{{Short description|Pakistani singer (born 1946)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Use Pakistani English|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox person | honorific_suffix = PP | name =Zarsanga | image =Zarsanga (cropped).jpg | caption =Zarsanga in 2015 | native_name = | native_name_lang =ps | birth_name = | birth_date =1946 | birth_place =Lakki Marwat, North-West Frontier Province, British India | other_names ="The Queen of Pashto Folklore" | occupation =Singer | years_active =1955–present | known_for = | module = {{Infobox musical artist | genre = Pashto folklore | instrument = | label = Long Distance<br/>Coke Studio | past_member_of = | current_member_of = }} }}
'''Zarsanga''' {{small|PP}} ({{langx|ps|زرڅانگه}}; born 1946) is a Pakistani singer from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, primarily associated with Pashto folk music. She began her singing career singing for Radio Pakistan in Peshawar and some television programmes, and later went on to perform in Europe, the United States and the UAE. Her extensive career as a singer and performer has earned her the sobriquet "The Queen of Pashtun Folklore" and the Presidential Pride of Performance Award by the Government of Pakistan.
==Early life== [[File:Fazal Malik Akif & Zarsanga with their band in March 1991 at Hackney Empire in London.jpg|thumb|Zarsanga with their band in March 1991 at Hackney Empire in London]]
Zarsanga was born in 1946 in a small village of Zafar Mamakhel in Lakki Marwat, North-West Frontier Province, British India (now Pakistan).<ref name="KP">{{cite web |title=Zarsanga |url=http://kp.gov.pk/page/zarsanga/page_type/person |website=Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |publisher=Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |access-date=13 November 2018}}</ref> She was born into the nomadic tribe Kutanree (Kutan), who travel mostly between Pashto area from Punjab and Sindh covering the areas of Bannu Road from Dera Ismail Khan, Kohat and Peshawar. Singing is a major profession for the people of the tribe and Zarsanga took it up at young age as well.
==Career== Zarsanga was discovered at a young age by a local musician, Mustafa during a performance at a wedding event. Mustafa introduced her to Rashid Ali Dehqan, a producer of Radio Peshawar who called her in for an audition. Zarsanga was signed by the broadcasting company and would go on to perform some of her best known songs on Radio Pakistan. At the start of her career, Zarsanga would listen to the songs of Gulnar Begum, Kishwar Sultan, Bacha Zarin Jan, Khyal Muhammad, Ahmad Khan and Sabz Ali Ustad. <blockquote>I liked all of them, but I have maintained my own traditional way of folk singing. The people would earnestly enjoy my songs on both sides of the Durand Line (Pakistan-Afghan border). I got no education so I cannot sing from a written paper. Most often I sing the songs that are composed and created by the common folk. However, my husband also wrote some of my popular songs.</blockquote>
thumb|Zarsanga and her band in 2015
A French researcher, Miss Kia, who worked with Radio France, once said Zarsanga's voice was the only mountainous voice in the Pashto language. Kia accompanied Zarsanga to France for a music concert, which was well received at the time.<ref name="Zarsanga">{{cite web |title=Zarsanga |url=https://www.theatreonline.com/Spectacle/Zarsanga/46025 |publisher=Theatre Online |access-date=13 November 2018}}</ref> Zarsanga talked about performing live for international audiences in one of her interviews. Recalling her experience at a live music event in London she said, "I was singing a traditional folk song in Pashto about the mountains and gypsy life of the tribals and when I finished it, a British person came close to me and proudly remarked that he was also a gypsy."{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}
Over the course of an extensive career, spanning over five decades, Zarsanga has recorded and performed popular songs including "Da Bangriwal Pa Choli Ma Za", her only song on radio, "Zma Da Khro Jamo Yara", "Rasha Mama Zwi De", "Zma Da Ghrono Pana Yara", and "Kht Me Zanzeri De". She also continued to perform variously in international music tours in Germany, France, Belgium, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, United States, and United Kingdom.<ref name="KP"/>
In 2018, Zarsanga appeared in the promotional video for the eleventh season of Coke Studio Pakistan. She later recorded a song for the eight episode of the season, performing "Rasha Mama" alongside Pashto band Khumariyaan and Gul Panra. The video was released on Coke Studio Pakistan's official YouTube on 16 August and has seen been viewed by over 6.8 million viewers.<ref name="CS">{{cite web |title=Coke Studio Season 11 |url=http://www.cokestudio.com.pk/season11/zarsanga.html |website=Coke Studio (Pakistan) |publisher=Coke Studio (Pakistan) |access-date=14 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last=Coke Studio Pakistan (season 11)|author-link=Coke Studio Pakistan (season 11)|title=Rasha Mama, Zarsanga, Gul Panrra and Khumariyaan, Coke Studio Season 11, Episode 2 |date=17 August 2018|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y93vs3XFl-0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/Y93vs3XFl-0 |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|access-date=14 November 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
== Personal life == In 1965, Zarsganga married Malla Jan, a resident of Sarai Naurang,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/people/a/Zarsanga_-_Melody_Queen_of_Pas.shtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415115231/http://www.khyber.org/people/a/Zarsanga_-_Melody_Queen_of_Pas.shtml|url-status=usurped|archive-date=15 April 2013|title=Zarsanga – Melody Queen of Pashto|last=Kheshgi|first=Khaled|publisher=Khyber.org|access-date=23 June 2010}}</ref> Lakki Marwat who was also a nomad. Many people believe she is married to popular folk singer Khan Tehsil, but she denies the rumors and to this day says Khan Tehsil is her husband's cousin: <blockquote>Actually I sang with him on many occasions and most of our joint songs got immense popularity. He is not my husband he is just like my own brother.</blockquote> Zarsanga and Malla Jan have nine children including three daughters and six sons. Shahzada, Zarsanga's second-oldest son, is also a musician.
