Pashtun Culture

A Kandahar Tradition

Traditional Khamak includes natural themes, such as flowers, leaves and trees, in addition to the geometric shapes of Islamic art. The women of Kandahar Treasure themselves creatively combine natural and geometric shapes to create patterns much like their ancestors did. But they are also continuously creating new designs, many of which will be showcased for the first time to the public on their most beloved man (a brother, husband, or son). In Southern Afghanistan, women rely on their men to be the exhibitors of their fine art, and men have naturally learned to “show-off” publicly with the best embroidered work on their attire.

Traditional Khamaki Embroidered Shawl

Decorative Pillows

Embroidered chiffon scarves

An Afghan woman works on a form of embroidery called Khamak at Kandahar Treasure facilities in Kandahar city, June 14, 2009. Kandahar Treasure, a non-profit project of the Afghans for Civil Society which started out in 2003, employs women artisans from the Kandahar area in order to develop more economic opportunities.

http://kandahartreasure.com/products.html

Described as Pashtun Mangal, Paktya, 1930.

Purse-Swat, Pakistan

Wardak embroidery on traditional dress

Afghanistan – chain stitch

Paktia, Afghanistan

Afghanistan – chain stitch (detail)

Paktia, Afghanistan

Koochie Embroidery

Afghanistan

Koochie embroidered wallet

Afghanistan

Very tight chain stitch on Bukara silk.

Koochie dress-detail

Afghanistan

Embroidered cap and tassels

Embroidered cap from Kandahar. Tassels nomadic.

Pashtun Vest
Ghazni area, Katawaz. Afghanistan.

Pashtun Cushion Cover
Pakistan

Silk embroidery on cotton

Pashtun Shawl
Swat Valley, Pakistan

Silk satin-stitch embroidery on cotton.

Pashtun Cushion Cover
Swat Valley, Pakistan

Silk embroidery on cotton

Pashtun Child’s Vest
Ghazni area, Afghanistan

Fine silk cross-stitch embroidery on cotton, with silver couching, applied gold braid, and beaded edging.

A tradition of Pashtuns / Afghans

When spalanaey seeds ( more commonly known to Westerners by their Persian name espand ) are dropped on red-hot charcoal they make a popping noise and give off a great deal of fragrant smoke. This is done to ward off the “evil-eye”. The evil eye belief is that a person, otherwise not evil in any way, can harm you, your children, your house, your health and so on by looking at you with envy and/or praising you. The evil eye or Nazar can be done out of love and unintentionally so it does not always have “evil” intentions attached to it.

This ancient tradition has it’s origins from Zorostrianism and is still widely practiced today. In Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan when a child returns home after being among strangers, some parents will light a charcoal disk and burn the spalanaey seeds while reciting a poem, actually an ancient Zoroastrian prayer, against the evil eye and directing the smoke around the child. This is done as a protective measure, whether or not it is suspected that the child has been given the eye. The rite consists of an invocation prayer to a deceased but historical king of Persia known as Naqshband, while burning espand/ spalanaey seeds. The word espand refers to a class of Zoroastrian Archangels. It was common that our Zoroastrian forefathers used to pick a patron angel for their protection, and throughout their lives were observing prayers dedicated to that angel. Today whenever we burn espand grains to “espand” ourselves, it is in fact the invocation of blessing of the archangels (Amahraspand or aspand) that our ancestors observed prayers to. In some homes today verses from the Koran are recited instead of that ancient prayer.

Sometimes instead of spalanaey being burned it is just mentioned. For example when a child is sick his or her mother will sometimes wet the child’s hair and say ” spalanaey di sum” the Pashto phrase to ward off the evil eye. Also when one’s beloved says some sweet words to them the other often says ” spalanaey di sum” to ward off the evil eye.

spalanaey

An Afghan Spandi burns seeds to drive away the evil eye in the early morning in Kabul, Afghanistan. Spandi is a person who walks around the neighborhood with a burning pot of the spalanaey seeds to sprinkle incense in return for a small fee.

Not just a Pashtun vice

Whether we like it or not the tobacco known as “naswar” is associated with Pashtuns. Naswar is primarily used in Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Sweden and India. In Pakistan though it is is predominantly used by members of the Pashtun ethnic group. Some of the many varieties of naswar are produced in different parts of the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa Province of Pakistan and the city of Bannu is especially famous for producing the best naswar.

Naswar is held in the mouth for 10 to 15 minutes. If it is chewed it produces a bad taste in the mouth. Usually, the consumption varies but mostly people take it on an hourly basis as it is highly addictive. Nowadays most of the educated Pashtuns are against the use of this product because of it’s detrimental health effects.



An assortment of naswar.

A worker crushing dried Tobacco for converting it to Naswar. Naswar or dried Tobacco is used mostly by Pashtuns but it is also popular among many others. Naswar could be found in two colors i.e green or Black, and the use of Naswar is by placing a small portion like a small tablet inside the mouth and then extracting the juice out of it without bringing down the material of naswar to the stomach, and after few minutes the Naswar is then thrown out.

Naswar waiting to be sold in Karachi.

Afghanistan has a long tradition of producing clay products, especially in the region of Ghazni. Comparison between prehistoric pottery shards and pieces from the pre-war period indicates that the basic shapes and designs of Afghan pottery changed little in 5,000 years.

http://www.afghantribalarts.com/clay.htm
http://www.southasianmedia.net/profile/afghanistan/artculture_afghnistan.cfm