Khan Qarabaghi

Khan Qarabaghi was one of Afghanistan's most important contribution to Pashto music. All his songs depicted Afghan life, its culture and its history.

One of his most important song that depicted such cultural artefacts was the Babulala. The Babulala is similar to the Kakari poetry but the subject matter only deals with weddings. There are dozens of couplets in the poetry. These are sung on the first day of the wedding, before noon and are sung by the female members of the house-hold. The bride is presented a beautiful narration of the groom's arrival.

Khan Qarabaghi was assassinated in 1979 during the political turmoil that engulfed Afghanistan after the Soviet Occupation. The assassination of Ahmad Zahir and Khan Qarabaghi in the same year is a mystery that has never been solved.

We present some of his famous songs.