Culture of Afghanistan

Women painting at the Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan (CCAA) in Kabul.

The lands of Afghanistan have a long history of art, with the world's earliest known usage of oil painting found in cave murals in the country.[7][8] Afghan art includes Persian miniature style, with Kamaleddin Behzad of Herat being one of the most notable miniature artists of the Timurid and early Safavid periods. Since the 1900s, the nation began to use Western techniques in art. Abdul Ghafoor Breshna was a prominent Afghan painter and sketch artist from Kabul during the 20th century.

Afghanistan's art was originally almost entirely done by men, but recently women are entering the arts programs at Kabul University. Art is largely centered at the National Museum of Afghanistan, the National Gallery of Afghanistan and the National Archives of Afghanistan in Kabul. There are a number of art schools in the country. The Center for Contemporary Arts Afghanistan (CCAA) in Kabul provides young people to learn contemporary paintings.

Afghan musicians in Farah, Afghanistan.

Traditionally, only women have been involved in theater acting. Recently, in theater arts, women have begun to take center stage.[9]

Other known forms of art in the country are music, poetry, and several sports. The art of making carpets has been prominent for centuries. Afghanistan is known for making beautiful oriental rugs. The Afghan carpet has certain prints that make them unique to Afghanistan.

Since the 1980s, the nation has witnessed several wars so music has been suppressed and recording for outsiders minimal. During the 1990s, the Taliban government banned instrumental music and much public music-making. Many musicians and singers continued to play their trade in the cities of other countries. Pakistani cities such as Peshawar, Karachi and Islamabad are important centers for the distribution of Afghan music. Kabul has long been the regional cultural capital, but outsiders have tended to focus on the cities of Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif with its Qataghani style. Lyrics across the country are typically in both Dari-Persian and Pashto. Uzbeki, Hindi, and western style songs and music are also very popular in Afghanistan.[10]

Afghan men performing at the new Afghan Cultural Center on Camp Leatherneck in Helmand Province.

Afghans enjoy music by playing many types of instruments. They also enjoy performing the Attan, which is considered the national dance of Afghanistan. What is typically heard in the country are folk songs or ballads. Many of the songs are known by almost everyone and have been around for many years. The main traditional Afghan music instruments include:

• Harmonium
• Santur
• Chang - like a harmonica
• Rubab - 6 stringed instrument
• Tabla - Small drums
• Sitar
• Zurna
• Flute
• Dayereh
• Tanbur[11]

Poetry in Afghanistan has long been a cultural tradition and passion. It is mainly in Persian/Dari and Pashto languages, although in modern times it is also becoming more recognized in Afghanistan's other languages. Classic Persian and Pashto poetry plays an important role in the Afghan culture. Poetry has always been one of the major educational pillars in the region, to the level that it has integrated itself into culture. Some notable poets include Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Massoud Nawabi, Nazo Tokhi, Ahmad Shah Durrani, and Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi.[12] Some of the famous Persian poets and authors from the 10th to 15th centuries are Rumi, Rabi'a Balkhi, Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Jami, Alisher Navoi, Sanai, Abu Mansur Daqiqi, Farrukhi Sistani, Unsuri, and Anvari. Contemporary Persian language poets and writers include Khalilullah Khalili[13] and Sufi Ashqari.[14]

Afghans prize wit and cleverness in speech. "Zarbul Masalha" (pronounced zar-bull mah-sal-HAA) means "proverbs" in Dari, and these zarbul masalha deeply reflect Afghan culture. U.S. Navy Captain Edward Zellem pioneered the use of Afghan proverbs as a positive relationship-building tool during the war in Afghanistan, and in 2012 he published two bilingual collections of Afghan proverbs in Dari and English.[15][16]

Songbirds in cages at a farm in Nangarhar Province, used for the pleasure of the site's farmers

Birds are the most popular animals that are kept as pets in Afghanistan. In Kabul there is a dedicated daily market selling a wide variety of birds from around the world.[17]

Herat Citadel in the western Afghan city of Herat

The important architectural sites are found in Herat, Mazar-I-Sharif, Ghazni,[18] Qandahar, and Firuzkoh in Ghor Province. The region has made major contributions to the world's architecture. UNESCO has acknowledged Afghanistan's role by declaring the Minaret of Jam and the Valley of Bamiyan, World Heritage Sites.

