The culture of Afghanistan

The culture of Afghanistan is like India, diverse and multi- culture. It is mostly a tribal society with languages like Pashto and Dari. Afghan is one country where all the tribal societies have different regions having different traditions. The culture in Afghan has also been influenced by Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East. In the southern and the eastern region of the country, an ancient lifestyle of the Pushtun culture is followed which is followed till date. The Afghans in the northern and the central region are culturally Persian with some small regions being Turkic whre as in the western region, the country has a mixture of both Pushtuns and Persians.

               Since the 1990’s, Afghan stated using western techniques in art before which Gandhara Art existed between the 1^st and the 7^th century. Previously, art was considered as a mans job but now, women are have also started taking interest and are entering the Kabul University for art programs. In Afghan, art is largely concentrated in Kabul in the Kabul museum and the National Art Gallery of Afghanistan. Traditionally, only men were involved in theatre, but in the recent years, women have begun to take the centre stage and the country owns the 47^th largest theatre club. Also, the Afghan carpet is extremely popular worldwide for its unique print. Music and poetry existed on a large scale in the past but now the Taliban government has banned instrumental music and public music making. Yet, a few people continued to trade their music and now Pakistani cities like Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad are a hub for the distribution of Afghan music. People generally write the lyrics in the languages Persian and Pashtro, which are the local languages. But, it is astonishing that bollywood songs are very popular in the country. The region has made a huge contribution to the world when it comes to art. The UNESCO has declared Minaret of Jam and the Valley of Bamiyan as World heritage sites, but the Taliban destroyed these. A lot of recognised architechture is also found in Herat, Ghazni and Mazari Sharif.

               According to their culture, the Afghan women have to wear long colourful dresses with long , round skirts and a piece of cloth to cover their heads. Females of all age groups have cover their heads even while at home of within their families. Men on the other side wear salwar kameez and wrap Keffiyehs on their heads. The clothes vary by regions, ethnicity as well as tribes in the country.

               Islam is the main religion followed in the country. 80-89% of Muslims are Sunnis and 10-19% is Shias. Apart from Muslims, 1% is Sikhs, Christians’ and Hindus. There are about 50000 Hindus living the country but this 1% are generally concentrated in big cities like Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad.

                The culture in the country has declined in the recent years due to the presence of the Taliban. The country has been unable to progress as the music, the art, education, architecture has all been destroyed. The only thing that remains in the country is the religion and the systems, the rules that the women have to follow have been there since centuries and exist till date.