In the deep southern districts of Punjab where the Tharparkar Desert lies like a great dry ocean and where the people speak the ancient Seraiki language, the name Pathane Khan has become synonymous with Sufi kafi. His lilting, sweet yet pain-filled voice was adored by lovers of Pakistani folk music. Fourteen years after his passing, the spirit of the great man, remains strong. Despite many comers, no one has ever been able to surpass Pathane Khan’s interpretation of the poetry of Khwaja Ghulam Farid, Bulleh Shah and Shah Hussein.
Ghulam Mohammad was born in 1926 in the village Basti Tambu Wali, situated in the heart of the Thar Desert. When he was very young, Ghulam’s mother decided to leave her husband after he brought home a third wife. She went to Kot Addu, in Punjab, to stay with her father. Ghulam got a new name after he fell ill. A hakim advised his mother to change his name because Ghulam Mohammad seemed “too heavy for him”. Meanwhile, folk stories say that the hakim’s daughter commented that he looked like a Pathana. In the region of South Punjab, the name Pathana symbolises love and valour, so from that day onwards he was known as Pathane.
Pathane was close to his mother but as much as she tried to send him to school, his malangiya nature kicked in and he stayed away from classroom. Instead he wandered, contemplated and sang. By the time he was barely into his teens, he was singing the kafis by Khwaja Ghulam Farid.
He was first heard on Radio Pakistan Multan in the late 1960s and for many years was known only to audiences in the southern Punjab and northern Sindh region. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s first democratically elected (and horribly tragic) Prime Minister, was said to have fallen under the spell of Pathane Khan and in particular the song MedaIshq Vi Tu.
As television spread in the ’70s, Pathane Khan was introduced to a national audience and he soon became an improbable star. Elderly, with a shock of white hair that fell on to his shoulders, Pathane by his own admission smoked copious amount of hashish and travelled everywhere with a male companion named Yaseen. While each of these attributes failed every test of the Official Approval Test of Celebrity, there was no way you could argue when he sat behind a harmonium and began to sing. Nothing could stand before such searing sincerity and love.
The following video clips are from a Pakistani television appearance and capture one of South Asia’s greatest voices at the top of his ability. In addition to the poetry and singing, the clips reveal rare glimpses of his life and youth in pre-Partition India. Each of these devotional songs is a meditation on love and the true nature of ultimate reality.
MedaIshq Vi Tu
The mystical hymn MehdaIshq Vi Tu is an excellent way into Pathane’s music and deeply held faith. When I first heard it on a bazaar cassette tape I very nearly cried even though I could only make out the outer edges of the language. In this clip he also discusses a bit of his philosophy and artistic history as well.
Ghoom Charkhra Ghoom
A Shah Hussein poem that expresses the endless chaos but also the eternal cycle of life.
Bulleh Nu Samjhavan Ayian
A kafi of Bulleh Shah.
Kafi (Baba Farid)
Pathane Khan’s music was a direct expression of his deep spiritual devotion and love of Baba Farid. Though he did receive formal training from various ustads, his singing is so powerful because it is so raw. There is no pretence or artifice here. He was a singer of great versatility, with an ability to sing the same kafi in many different ragas known to have elevated the form of kafi to a much higher level than any of his predecessors. Or followers.
Sohni Gharey Nu Akdi
A delicate love story that tells of Sohni crossing the river on clay pots to visit her lover Passu. It’s a story as old as the five rivers of the Punjab.
Ishq Anokhi Peer
In which he discusses his early schooling and the only English word he learned. A paean to love.
Listen to these songs as a single playlist here on our YouTube channel.
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Ghulam Mohammad was born in 1926 in the village Basti Tambu Wali, situated in the heart of the Thar Desert. When he was very young, Ghulam’s mother decided to leave her husband after he brought home a third wife. She went to Kot Addu, in Punjab, to stay with her father. Ghulam got a new name after he fell ill. A hakim advised his mother to change his name because Ghulam Mohammad seemed “too heavy for him”. Meanwhile, folk stories say that the hakim’s daughter commented that he looked like a Pathana. In the region of South Punjab, the name Pathana symbolises love and valour, so from that day onwards he was known as Pathane.
Pathane was close to his mother but as much as she tried to send him to school, his malangiya nature kicked in and he stayed away from classroom. Instead he wandered, contemplated and sang. By the time he was barely into his teens, he was singing the kafis by Khwaja Ghulam Farid.
He was first heard on Radio Pakistan Multan in the late 1960s and for many years was known only to audiences in the southern Punjab and northern Sindh region. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s first democratically elected (and horribly tragic) Prime Minister, was said to have fallen under the spell of Pathane Khan and in particular the song MedaIshq Vi Tu.
As television spread in the ’70s, Pathane Khan was introduced to a national audience and he soon became an improbable star. Elderly, with a shock of white hair that fell on to his shoulders, Pathane by his own admission smoked copious amount of hashish and travelled everywhere with a male companion named Yaseen. While each of these attributes failed every test of the Official Approval Test of Celebrity, there was no way you could argue when he sat behind a harmonium and began to sing. Nothing could stand before such searing sincerity and love.
The following video clips are from a Pakistani television appearance and capture one of South Asia’s greatest voices at the top of his ability. In addition to the poetry and singing, the clips reveal rare glimpses of his life and youth in pre-Partition India. Each of these devotional songs is a meditation on love and the true nature of ultimate reality.
MedaIshq Vi Tu
The mystical hymn MehdaIshq Vi Tu is an excellent way into Pathane’s music and deeply held faith. When I first heard it on a bazaar cassette tape I very nearly cried even though I could only make out the outer edges of the language. In this clip he also discusses a bit of his philosophy and artistic history as well.
Ghoom Charkhra Ghoom
A Shah Hussein poem that expresses the endless chaos but also the eternal cycle of life.
Bulleh Nu Samjhavan Ayian
A kafi of Bulleh Shah.
Kafi (Baba Farid)
Pathane Khan’s music was a direct expression of his deep spiritual devotion and love of Baba Farid. Though he did receive formal training from various ustads, his singing is so powerful because it is so raw. There is no pretence or artifice here. He was a singer of great versatility, with an ability to sing the same kafi in many different ragas known to have elevated the form of kafi to a much higher level than any of his predecessors. Or followers.
Sohni Gharey Nu Akdi
A delicate love story that tells of Sohni crossing the river on clay pots to visit her lover Passu. It’s a story as old as the five rivers of the Punjab.
Ishq Anokhi Peer
In which he discusses his early schooling and the only English word he learned. A paean to love.
Listen to these songs as a single playlist here on our YouTube channel.