Zarsanga lives with her sons and two grandchildren in Nowshera district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In July 2017, her house was burgled by a group of unidentified assailants, who robbed the household of most valuables.<ref name="Pashto">{{cite news |author1=Staff Reporter |title=Zarsanga |url=https://nation.com.pk/24-Jul-2017/pashto-singer-zarsanga-injured-in-attack |access-date=13 November 2018 |work=The Nation |date=24 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="condemn">{{cite news |author1=Staff Report |title=Hamid Karzai, politicians, among fans to condemn attack on Zarsanga |url=https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2017/07/24/hamid-karzai-politicians-among-fans-to-condemn-attack-on-zarsanga/ |work=Pakistan Today |date=24 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="provided">{{cite news |author1=Monitoring Desk |title=Pashto folk singer Zarsanga warns Pakistan Will leave for Afghanistan if justice not provided |url=http://www.afghanistantimes.af/pashto-folk-singer-zarsanga-warns-pakistan-will-leave-for-afghanistan-if-justice-not-provided/ |access-date=13 November 2018 |work=Afghanistan Times |date=26 July 2017 |location=Kabul}}</ref><ref name="Lok">{{cite news |title=Lok Virsa ED inquires after Zarsanga |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/219320-Lok-Virsa-ED-inquires-after-Zarsanga |access-date=13 November 2018 |work=The News |date=27 July 2017}}</ref>
== Discography == * ''Chants Du Pashtou'' (1993)
=== Singles === * "Da Bangriwal Pa Choli Ma Za" * "Kht Me Zanzeri De" * "Rasha Mama Zwi De" * "Zma Da Ghrono Pana Yara" * "Zma Da Khro Jamo Yara"
=== Coke Studio === * "Hum Dekhenge", performed with many artists.
=== Contributing artist === * ''The Rough Guide to the Music of India and Pakistan'' (1996, World Music Network)
== Awards and honours == For her contributions to the field music and folk singing, Zartsanga was awarded the Pride of Performance Award (''Tamġa-ē Ḥusn-e Kārkardagī'') by the Government of Pakistan. She has also been dubbed "The Queen Of Pashtun Folklore" by various media outlets.<ref name="Volume 15">{{cite book |title=The Pakistan Review, Volume 15 |date=1967 |publisher=Ferozsons Limited |pages=35–37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kmXVAAAAMAAJ&q=Zarsanga |access-date=14 November 2018 |format=Digitized}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pashtunpost.com/news.php?news=86|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174740/http://www.pashtunpost.com/news.php?news=86|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 March 2016|title=Zar Sanga: The Queen Of Pashtun Folklore |work=Pashtun Post |date=31 December 1969 |access-date=20 June 2010|quote=That is why when Zar Sanga, the queen of gypsy, sang out 'Rasha mama zwi de lewani de' ( O dear uncle! My fascinating beauty has driven your son insane) at ...}}</ref> In 2000 at ''PTV Award'' she received Best Singer award.<ref>{{Citation |title=PTV World Awards|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKLsMNsLpYk|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/aKLsMNsLpYk|archive-date=2022-01-18 |url-status=live|website=PTV (News)|access-date=22 February 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
==See also== *Pashto music *Pashtun culture *Music of Pakistan {{Portal bar |Pakistan}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}}
*{{AllMusic}} *{{Discogs artist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarsanga}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Pakistani women singers Category:21st-century Pakistani women singers Category:Pashtun women singers Category:PTV Award winners Category:People from Lakki Marwat District