"Voice of Hunza" Shahid Akhtar Qalandar شاہد اختر قلندر | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Shahid Akhtar |
Born | 1984 Altit, Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan |
Occupation(s) | Singer, poet, artist, music composer, interior designer |
Instrument(s) | Rabab |
Years active | Since 2000 |
Website | https://www.shahidakhtarqalandar.com/ |
Shahid Akhtar Qalandar, commonly known by his stage name Qalandari, or Shahid Qalandar, is a Pakistani singer-songwriter born and raised in the Hunza Valley, Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan.
At the age of 12, he started his musical life as a devotional singer and later explored Hunza Folk music. Since no proper recording was available in the region, he concentrated on compositions and song writing. He is known all over Gilgit-Baltistan for his voice and musical compositions. By 2009, he had released six albums: Shama, Qalandari 2002, Thala Thala [1] (the most famous album in the Burushaski language to date), Best of Shahid Akhtar Qalandar, Jajee, and Mehr-e-Minas. [2] [3] .
He is a pioneer in using combining traditional and western musical instruments. His song Thala Thala has become an anthem for young people, and its melody has been added to a of traditional folk tunes called Hareep.
In July 2005, he was the first artist from Gilgit Baltistan to perform for President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf. After the performance, Shahid requested that an auditorium and professional recording studio be built in Gilgit Baltistan where artists from the region could showcase their talent.
Shahid Akhtar Qalandar has recorded six albums and has been part of promoting cultural music of mountains locally and internationally level as a lead singer and rubab player.
Shahid has always encouraged young people, especially girls, [4] [ non-primary source needed ] from Gilgit-Baltistan to learn music and gain education. [5] [ non-primary source needed ] In 2007, he introduced the first female singer from the region, breaking the ideology of male dominance in regional music. He believes music and education are the only weapons which can defeat extremism from the region.
In July 2016, Shahid visited Bulbulik [6] the music school in Gojal Hunza and Leif Larsen Music Center [7] at Altit to encourage youth towards music. [8] [ non-primary source needed ]
In September 2016, he made a video message for youth of Gilgit Baltistan to avoid from drugs and alcohol. [9] [ non-primary source needed ]
In July 2017, on the occasion of Diamond Jubilee of Prince Karim Aga Khan, the Imam of Shia Ismaili Community, he composed One Jamat Devotional Song [10] in four different languages- Urdu, Persian, Burushaski and Arabic. One Jamat and Ali Guyam Ali Juyam became theme songs for the Ismaili Community in Gilgit Baltistan during the celebrations. [11] [12]
On December 2, 2018, Hunza Arts and Culture Council, Awarded HAAC 2018) Award to Shahid A Qalandar in the recognition of his outstanding services in the field of Hunza Folk Music, Poetry and Singing. As SAQ is currently residing in United States, his Uncle Dr Muhammad Jan received the award on his behalf from Member of GB legislative Assembly Mr.Arman Shah.
Shahid Akhtar Qalandar was born on February 10, 1984, in small village called Khoshi later named Faizabad at Altit in Hunza Valley locality in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan.
Initially, he went Public School and College Jutial in Gilgit Baltistan and then to Indus Valley School of Art & Architecture Karachi to study A Bachelor of Design (B.Des. or B.Design).
Performed at Central Jubilee Arts Festival in Dallas USA and National Jubilee Arts Festival in Los Angeles, United States [23]
Hunza, also known as Kanjut was a princely state in the Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. Initially, it functioned as a principality and subsequently became a princely state under a subsidiary alliance with the British India starting in 1892 and continuing until August 1947. For a brief period of three months, it remained unaligned after gaining independence, and then from November 1947 until 1974, it retained its status as a princely state within Pakistan. The territory of Hunza now constitutes the northernmost part of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan.
Gilgit is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region. It is the capital of Gilgit-Baltistan, which is a Pakistani-administered administrative territory. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a hub for trekking and mountaineering expeditions in the Karakoram mountain range.
Gojal, also called Upper Hunza, is situated in northwestern Pakistan. It borders China at the Khunjerab Pass, and Afghanistan at the Chapursan valley. In 2019, Gojal Valley became the second Karachukar sub-ivision within the Hunza District. It is geographically the largest subdivision of Gilgit-Baltistan.
Wakhi is an Indo-European language in the Eastern Iranian branch of the language family spoken today in Wakhan District, Northern Afghanistan and also in Tajikistan, Northern Pakistan and Western China.