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  Afghan items of pottery
• 
  Afghan rugs and jewelry on sale, in the United States

Afghanistan has a wide varying landscape allowing for many different crops. Afghan food is largely based upon cereals like wheat, maize, barley and rice, which are the nation's chief crops. Fresh and dried fruits is the most important part of Afghan diet. Afghanistan is well known for its fine fruits, especially pomegranates, grapes, and its extra-sweet jumbo-size melons.

Some of the popular Afghan dishes, from left to right: 1. Lamb grilled kebab (seekh kabab); 2. Palao and salad; 3. Tandoori chicken; and 4. Mantu (dumplings). The Afghan cuisine includes a blend of Central Asian, Eastern Asian, South Asian and the Middle Eastern cuisines. Nearly all Afghan dishes are non-spicy.

• Popular Afghan dishes:
  • Palao (traditional rice dish)
  • Mosh Palao
  • Shorba (Afghan soup)
  • Do Pyaza
  • Mantu (meat dumplings)
  • Kofta (meatballs)
  • Kichiri
  • Qorma Sabzi
  • shola
  • shir brinj
  • qoruti
  • eshkana
  • Baunjan (cooked eggplant with potatoes and tomatoes)
  • Bendee/Baumya (cooked okra with potatoes and tomatoes)
  • Heeknusb (hummus)
  • Ashak
  • Aush (hand made noodles)
  • Baghlava (baklava)
  • Bolani (Afghan flat bread or crêpes)
  • Chapli Kabab
  • Shor-Nakhod (chick peas with special toppings)
  • Naan (Afghan bread)
• Popular Afghan desserts:
  • Gosh Feel (pastry)
  • Halwa
  • Shir Berinj (rice pudding)
  • Ferni
  • Kadu Bouranee (sweet pumpkins)
  • Jelabi
  • Maleeda or Khajoor
  • Spice Rub

Afghanistan national football team (in red uniform)

Ghazi Stadium in the city of Kabul

The sports in Afghanistan are organized by the Afghan Sports Federation, which promotes football, cricket, basketball, volleyball, golf, handball, boxing, taekwondo, track and field, bowling, skating[19] and several others.[20]

Football remains to be the most popular sport across Afghanistan.The Afghanistan national football team was founded in 1922, joined FIFA in 1948 and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1954. Although it did not play in any international games from 1984 to 2003 due to the war, it is now striving and hoping to make it to FIFA. The Afghanistan women's national football team was formed in 2007. The Ghazi Stadium, which was built during the reign of King Amanullah Khan, was once used for a venue for public executions by the Taliban government. The stadium is currently used mostly for football matches between teams from different provinces of the country as well as neighboring countries. Basketball has existed in Afghanistan since at least the 1970s, and is slowly becoming popular again. It is played by both Afghan men and women. Additionally, Afghans in the north of the country enjoy the sport of buzkashi.

Cricket has become popular in recent years in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan national cricket team, which was formed in 1996 during Taliban regime, has held matches against all other international cricket teams since 2001. The Afghan team rapidly rose through the World Cricket League since early 2008. It participated in the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier, 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division One, and 2010 ICC World Twenty20 where they played India and South Africa. The team won four times in a row, the ACC Twenty20 Cup in 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2013. It played against top ranking teams in the 2012 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup and the 2012 ICC World Twenty20. ts, Afghans usually play with challengers of neighboring states and sometimes with other Asian countries.

