Gul Zaman

Ustad Gul Zaman was an Afghan Folk singer, composer and arranger born in 1937 in Chena Kala village in Khost Province. At a very young age, Gul Zaman took a liking to folk music played in his village. At the age of 7 his father built him a Chamba (Tambourine) and Gul Zaman quickly taught himself how to play it. A year later, Gul Zaman father then bought an Harmonia for Gul Zaman older brother, which then allowed for them to perform as a Duo. Their performance caught the attention of many local artists who would invite the young Gul Zaman and his brother to perform in their gatherings. After many performances in his village, Gul Zaman would become popular in Khost and was invited to audition for Radio Kabul, but his father was against this and out of respect for his father, Gul Zaman didn't go and stayed in Khost. When his father passed away, Gul Zaman and his brothers then went to Radio Kabul for an audition. After they passed the audition in 1964, Gul Zaman then became a regular artist at Radio Kabul. The first song he recorded was a Pashto Folklore song entitled Ghunday Munday, which translates to Short Beautiful Girl. Ever since 1964, he has composed and performed more than 800 hundred songs For Radio and Television Afghanistan. During his time as an artist, he also performed in many countries, such as the Soviet Union, Turkey, Germany, India,Pakistan, Czechoslovakia, and France. In 1978 when television started Broadcasting in Afghanistan, Gul Zaman was the Host of a Pashto Folk Music program called Da Hujrey Majlas. This program brought many artists from various parts of the Pashto speaking part of Afghanistan, such as Gula jan, Abdul Hamid Qandahari, Khan Zaman and Hakimnoor Akakhel. Due to Gul Zaman's efforts in this program, he gave a voice to the many rural Pashto singers. On top of being a singer he was also a mentor to many Pashto speaking female artists such as Bakht Zarmina, Qamar Gul, and Nahid Afghan. In the late 1980s, Gul Zaman started to explore Pashto music with a bit more of a pop sound to it while also keeping his traditional roots. At this time he also composed some famous patriotic songs such as Da Watan Wadan Watan. Throughout his life, he has lived in Afghanistan and only would leave to perform internationally. During the Civil War of 1992-2001, Gul Zaman was one of a few artists who stayed in Afghanistan. After 2001, he was often invited to perform for Radio and Television Afghanistan and occasionally was a judge for Afghan Star. Unfortunately on February 25th 2022 Gul Zaman passed away in his home in Kabul Afghanistan.