Music has never been limited by range of geographical boundaries. What shows the differences in the geography of music is the difference in the structure of the instrument or the way of playing it, and of course dotar instrument is not an exceptional one.
Folk music is the music of people’s daily life and it is so well connected with the spirit of ethnic and racial lifestyle, therefore listening or playing this type of music has a special attraction and gravitation for each member of that ethnicity, and for those from other cultures, it is an unbeatable music that listening to it is a new and unique experiment which is deceptive and enchanting.
Since folk music is sung by singers from ordinary and modest people, so it is usually simple music and lyrics which fits for dancing. Sometimes two folk music belonging to two different ethnicities are so similar to each other, and this is due to the musical influence that ethnicities have on each other. The main function of folklore music is to preserve the culture and cultural identity of different societies. Because it is mixed with traditions and rituals of various societies.
This type of music depends of where it was rooted and structured first, may be performed solo or even in groupies.
This mystical and unbeknown of who sung it or who composed the folk music of a region for the first time or who wrote the local lyrics of that region is another spice of the folk music.
Dotar from South Khorasan, which was played by great masters like Usman Khafi, Gholamhossein Arfa Zulfiqar Asgarian, Abdullah Sarwar Ahmadi, etc., has also undergone changes over time in terms of shape, appearance, used materials, etc., which here is going to be covered:
A Transition through the Music of Khorasan:
Dotar from South of Khorasan
This dotar (1) is one of the oldest types of dotars which is available in Khorasan and is known as Khafi Dotar! The age of this instrument is about hundred years or more and also this indicates that in the old days, the size and dimensions of the dotars were much smaller compared to the present period. Small bowls with a depth of 15 cm, has a very low volume sound and limited to a small environment, and finally, in terms of weight, it is much lighter than today’s dotars.
The luthiers of this dotar live in anonymity and the ready-made instruments were without any stamps and marks, but as far as researches have shown us
Luthiers such as Ustad Mohammad Hossein, Mammad Omar, Kashmiri Afghani, Ramazan Ali, Kaal Mammad Khafi… were well known dotar luthiers of Khaf region. In the olden days, the frets were made of loops of gut and strings from silk.
This dotar is one of the oldest dotars in Khorasan, which is one hundred years old or more. In a part of John Bailey’s article, which was the result of 10 months of research on the dotar in 1973 and 1974, it says: Many of the dotar players of Herat city that I have worked with attributed this instrument to Khaf, whether the instruments that were in possession of Dotar players or those that were in antique shops were said that were made in Khaf, and many of them represented the high standard of craftsmanship. Some people said that the popularity of dotar playing was originated from Khaf. There is evidence that the interest in dotar was originated from Khaf in the early 20th century (probably in the 1920s) and spread to other regions and Herat. I was able to confirm that Khaf was known for prominent dotar luthiers and dotar players in the past. Apart from the changes in string’s nature, from silk material to steel wire, which was first done by musicians in Khaf, there has not been much change in Dotar. Source: (Mahor Quarterly – Year 10, No. 38, Winter 86) Years later, Jean Doering presented research in the same field, and the obtained results were similar to John Bailey’s.
In this picture (2) there are some necks of dotar which are 40 to 150 years old.
The decorations on the neck indicate that the old luthiers were fully aware of the industry, standards and aesthetics and of course they used the local and folk motifs to decorate the dotars.
The third neck from the right side belongs to 60 years ago and it was made by Mammad Omar Afghani and Saadat Din Hosni, known as Sadat, in the last years of his life, they were in the Khaf and after some years they relocated to other cities and there, they were presenting their art in dotar.
The images (3) that you see are the creations of Afghani artists who were living in Khaf from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. Very different patterns of bowls and very long necks have been the hallmarks of hand-made dotars by Afghani Kashmiri artists.
From about 40 or 50 years ago, large bowls (4) appeared in Khorasan dotars, and most of these dotars had a lowest pitch sound, and very few singers would have sang with it!
The scientific touch and sensitivities in making this dotar is very praiseworthy and show the high skill of the luthier maestro.
The dotars in the picture (5) are from 60 to 70 years ago. Later, the luthiers came to the conclusion that they should make some changes in the bowl pattern so that they could use more sound volume and more techniques in playing. In the beginning, the strings were made of gut or silk, and according to the researches of Mr. Jean During and before him, Mr. John Bailey mentioned in their researches that the first musicians who used steel wire on dotar were from Khaf.
Introduction of Khorasan Masters
Undoubtedly, the music of Khorasan has a distinct and special notion among the musical regions of the country. The land of great masters such as Hossein Yeganeh, Osman Mohammad Parst, Mohammad Reza Shajarian, Haj Noor Mohammad Darpoor, Gholam Alipour Atai, Haj Gurban Soleimani, Parviz Mashkatian, etc… that life story of each of these artists is full of special and unique gestures and understandings that reading or hearing about them still can be an inspiration for young artists of this land and become a source of many researches.
Ustad Osman Mohammad Parast
This Iranian dotar artist was born in Khaf, Khorasan, and has been familiar with dotar since the age of 10.
