The Naghma-ye Chārtuk of Afghanistan: A New Perspective on the Origin of a Solo Instrumental Genre

The name naghma-ye chārtuk, signifying an instrumental composition with four parts, identifies a solo genre of Afghan classical music. A naghmaye chaārtuk is comprised of an unmetered prelude known as shakl, followed by a compositional structure of four sections: āstāi-e, antara, ābhog, and sanchāri. As John Baily has pointed out, these four terms, in a slightly different order, are closely linked to the names of the four parts of a Hindustani vocal genre known as dhrupad (1988, 67; 1997, 123). The naghma-ye chārtuk genre of Afghanistan has been described and discussed in some detail by Baily in two of his works.¹

Baily has noted that the origin of this solo instrumental genre remains obscure (1997, 118), and he has indirectly mentioned several possible links between this instrumental genre and North Indian classical music (1997, 118). In an earlier work, Baily suggested that naghma-ye chārtuk is an old Afghan genre, the history of which is intimately associated with the Afghan rabāb (1988, 79). Further, Baily is of the opinion that many of the compositions played in this genre may have been created more recently by Ūstād Qassem, and that they were perhaps composed in the style of a pre-existing Afghan/Pashtūn genre (1988, 79).

New research suggests that some of the earlier views need revision. In this paper, I highlight some of my findings regarding the naghma-ye chārtuk genre and its history. This article first considers the appropriateness of the term naghma-ye kashāl, which is used by Baily as the name for this specific genre of Afghan instrumental music. Next, I examine the origin of this genre as reported in oral data recently collected from several Afghan musicians, and subsequently, in light of studies pertaining to the history of instrumental music in North India. Additionally, I discuss new data concerning the origin and melodic links of some aspects of the naghma-ye chārtuk as played today with some genres of Hindustani vocal and dance music.

The Term Naghma-ye Kashāl

In recent fieldwork with several Afghan musicians (1998 and 2000), I discussed the term naghma-ye kashāl as another name for naghma-ye chārtuk. These mu-sicians refuse to accept or use the term naghma-ye kashāl, which John Baily received from his teacher Amir Jan Khushnawaz of Herat (Baily 1997, 117). Ghulam Hussain, a leading contemporary Afghan rabāb player of Kabul,² Ūstād Hafizullah Khyal, and Abdul Wahab Madadi are among the Afghan musicians who disagree with Baily's terminology. The argument discussed in this paper is that the term naghma-ye kashāl, which signifies an "enlarged," "extended," or "prolonged instrumental composition," is an uncommon and indistinct name. Furthermore, it does not indicate the essence of a naghma-ye chārtuk; that it is a particular type or style of instrumental composition.

The meaning of naghma-ye kashāl is broad. It might be used to identify any prolonged instrumental composition, in general, consisting of several parts, regardless of its fundamental characteristics. The term naghma-ye kashāl does not consider several factors that more specifically identify different genres of art music and folk music. To make a clear distinction between a particular solo instrumental genre of Afghan art music (musiqi klasik, "classical music") such as naghma-ye chārtuk, and related genres of Afghan extended instrumental compositions, it is necessary for specific terms to be employed instead of a broadly descriptive term such as naghma-ye kashāl.

The Lāra Genre and Its Offspring: The Naghma-ye Chārtuk

Musicians in Afghanistan today link the solo naghma-ye chārtuk genre with an earlier group instrumental composition known as lāra. Until recent decades, in Afghanistan a lāra was played at the beginning of an evening of ghazals, which are a well-known genre of vocal music in North India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. According to several Afghan musicians, the lāra eventually became a solo...