Dari, also known as Dari Persian, is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language, hence it is known as Afghan Persian or Eastern Persian in many Western sources. As Professor Nile Green remarks "the impulses behind renaming of Afghan Persian as Dari were more nationalistic than linguistic" in order to create an Afghan state narrative. Apart from a few basics of vocabulary, there is little difference between formal written Persian of Afghanistan and Iran. The term "Dari" is officially used for the characteristic spoken Persian of Afghanistan, but is best restricted to formal spoken registers. Persian-speakers in Afghanistan prefer to still call their language “Farsi,” while Pashto-speakers may sometimes refer to it as "Parsi." Farsi Dari serves as the lingua franca for inter ethnic communications in Afghanistan.
The population of Afghanistan is around 40 million as of 2021. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multilingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between Central Asia, South Asia, and Western Asia. Ethnic groups in the country include Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbeks, Nuristanis, Aimaq, Turkmen, Baloch and some others which are less known. Together they make up the contemporary Afghan people.
The music of Afghanistan comprises many varieties of classical music, folk music, and modern popular music. Afghanistan has a rich musical heritage and features a mix of Persian melodies, Indian compositional principles, and sounds from ethnic groups such as the Pashtuns, Tajiks and Hazaras. Instruments used range from Indian tablas to long-necked lutes. Afghanistan's classical music is closely related to Hindustani classical music while sourcing much of its lyrics directly from classical Persian poetry such as Mawlana Balkhi (Rumi) and the Iranian tradition indigenous to central Asia. Lyrics throughout most of Afghanistan are typically in Dari (Persian) and Pashto. The multi-ethnic city of Kabul has long been the regional cultural capital, but outsiders have tended to focus on the city of Herat, which is home to traditions more closely related to Iranian music than in the rest of the country.
Parwan, also spelled Parvan, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divided into ten districts. The town of Imam Abu Hanifa serves as the provincial capital. The province is located north of Kabul Province and south of Baghlan Province, west of Panjshir Province and Kapisa Province, and east of Maidan Wardak Province and Bamyan Province. The province famous tourism attraction is the Golghondi Hill, also known as “the flower hill,” is located in Imam Azam city of the ancient Parwan province about an hour away from the capital city of Kabul. After Panjshir this province has been considered as one of the main raising points of Afghanistan War against Soviets.
Kabul University is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd District of the capital Kabul, near the Ministry of Higher Education. It was founded in 1931 by King Mohammed Nadir Shah, whose prime minister at the time was his younger brother, Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan.
The culture of Afghanistan has persisted for over three millennia, tracing record to at least the time of the Achaemenid Empire in 500 BCE, and encompasses the cultural diversity of the nation. Afghanistan's culture is historically strongly connected to nearby Pakistan having the same religion as well and the people of both countries have lived together for thousands of years. With its location at the crossroads of Central, South and Western Asia historically made it a hub of diversity, dubbed by one historian as the "roundabout of the ancient world".
The Kabul Weekly was the most widely distributed newspaper in Afghanistan, both in the center and the provinces. It has ceased publication in 2011, with the sudden announcement printed on the front page of the last issue. Quote from the last issue: "While this is a column, I wanted to share with readers on the front page my decision to close down the Kabul Weekly.", Faheem Dashty, 30. of January 2011.
Fārsīwān is a contemporary designation for Persian speakers in Afghanistan and its diaspora elsewhere. More specifically, it was originally used to refer to a distinct group of farmers in Afghanistan and urban dwellers. In Afghanistan, original Farsiwans are found predominantly in Herat and Farah provinces. They are roughly the same as the Persians of eastern Iran. The term excludes the Hazāra and Aymāq tribes, who also speak dialects of Persian.
TOLO is a commercial television station operated by MOBY Group in Afghanistan. Launched in 2004, it became one of the first commercial stations in the country and laid the foundation for an accessible media outlet by offering a large library of shows. A Dari Persian language channel led and owned by Tajiks, it is Afghanistan's most popular television channel.