Education in Afghanistan includes K-12 and higher education, which is supervised by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education in Kabul, Afghanistan. There are about 10,000 schools of which 4,000 were built in the last decade. More than 100,000 teachers were trained and recruited in the same period.[21] It was reported in 2011 that more than seven million male and female students were enrolled in schools.[21] Some of the well known schools in Kabul are Habibia High School, Lycée Esteqlal, Amani High School, Aisha-i-Durani School, Ghazi High School and Rahman Baba High School. The Ahmad Shah Baba High School and Zarghuna Anna High School are two of the oldest schools in Kandahar.

Since the country has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world, the United States began establishing a number of Lincoln learning centers to help with this problem and promote American culture in Afghanistan. They are set up to serve as programming platforms offering English language classes, library facilities, programming venues, Internet connectivity, educational and other counseling services. A goal of the program is to reach at least 4,000 Afghan citizens per month per location.[22][23] The military and national police are now provided with mandatory literacy courses.[24] In addition to this, Baghch-e-Simsim (based on the American Sesame Street) was launched in late 2011 to help Afghan children learn from preschool onward. Programs in the show "will be partly filmed in Afghanistan with the rest" lifted from other versions in Muslim countries including Egypt and Bangladesh, as well as Mexico and Russia.[25][26]

Higher education is provided by various universities throughout the country, which include the American University of Afghanistan, Kabul University, Polytechnical University of Kabul, Herat University, Balkh University, Nangarhar University, Kandahar University, Khost University, Bakhtar University, and a heap of others. There is also one military college, located in Kabul. Recently with help from UNESCO, over 1,000 women have taken the university entrance exam. As of 2011, about 62,000 students are enrolled in different universities around the country.[21]

Dari and Pashto are both the official languages of Afghanistan,[3] although Dari (Afghan Persian) serves as the lingua franca for the majority. People in the northern and central areas of the country usually speak Persian/Dari, while those living in the south and east speak Pashto. Afghans living in the western regions of Afghanistan speak both Dari and Pashto. Most citizens are fluent in both languages, especially those living in major cities where the population is multi-ethnic. Several other languages are spoken in their own regions, which includes Uzbek, Turkmen and Balochi.[3] English is gradually becoming popular among the young generation. There are smaller number of Afghans who can understand Russian, mainly among the northern Tajik, Uzbek and Turkmen groups.

Men praying at the Blue Mosque (or Shrine of Hazrat Ali) in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

Islam is the main religion of Afghanistan and over 99.7%[27] of Afghans are Muslims. An estimated 84.7–90% of the population adhere to Sunni Islam, while an estimated 7–15% practice Shia Islam, and approximately 1% are followers of other religions.[27][28]

In addition to Muslims, there are thousands of Afghan Christians,[29] Sikhs and Hindus and only one known Jew, Zablon Simintov, residing in Afghanistan.[30][31][32][33]

An Afghan boy with a kite

Kites and "kite fighting" are highly popular in Afghanistan especially amongst the children.

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  A mud brick house on a mountainside - a common sight in the hilly areas of the Afghan countryside
• 
  Traditional brick homes
• 
  A yurt in the Wakhan

Houses in rural Afghanistan are traditionally made out of mud, and have a series of rooms located around a private rectangular courtyard where women and children play, cook and socialize. Married sons share the same house as their parents in most cases, although they have separate quarters. Afghan houses contain a special room where men socialize with each other known as a hujra. In the cities, many Afghans live in modern style houses or apartments. The nomadic kuchi people live in large tents because they are constantly on the move from one part of the country to another.[34]

• Demography of Afghanistan
• Postage stamps and postal history of Afghanistan
• Nancy Dupree

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Culture of Afghanistan.

• Afghanistan Cultural Profile
• Afghanistan Online: Culture
• Culture and history of Afghanistan
• Afghan's Share in Indian Art and Culture
• Afghanistan a cultural profile
• Online Afghan Calendar with Gregorian, Hejrah-e shamsi and Hejrah-e qamari dates
• National Bibliography and Publishing in Afghanistan (1871-2009)
• AfghanProverbs.com. Features Dari (Afghan Farsi) Proverbs of Afghanistan, known as "Zarbul Masalha"
• Afghanistan: Major Cultural and Historical Zones