARAM BAHAL E ZAAR ME KARDAM,
IS IT AWAILABE ON THE WEB?
Comment by MOIN NIZAMI QAWWAL — 3/11/2006 @ 12:14 pm
Hi
a really good article i must say. though of course it opens up a lot of debates
i am doing a tribute article on nusrat fateh ali khan. i was wondering if i could contact you, and may be speak to some of these qawwals my e mail is amit.stephanian@gmail.com
thanks
Comment by amit — 10/8/2007 @ 7:17 am
‘Sufi Qawwali’ with Farid Ayaz Ensemble -
Saturday 27 October 2007 at 9:00 PM
Location: No. 43-4/A-1, Block-6, P.E.C.H.S., Karachi (Mr. Jamshed Omar has kindly consented to open his home of the event)
Admission: Rs 300 per person (cover for equipment and snacks during the intermission. Nazrana for the qawwals may be given as you see fit)
Profits will be donated to SOS Villages in Pakistan
IPB Image IPB Image IPB Image
NY Times: Sufi Passion that Rises to Ecstasy
WNYC Radio: Farid Ayaz and his qawwali ensemble show how ecstatic poetry and music communicate across
language and cultural devides
Farid Ayaz and Abu Muhammad are the sons of the famous Ustad Munshi Raziuddin Khan. They stick to the pure and original version of Qawwali and perform the poetry of Ameer Khusrau, Jalaluddin Rumi, Kabir Das and Bulleh Shah amongst others. The Group sings in Urdu, Purbi, Farsi, Punjabi, Sindhi, Arabic and Bangali.
Contact Sabiha Omar: 300 821 5939 - Mobile
or SMS Arif at : 0015145863148
This will be a relatively intimate gathering limited to 200 people. Email me arifalikhan@gmail.com if you wish to attend.
View video clips: Mori Rung do Chunaria Khwaja Piya
Merey Baney Ki Baat Na Poochho
CHAAP TILAK
(The program should end by 2 am)
www.sos.org.pk
This organisation looks after orphaned and abandoned children, in providing them a non-institutional care. Kids are raised in homes that are purpose built in SOS Villages and the children are raised in as normal an environment as possible. They are educated in regular mainstream schools and colleges and many of them have gone on to achieve successful careers in Banking, education, etc. SOS has no political or religious affiliations it is a purely charitable entity.
Comment by Arif Khan — 5/10/2007 @ 6:27 pm
History Of Qawwal Niaz
Niazi Brothers (Abdullah Manzoor Niazi Qawal & Makhmoor Ahmed Niazi Qawwal) belongs to a family of Delhi Gharana. Mr. Abdullah Manzoor Niazi was born at Karachi on 1960. The father of Niazi Brothers Mr. Haji Manzoor Ahmed Khan Niazi was born in Delhi, India in 1922. He is a renowned Qawal of Indo-Pak. The Grand-Father of him was Haji Mir Qutub bukhsh famous as Tan Ras Khan Sahib Rehmatullah, who was the teacher of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. He was awarded the title of Tan Ras and Nawab Atamad ul Mulk by the said Emperor, which is indicated by history. He was also legal advisor to the emperor.
Hazrat Amir Khusroo Rehmatullah who was the founder of Qawali and other arts, and also who had arranged a group of 12 children which was proved by history as Qawal Bachay. The leader of this Qawal Bachay was Mian Samat Nizami Rehmatullah and he was special student of Hazrat Amir Khusroo and he was the Grand-Father of Mian Tan Ras Khan Sahib Rehmatullah from him the Gharana of Singer started, which is reputed “by history as Delhi Gharana, except this there is no other Singer of Delhi Gharana in the universe”.
Niazi Brother Grand-Father who we before Mian Samat Nizami and came to India with Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Chishti Rehmatullah Elahe, who is famous as Mian Nigahi Mian Dargahi , who has the honour to be Murid and Qawal of Khawaja Sahib, one Masjid “Nigahi Dargahi Masjid” is still today at Dargah Bazar , Ajmer in his name, in this connection and services of Mian Tan Ras Khan Sahib, he had awarded one room at Ajmer Kalir, and Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin Delhi, separately, which is still existed there today.
Niazi Brother’s father Haji Ahmed Khan Niazi Sahib is the only Qawal of Indo-Pak Subcontinent who first in the fourteen century history in 1970 at Madina Tayeba proved through discussion that Music is right in Islam and by the permission of Imam Madina Abdul Aziz Bin Saleh he at Madina performed publicly infront of Mazare Aqdas with the Musical instruments and sing Qawali in Arabia style and the public enjoyed this.
Quaid-e-Azam gave him the title of Bulbal-e-Deccan at Bombay on 1937. Haji Manzoor Niazi Sahib was granted Civil and Military Award in Different periods. The main titles are Malik-ul-qawal, Haseen Ragi, Shahinshah-e-Qawali, Pasban-e-Qawali, Raees-e-Qawali, Bulbul-e-Bagh-e-Nizam-o-Sabir, Manzoor Ahmed Khan Niazi for a long period remained with the Darbar of Nizam Hyderabad Deccan and he was given special considration by Nizam Hyderabad.
Niazi Brothers got this art of Qawali by their father Haji Manzoor Ahmed Khan Niazi. In this way this art is continued to exist since 9 hundred through generation to generation.
Niazi Brothers had visited several countries of the World and showed their performance. They represented themselves as Pakistani and raised the name of Country.
Although Niazi Brother are working with father since their childhood but since 1986 November, have established a party in their name. The countries they visited are Africa, England, Norway, Denmark, U.S.A., Sweden, Canada, Middle East, Far-East, Far-East, India, Bangladesh.
The Niazi Brother are honored the TITLE of DYNAMIC NIAZI BROTHERS by Africa.
Comment by MEHBOOB AHMED KHAN — 5/10/2007 @ 7:22 pm
hi
through ur wonderful website i would like to get some important info about pakistani historic qawwals specifically about ustad suntu khan qawwal.i was looking for his great qawwali…MERA PIYA GHUR AAYA. i have gone through pages n pages of diffrent websites but got no results, not even in the whole music market n renowned musical companies.Its a shocking situation that i cudnt find n e thng abt the founder of qawwali….nowhere.
kidnly help me in this regard
thank you in anticipation
Comment by Muhammad tahir awan — 26/2/2008 @ 9:54 pm