Afghanistan is a linguistically diverse nation, with an upwards of 40 distinct languages. The two most prominent languages being Dari and Pashto. Dari, serving as a historic Lingua Franca between different linguistic groups, is the most widely understood language. Pashto however, being the largest first language, has the most native speakers of all of Afghanistans languages. Both Languages have shared official status and are genetically related.
Zahir Howaida also spelled as Zahir Huwaida ; was an Afghan musician. He had been active since the 1960s and his popularity peaked with the hit songs "Kamar Bareek-e-Man" and "Shanidam Az Inja Safar Mikoni." Howaida was renowned for his deep, soulful voice. Almost all his songs were in the Persian language. Aside from singing he also worked as a radio news anchor, poet, and as an actor on Afghanistan's television. In his later years, he lived a secluded life in Germany and seldom performed until his death there.
The history of Arabs in Afghanistan spans over one millennium, from the 11th century Islamic conquest when Arabs arrived with their Islamic mission until recently when others from the Arab world arrived to defend fellow Muslims from the Soviet Union followed by NATO forces. Most of the early Arabs gradually lost their Arabic hegemony and ultimately mixed with the local population, though they are still considered a cognizably distinct ethnic group according to the Constitution of Afghanistan and the Afghan National Anthem. Afghans who carry Sayed or Quraishi in their names usually claim Arab ancestry.
The Abdul Rahman Mosque, also known as the Grand Mosque of Kabul, is one of the largest mosques in Afghanistan. It is located in one of Kabul's central commercial areas called Deh Afghanan, near the Pashtunistan Square, Zarnegar Park, and across the once popular Plaza Hotel. The building is three stories high, built on 1.4 hectares of land. One floor of the building is dedicated to women only.
The Kingdom of Afghanistan was a constitutional monarchy in Central Asia established in 1926 as a successor state to the Emirate of Afghanistan. It was proclaimed by its first king, Amanullah Khan, seven years after he acceded to the throne. The monarchy ended in the 1973 Afghan coup d'état.
Iranian Persian, Western Persian or Western Farsi, natively simply known as Persian, refers to the varieties of the modern Persian language spoken in Iran and by minorities in neighboring countries, as well as by Iranian communities throughout the world. These are mutually intelligible with other varieties of Persian, including Afghanistan's Dari and Tajikistan's Tajik.
Mohammad Haider Zhobal was an Afghan historian and scholar.
Edward Zellem is a retired U.S. Navy captain and the 12-time award-winning author of 5 books. He is known for his work inside Afghanistan's Presidential Palace and for authoring three bilingual collections of Afghan Proverbs: Zarbul Masalha: 151 Afghan Dari Proverbs, a book for children entitled Afghan Proverbs Illustrated, and a companion book of Pashto proverbs entitled Mataluna: 151 Afghan Pashto Proverbs. Zellem wrote the books to "show how Afghan proverbs demonstrate our common humanity and the humanity of Afghans, and to share the proverbs' lyricism, richness and deep meanings with the rest of the world". He is a member of the International Association of Paremiology (AIP-IAP), which is based in Tavira, Portugal. It is a nonprofit cultural institution dedicated to the international scientific study of proverbs, and is the only association of its type in the world. He also is an active professional scuba diving instructor with the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI), and holds the PADI rating of Master Scuba Diver Trainer (MSDT).
Rahnaward Zaryab full name Muhammad Azam Rahnaward Zaryab, was an Afghan novelist, short story writer, journalist, and literary critic/scholar.
Afghan literature or literature of Afghanistan refers to the literature produced in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Influenced by Central and South Asian literature, it is predominantly written in two native and official languages of Afghanistan, Dari and Pashto. Some regional languages such as Uzbek, Turkmen, Balochi, and Pashayi also appears in Afghan literature. While Afghanistan is a multilingual country, these languages are generally used as oral compositions and written texts by the Afghan writers and in Afghan curriculum. Its literature is highly influenced by Persian and Arabic literature in addition to Central and South Asia.
