Nashenas

Dr. Mohammad Sadiq Fitrat (Pashto/Dari: ناشناس), born as Sadiq Fitrat Habibi, (Pashto/Persian: صادق فطرت), known professionally as Nashenas, is one of the oldest surviving musicians from Afghanistan. His fame began in the late 1950s, and since then he has produced many albums consisting of Pashto, dari, and Urdu songs. He is known as "the Afghan Saigal".[1]

Nashenas
ناشناس
Birth nameSadiq Fitrat Habibi
Born1935
Kandahar, Afghanistan
GenresGhazals
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1956–present
LabelsVarious

Background

Nashenas was born in Kandahar but lived most of his life in Kabul, Afghanistan. He is ethnic Pashtun from the Musakhel tribe, a sub-tribe of the Kakar. He sings in both of Afghanistan's languages, Dari, Pashto, as well as in Urdu. He has been living among the Afghan diaspora outside his country and believed to be currently residing in London, England.[1]

While growing up his family stressed to him the importance of religion as he hailed from the religious elite of the city of Kandahar. He is said to have developed an interest in music. In the early 1970s, Nashenas traveled to the Soviet Union where he obtained his doctorate in Pashto Literature from Moscow State University.[2]

His alias Nashanas means Unknown. As he belong to a religious family so initially start singing hiding his original name and similarly he get popular with his fictional name "Nashanas".

Nashenas is still popular in Afghanistan, including in the Pashto-speaking areas of Pakistan. He made one song about Muhammad Iqbal. [3] Nashenas has a following among musicians of the new generation as well, who are noted to imitate his style of singing. One of which is Sardar Ali Takkar, a Pashtun musician from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Nashenas had his final round of concerts in 2004, touring California, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Canada.

Discography
Note: This list is not comprehensive and does not include albums released in Afghanistan during the 1970s and 1980s. Due to the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s and the Taliban ban on music in late the 1990s, all his original music clips and videos from the 1970s and early 1980s have been destroyed. It is claimed that the ones being heard today are mostly copies of the original and the quality is not as good.
  • Kharabat e -Moghaan
  • Qandahar
  • Sokhan-e-Zamana
  • Nashinas Live In New York (DVD)

References
  1. Koskoff, Ellen (2008). Afghanistan: The land. Routledge. p. 1061. ISBN 0-4159-9404-7. Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  2. Afghan Musician Heals Wounds of Exile, DONATELLA LORCH, New York Times, January 14, 1992
  3. allama iqbal - gulzaar e hastay bood گلزارِ ہست و بود نہ بیگانہ وار دیکھ (in Urdu). PTV Global. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
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