The Wakhi people, also locally referred to as the Wokhik, are an Iranian ethnic group native to Central and South Asia. They are found in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and China—primarily situated in and around Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor, the northernmost part of Pakistan's Gilgit−Baltistan and Chitral, Tajikistan's Gorno−Badakhshan Autonomous Region and the southwestern areas of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The Wakhi people are native speakers of the Wakhi language, an Eastern Iranian language.
The Karakoram Highway is a 1,300 km (810 mi) national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab province of Pakistan to the Khunjerab Pass in Gilgit-Baltistan, where it crosses into China and becomes China National Highway 314. The highway connects the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa plus Gilgit-Baltistan with China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The highway is a popular tourist attraction and is one of the highest paved roads in the world, passing through the Karakoram mountain range, at 36°51′00″N75°25′40″E at maximum elevation of 4,714 m (15,466 ft) near Khunjerab Pass. Due to its high elevation and the difficult conditions under which it was constructed, it is often referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World. The highway is also a part of the Asian Highway AH4.
Jamatkhana is an amalgamation derived from the Arabic word jama‘a (gathering) and the Persian word khana. It is a term used by some Muslim communities around the world, particularly sufi ones, to a place of gathering. Among some communities of Muslims, the term is often used interchangeably with the Arabic word musallah. The Nizārī Ismā'īlī community uses the term Jama'at Khana to denote their places of worship.
Shimshal, previously known as Shingshal, is a village located in the Gojal tehsil of the Hunza District in the Gilgit–Baltistan region of Pakistan. It lies at an altitude of 3,113 metres (10,213 ft) above sea level and is the highest settlement in the district. It is the largest valley in Gilgit-Baltistan. It encompasses nearly the entire district of Hunza. Situated within the valley is the Shimshal River, a tributary that feeds into the Hunza River. Shimshal itself is a border village, serving as a linkage point between Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region and China.
Baltit Fort is a fort in the Hunza valley, near the town of Karimabad, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. Founded in the 8th century CE, it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative list since 2004.
Karimabad, formerly known as Baltit, is the capital of the Hunza District in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
The Hunza Valley is a mountainous valley in the northern part of the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.
Altit Fort is an ancient fort in the Altit town in the Hunza valley in Gilgit Baltistan, Pakistan. It was originally home to the hereditary rulers of the Hunza state who carried the title of 'Mir', although they moved to the somewhat younger Baltit fort nearby three centuries later. Altit Fort and in particular the Shikari tower is around 1100 years old, which makes it the oldest monument in the Gilgit–Baltistan. The fort has received the UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2011.
Syed Yahya Shah سيد يحي was a Pakistani politician and scholar from Gilgit-Baltistan.
Ganish is a village in the Hunza District within the Gilgit Baltistan region of Pakistan. It is the oldest and first settlement on the ancient Silk Road in the Hunza Valley, and is the site of various ancient watchtowers, traditional mosques, religious centers, and a reservoir. It is located 90 km away from Gilgit. The word "Ganish" is unknown but according to the local scholars, it is derived from the Burushaski word "Genish" which means gold. Ganish has been a major town for travelers since the days of the Silk Road - now the Karakorum Highway.
Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and between India and China since 1959. It borders Azad Kashmir to the south, the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan to the north, the Xinjiang region of China to the east and northeast, and the Indian-administered union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh to the southeast.
The Shigar Fort means The Fort on Rock is an old fort of Baltistan and Pakistan located in the town of Shigar. It was built in the 17th century by the Raja of Amacha Dynasty of Shigar.
Nazir Ahmad Bulbul is a Wakhi language poet and an educator. He was born in Gulmit, a village located in the Gojal Tehsil of District Hunza, in the Gilgit-Baltistan region, Pakistan.
Shah Salim Khan is a former Pakistani politician and entrepreneur disqualified from the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly for having defaulted on a loan by the National Bank of Pakistan. He is the son of the 6th Governor of Gilgit-Baltistan, Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan.
Prince Aly Muhammad Aga Khan is a British cinematographer, the fourth child of Aga Khan IV and his second wife, Gabriele Renate Homey.
Khanabad is a small village located in Hunza district, Gilgit-Baltistan, in Pakistan. There is a school created by Aga Khan Education Service called Diamond Jubilee Middle School. Most people in Khanabad are Ismaili Shia and are of Burusho ethnicity. There is also a suspension bridge in Khanabad.