Baloch community in the UAE comprising expatriates and local last week remembered their legendry folklore balladeer singer Mulla Kamalan, who earned the Pride of Performance during Khatami regime and citizenship from Oman Government in early 1960’s for his classical singing.
Over 2000 Balochs, overwhelmingly expatriates from Pakistan, Iran and neighbouring Gulf countries on Thursday gathered in the emirate to remember one the most famous singer and scholar of Baloch history.
A large number of guests, including poets, scholars, journalists, doctors, engineers and singers from the UAE, Oman, Bahrain, Pakistan and Scandinavia attended the function to pay their tributes to the late singer. Three famous singers, Basham Baloch, Arif Baloch and Mohammed Alam, especially came from Pakistan to perform at the memorial show.
Kamalan was famous throughout Iranian and Pakistani Balochistan as well as in Afghanistan’s Baloch province of Nimorze and Turkmenistan’s southern Merv (Mary) region where over half a million Balochs live.
“He was the most famous and known classical and folklore singer to document our and the world history as far as the Baloch history goes back. He was an encyclopaedia with a sharp memory,” said Zayeda Raees Raji, who administers a website dedicated to Baloch culture and heritage.
The first anniversary of the legendary singer was observed by the UAE-based Syed Labzanki Majlis (Syed Literary Council) with the support of Baloch Cultural Council. Mulla Kamalan was born in Latidan in Dashtiyari District of Chabahar, the port city of Iranian Balochistan across the Arabian Gulf. He died of natural death in the early hours of February 21, 2010.
“We have lost a great institution in Mulla Kamalan’s death,” said Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, former Chief Minister of Balochistan and leader of Balochistan National Party (BNP), who was the chief guest at the function.
Mengal said though Kamalan lived about 800km away (in Iranian or Western Balochistan) from his home town in Wadh on Sindh border, he was equally famous across the regions where Baloch live – Sindh, Southern Punjab, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and East Africa (particularly Zanzibar, Tanzanian and Mombasa in Kenya ) and Gulf where millions of Baloch live.
The former chief executive of Balochistan said Kamalan was an encyclopaedia, memorising the entire Baloch history as well the history of Islam and political affairs, for instance his narrations of historical events of First World War.
Kamalan’s type of singing was called shehr, narrating historical events accompanied by chung (a three-string guitar) and suroze (a traditional violin) , very similar to that of Gulf Arab folklore songs. Some of his famous shehrs include the history of the 30-year-old war of the Great Chakar and Gohram of Rind and Lashar Baloch tribes that goes into 1,200 verses.
The keynote speech was delivered by Aziz Dad Yar Baloch who came from Sweden to pay his tribute to Kamalan. The other guests included Siddique Baloch, the Editor-in-Chief and owner of Balochistan Express Group of Newspapers based in Balochistan capital Quetta.
Dad Yar shed light on the life of the legendry singer and his fame among 20 million Baloch around the world. Dr Abdul Aziz Kalmati, another scholar, who lives in the UAE, spoke about his ballades and sharp memory that housed over 400 songs or narrations of historical facts – each an hour if sang.
Siddique Baloch of Balochistan Express told Khaleej Times Kamalan earned his title of Mulla for his sharp memory of historical events and singing. He said: “Mulla in Balochi means a wise-man or a scholar. It has been wrongly interpreted to fundamental religious elements. Kamalan earned the title at the age of 15 when he sang in the court of the most reputed notables in Bahu Kalat, his parental hometown. Mulla, which is a typical Balochi word, purely means wise man or in today’s world can be equivalent to doctorate – a musician, singer, sportsman, poet, teacher or any learned man is blessed with the title.”
Alam Sardarzai, a close freeing of the legend said: “Mulla Kamalan, who was born in 1936, has never been to a school. But he was a great philosopher and historian. If we collect and document his folklore ballades of historical facts and print them out, we may need a huge library. He had a tremendous and sharp memory to remember and narrate over 400 extremely lengthy ballades. It should have gone to the Guinness Book of Records. He used to sing for 13 nights continuously, each night for five hours, and without repetitions. He would never repeat song at a function – in fact if he sang a song today, it would be repeated only after two events or gatherings.”
Aslam Hoath, a nephew of Kamalan who now lives and works in Bahrain, said his uncle had memorised the whole historical happenings from Baloch tribal wars to the Second World War and narrated them in his classical style of singing to pass them from generation to generation.
“Though he had not gone to a school, which did not exist in both Eastern and Western Balochistan during youth days, he had a sharp memory to document the ballades narrated by other pahlvan (top and unbeaten classical singers) when he was a young boy. He also had the original written works of pre-contemporary poets like Mulla Fazul and Mulla Qassim. Some of his classical important and rare collections were published and documented in a book called Miras (Heritage) in Bahrain compiled by Faqeer Shad. All the rare poems in Miras were from Mulla Kamalan’s rich library,” he said.
Ismael Mumtaz, another prominent poet from Bahrain and a former senior Gulf Air Instructor, said Mulla was an asset for the Baloch people with his rich knowledge of local and global current affairs memorised and passed on to his people through his typical and classical type of singing.
Mumtaz said: “I would call him a doctor and a professor for his oceanic intelligence and knowledge on the world unique style of singing and documenting historical happenings and sharing them with his people. For me he is Dr Kamalan.”
Sardarzai said Kamalan explore his talent of folklore singing during a trade trip between Dashtiyari and Gwadar carrying coal barter with dry fish. “He, aged 14, along with other traders, in a camel caravan was returning from Gwadar and stopped near Paleeri for the night. Since they could not sleep due to cool weather, they decided to have fun with classical singing. It was his first folklore song. All of a sudden a white-bearded old man comes to them and asks who was narrating the ballade. The old man told Mulla that he had a great voice and talent and will earn a big name in Baloch history,” recalled Sardarzai.
The function held in Ajman was highly responsive and the people paid due attention to the speeches, the keynote address by Aziz Baluch. On the occasion, the works of Major Majeed, yet another outstanding poet, was launched and some copies of his verses were distributed among the select gathering.
The function was termed a great success and a good response for initiating culture and literary days more frequently to promote Balochi language and culture in the entire Gulf region. (Courtesy: The Khaleej Times)