He was from the “Bai” clan, which is a herdsman and nomadic clan. Osman Mohammad Parast has six sons and three daughters. In the beginning of his journey through music, he says: “I played the dotar since I was twelve or thirteen years old, and days and nights after getting free from work, which is the essence of every Khafi man, I used to deepen into the spiritual meditation with myself, which is playing Dotar and I had never had a master.”
Two strings mean love, “Dotar” is a unique and gentle instrument that relaxes both the musician and the people who are interested in this instrument.
Osman Mohammad Parast, regarding the origin of “Dotar”, says: “The origin of “Dotar” is the three cities of Khaf, Taibad, and Torbat Jam, which mostly play Persian and local songs,as we call them folk or Navahi . Then, “Dotar” is common in Quchan, Shirvan, and Bojnord. which they played Kurdish and Turkish songs, from there it reached the Turkmens in Gonbad-e-kavous who played Turkmen songs with “dotar”.
Osman Mohammad Parast had prominent and famous works, from Chavoshi and Sarhadhi to other Maghams of this country, he had created various performances in the cause of unity. He was the first person to perform Navai Navai song in 1353.
Ustad Osman was involved in charitable activities in the field of school building. He was one of the founders of Yavari Cultural Society as a non-profit school building organization in Iran. He founded this organization together with Mojtabi Kashani and Nicole Faridni, Homayoun Haji Khani, and during the years of his activity, he has been able to build more than 600 schools in deprived areas of the country.
In July 2011, at the memorial ceremony of Osman Mohammadparast, with the presence of artists, Mahmoud Dolatabadi unveiled Osman Khafi’s opening.
On November 20, 2018, the statue of Ustad Osman Mohammad Parast was unveiled in the presence of famous artist Dariush Arjamand in the school of Art & Cultural Complex of Khaf city. In the continuation of this ceremony, the creator of the musical work was honored with the presence of a large number of people and artists.
On September 8, 2016, the first permanent Khorasan tile was installed on the door of Osman Mohammad Parast’s house by the General Administration of Khorasan Cultural Heritage in order to preserve the country’s intangible heritage.
He has also played some acting roles in several films, including Farda, a product of Iran and Japan, I will come under my rule, produced in 1362, written and directed by Dariush Arjamand.
Ustad Noor Mohammad DarPoor
Noor Mohammad Darpoor was born in 1311 in the village of Sarkh Sera of Bakhrez, Torbat-e- Jam, Khorasan.
He learned dotar and epic narratives and lyrical music of the Khorasan from famous masters of the region, Haj Jahangir Khan, Haj Morteza Pari, Haj Abdul Hamid Rasouli, Maladad Khoda Kabudani and Mulla Yasin Meridar. And he learned the singing styles of Halq Zikr from Khalifa Mullah Sultan and Mullah Bayand Baloch.
He also learned recitation of the Masnavi from elders such as Mulla Moqri and Akhund Mullah Mukhtar and ghazal recitation from Muladad Hazare Pul Bandi and Haj Lotfollah Hazare.
Ustad Darpour, like many other musicians and narrators of the folk music, was introduced to the music community through the Fajr Music Festival as well as Ayane and Awaz festivals, epic music, as well as the Kerman District Music Festival and Zikr and Zakirin festivals, and then got famous as a well-known musician with a unique style. He staged many performances in foreign countries.
His performance at the Berlin Music Festival in 2002, which was attended with Mohammadreza Darvishi and Farid Salmanian, deeply impressed the audience.
He was one of the few survivors of the style in the south of Khorasan, who had a treasure of folk songs of these regions in his chest, and he can be considered the symbol of the mystical music of the region of Torbat-e-Jam and Khorasan. The region has poets and mystics such as Haj Qazi Jalaluddin Faqhi Seljuqi, Mullah Abdul Rauf Majidi Sheikh Ahmad Jami, and Maulana Abdul Rahman Jami.
During his trip to Germany and Netherlands, Ustad Darpoor was able to introduce the mystical music of Khorasan to the world.
He has also performed works at the Khorasan Razavi Music Center, which he recited some Maghams such as Khaliq Yekta, Samada, Allah Madd.
Ustad Nur Mohammad Darpoor has said somewhere about learning the art of music: I learned Dotar by myself. I played until I learned. I learned singing from the old teachers. My teachers were Malaisin Meridar, Maladadkhoda, and Malaisi Kobodani. I have thousands of verses memorized, all of which are the remembrance of God…
Along with Zulfiqar Asgaripour, he played and sang some of Maghams such as: Hazargi, Jamshidi, Wafai, Mehrabani Nesit, Samada, Jan Zaman, Do Biti, Allah Madd, Mashak Poltan, Ashtar Khajo, Navai, and Sa Cheke. These are the classical works related to this style of playing and singing in the music of Khorasan, which is available in the music market.
The performance of “Gazal Kuche Baghi Bash Ta Hasan Negaram Khime Ber Sahra Zand” is one of the well-known works of Noor Mohammad Darpoor.
Ustad Darpoor was sent to Hajj in 1985 as one of the 4 prominent music masters of the region, and at the age of 81, he was sick and went through chemo therapy.
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