Qaumi Tarana

Flag of Pakistan

The Qaumī Tarāna (Urdu: قومى ترانہ) is the national anthem of Pakistan. The music of the anthem was composed by Ahmed Ghulamali Chagla, with lyrics written by Abu-Al-Asar Hafeez Jullandhuri. The three stanza composition was officially adopted in 1954 to replace an earlier anthem by Jagannath Azad. However, the music for the anthem had been composed in 1950 and had been used on several occasions before official adoption. The lyrics allude to a "Sacred Land" referring to Pakistan and a "Flag of the Crescent and Star" referring to the national flag. Unofficially, the anthem is sometimes called by it's first line "Pāk sarzamīn shād bād" (Urdu for "Blessed be the sacred land"). The national anthem is played during any event involving the hoisting of the flag, for example Pakistan Day (March 23) and Independence Day (August 14).

Composition

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

At independence, on August 14 1947, Pakistan did not have a national anthem. When the flag was hoisted at the independence ceremony it was accompanied by the song, "Pakistan Zindabad, Azadi Paendabad". The flag itself had only been approved by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan three days earlier. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, asked Lahore-based Hindu writer, Jagannath Azad on 9 August 1947 to write a national anthem for Pakistan in five days.^[1] Jinnah may have done this to promote a more secular idealism for Pakistan.^[2] The anthem written by Azad was quickly approved by Jinnah, and it was played on Radio Pakistan.^[3] Azad's work remained as Pakistan’s national anthem for approximately eighteen months.

In early 1948, A. R. Ghani from Transvaal, South Africa, offered two prizes of five thousand rupees each for the poet and composer of a new national anthem. The prizes were announced through a Government press note published in June 1948. In December 1948, a National Anthem Committee (NAC) was formed, initially chaired by the Information Secretary, Sheikh Muhammad Ikram. Committee members included several politicians, poets and musicians such as Abdur Rab Nishtar, Ahmed Chagla and Hafeez Jullandhuri. The committee had some difficulty at first in finding suitable music and lyrics.

In 1950, the impending state visit of the Shah of Iran, resulted in the Government asking the NAC to submit an anthem without delay. The committee chairman, Federal Minister for Education, Fazlur Rahman, asked several poets and composers to write lyrics but none of the submitted works were deemed suitable. The NAC also examined several different tunes and eventually selected the one presented by Chagla and submitted it for formal approval. Chagla produced the musical composition in collaboration with another committee member and assisted by the Pakistan Navy band.^[4]

The anthem without lyrics was performed for Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan and later for the National Anthem Committee on August 10, 1950. Although it was approved for playing during the visit of the Shah, official recognition was not given until January 5, 1954. The anthem was also played during the Prime Minister's visit to the United States. The NAC distributed records of the composed tune amongst prominent poets, who responded by writing and submitting several hundred songs for evaluation by the NAC. Eventually, the lyrics written by Jullandhuri were approved and the new national anthem was first played properly on Radio Pakistan on August 13, 1954.^[5] Official approval was announced by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on August 16, 1954. The composer Chagla had however died in 1953, before the new national anthem was officially adopted. In 1955 there was a performance of the national anthem involving eleven major singers of Pakistan including Ahmad Rushdi.^[6]

First anthem

Information on the first anthem by Azad is very sparse. The lines presented below, were originally quoted by the Daily Times newspaper of Pakistan and The Hindu newspaper of India.^[7]

Second anthem

The music composed by Chagla reflects his background in both eastern and western music. The lyrics by Jullandhuri are written in highly Persianised Urdu, even using Persian grammar. Every word in the entire anthem is of Persian or Arabic origin, with the one exception "ka" ( کا, "of" ) having purely Hindustani origins.^[5] The anthem lasts for 1 minute and 20 seconds,^[8] and uses twenty one musical instruments and thirty eight different tones.^[5]

Media

Sheet music

Lyrics (in Urdu)

Instrumental

See also

• Jagannath Azad
• Ahmed Ghulamali Chagla
• Abu-Al-Asar Hafeez Jullandhuri
• Dil Dil Pakistan

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Qaumi Tarana

• Information Ministry, Government of Pakistan. "National Anthem of Pakistan". Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
• Embassy of Pakistan, Washington D. C.. "Pakistani Flag and National Anthem". Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
• American Institute of Pakistan Studies. "National Anthem of Pakistan". Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
• Abacci.com. "The Pakistani Flag and National Anthem". Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
• ItsPakistan.net. "About Pakistan". Retrieved on 2006-04-19.
• Youtube. "Pakistan National Anthem". Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
• NicePakistan.com. "Listen Pakistan National Anthem". Retrieved on 2007-07-10.

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