Folk Music of Pakistan

Pakistan was created by the partition of British India in 1947; Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, gained independence in 1971. This 1951 recording presents selections from both present-day countries and documents songs for many occasions — marriage, harvest festivals, village fairs, and courtship. There are a river boatmen’s song from the east and several songs and dances from the northwest, as well as Sindh and Punjab. The music features instruments typical to the Subcontinent, such as the sitar, tabla drums, and bansri, a type of flute. Liner notes include a brief history of Pakistani music, a description of the songs and instruments, and some translated lyrics.

Note: Some names and spellings referenced in the song titles have changed since these recordings were made. Sind province is now known as Sindh, the Northwest Frontier Province is now known as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the language Pushtu is now more commonly spelled Pashto.

Track Listing

101	"Dholak Geet" - Folk song from Punjabi region	Munawar Sultana and Iqbal Bano	03:44
102	"Mahiya" - Love song from Punjabi region	Ali Bakhsh Zahoor and Munawar Sultana	03:37
103	"Bhatiali" - River Boatmen song from East Pakistan	Abdul Halim Chowdhry	03:24
104	Frontier Melody - Folk tune from Sarhad	n/a	02:15
105	Folk Dance - Folk dance from Sind region	n/a	04:05
106	"Kohiyari" - Instrumental tune from Sind region	Ali Mohammed	04:43
201	"Dholak Geet" - Folk song from Punjabi region	Munawar Sultana and Iqbal Bano	03:54
202	"Tangtakore" - Story Song from the Northwest Frontier District	n/a	04:05
203	Pushtu Love Song - Love Song from the Northwest Frontier Province	n/a	04:17
204	"Bhawaiya" - Bengali Farmers' Work Song	Mumtaz Ali Khan	03:53
205	Folk Tune	n/a	02:15
206	Khatak Dance: Dance music from the Katak people in the Frontier Province	n/a	02:07
207	Khatak Dance: Dance music from the Katak people in the Frontier Province	n/a	01:04