غزنویان Ghaznavian Ghaznavid Empire
←   ← 963–1187 →   →
Ghaznavid Empire at its greatest extent
Capital	Ghazni (963–1151) Lahore (1151–1187)
Language(s)	Persian (official/poetry)[1] Arabic (official/poetry) Turkic (military)[2]
Religion	Sunni Islam
Government	Empire
shah
- 963-977	Alptigin
- 1160-1187	Khusrau Malik
Historical era	Medieval
- Established	963
- Disestablished	1187
Area
- 1029 est.	3,400,000 km2 (1,312,747 sq mi)

The Ghaznavids (Persian: غزنویان‎) were a Persianate^[3][4][5] Muslim dynasty of Turkic slave-soldiers^[6][7][8] which existed from 975 to 1187 and ruled much of Persia, Transoxania, and the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent.^[9][10][11] The Ghaznavid state was centered in Ghazni, a city in modern-day Afghanistan. Due to the political and cultural influence of their predecessors - that of the Persian Samanid Empire - the originally Turkic Ghaznavids had become thoroughly Persianized.^{[9][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]}

The dynasty was founded by Sebuktigin upon his succession to rule of territories centered around the city of Ghazni from his father-in-law, Alp Tigin, a break-away ex-general of the Samanid sultans.^[18] Sebuktigin's son, Shah Mahmoud, expanded the empire in the region that stretched from the Oxus river to the Indus Valley and the Indian Ocean; and in the west it reached Rey and Hamadan.

Under the reign of Mas'ud I, the dynasty experienced major territorial losses, losing the western territories to the Seljuqs at the Battle of Dandanaqan resulting in a restriction of its holdings to Balochistan, Western Panjab and modern-day Afghanistan.^[19][20] In 1151, Sultan Bahram Shah lost Ghazni to Ala'uddin Hussain of Ghor and the capital was moved to Lahore until its subsequent capture by the Ghurids in 1186.

Rise to power[link]

Two military families arose from the Turkic slave-guards of the Samanids — the Simjurids and Ghaznavids — who ultimately proved disastrous to the Samanids. The Simjurids received an appanage in the Kohistan region of eastern Khorasan. Alp Tigin founded the Ghaznavid fortunes when he established himself at Ghazna (modern Ghazni) in 962. He and Abu al-Hasan Simjuri, as Samanid generals, competed with each other for the governorship of Khorasan and control of the Samanid empire by placing on the throne emirs they could dominate when 'Abd al-Malik I died in 961. But when the Emir died in 961 CE it created a succession crisis between 'Abd al-Malik I's brothers. A court party instigated by men of the scribal class—civilian ministers as contrasted with Turkic generals—rejected Alp Tigin's candidate for the Samanid throne. Mansur I was installed, and Alp Tigin prudently retired to his fief of Ghazna. The Simjurids enjoyed control of Khorasan south of the Oxus but were hard-pressed by a third great Iranian dynasty, the Buwayhids, and were unable to survive the collapse of the Samanids and the rise of the Ghaznavids.

The struggles of the Turkic slave generals for mastery of the throne with the help of shifting allegiance from the court's ministerial leaders both demonstrated and accelerated the Samanid decline. Samanid weakness attracted into Transoxania the Qarluq Turks, who had recently converted to Islam. They occupied Bukhara in 992 to establish in Transoxania the Qarakhanid, or Ilek Khanid, dynasty. Alp Tigin had been succeeded at Ghazna by Sebüktigin (died 997). Sebüktigin's son Mahmud made an agreement with the Qarakhanids whereby the Oxus was recognized as their mutual boundary.

Domination[link]

Sebük Tigin[link]

Sebük Tigin made himself lord of nearly all the present territory of Afghanistan and of the Punjab by conquest of Samanid and Shahi lands. He was followed by his son Ismail.

Mahmud ibn Sebük Tigin[link]

In 997, Mahmud^[21], the son of Sebük Tigin, succeeded his father upon his death(before he ascended the throne he had to challenge his younger brother Ismail,who was announced as the heir by his father Sebük Tigin), and with him Ghazni and the Ghaznavid dynasty have become perpetually associated. He completed the conquest of Samanid, Shahi lands, the Ismaili Kingdom of Multan, Sindh as well as some Buwayhid territory. Under him all accounts was the golden age and the height of the Ghaznavid Empire. Mahmud carried out seventeen expeditions through northern India establishing his control and setting up tributary states. His raids also resulted in the looting of a great deal of plunder. From the borders of Kurdistan to Samarkand, from the Caspian Sea to the Yamuna, he established his authority.

During Mahmud's reign(c.1025), the Ghaznavids settled 4000 Turkmen families near Farana in Khurasan. By 1027, due to the Turkmen raiding neighboring settlements, the governor of Tus, Abu l'Alarith Arslan Jadhib led military strikes against them. The Turkmen were defeated and scattered to neighboring lands.^[22] Although, as late as 1033, Ghaznavid governor Tash Farrash executed fifty Turkmen chiefs for raids into Khurasan.^[23]

The wealth brought back from the Indian expeditions to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians (e.g. Abolfazl Beyhaghi, Ferdowsi) give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conquerors munificent support of literature. Mahmud died in (1030). Even though there was some revival of importance under Ibrahim (1059–1099), the empire never reached anything like the same splendor and power.

Decline[link]

Coinage of Mas'ud I of Ghazni, derived from Shahi designs, with the name of Mas'ud in Arabic.

Twin sons of Mahmud[link]

Mahmud left the empire to his son Mohammed who was mild, affectionate and soft. Mohammed was king and his brother only asked for three provinces that he had won by his sword to which his brother did not consent and result was the Mas'ud had to fight his brother and became king, blinding and prisoning Mohammed as punishment. Mas'ud was unable to preserve the empire and following a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Dandanaqan in (1040) lost all the Ghaznavid lands in Iran and Central Asia to the Seljuks and plunged the realm into a "Time of troubles".^[18][24]. His last act was to collect all trasures from all his forts in hope to assemble an army and rule from India but his own forces plundered the wealth and he proclaimed his blind brother as king again. The two brothers now exchanged situations Mohammed from a prison was elevated to the throne and Mus'ud from a throne was consigned to a dungeon where he was assassinated AD 1040 after a reign of ten years. Mas'ud's son Madood was governor of Balkh and in 1040 AD, hearing of his father's death came to Ghazni to claim his kingdom. He fought with the sons of the blind Mohammed and was victorious. However, the empire soon disintegrated and most kings did not submit to Madood. In a span of 9 years 4 more kings claimed the throne of Ghazni. In the year 1058 AD, Ibrahim a great calligrapher who wrote Koran with his own pen, became king.

Ibrahim[link]

Mas'ud's son Ibrahim who re-established a truncated empire on a firmer basis by arriving at a peace agreement with the Seljuks and a restoration of cultural and political linkages.^[24] Under Ibrahim and his successors saw a period of sustained tranquility for the empire. Shorn of its western land it was increasingly sustained by riches accrued from raids across Northern India where it faced stiff resistance from Rajput rulers such as the Paramara of Malwa and the Gahadvala of Kannauj.^[24]. He ruled till year 1098 AD.

Masud[link]

Masud became king for 16 years with no major event in his lifetime. Signs of weakness in the state became apparent when Masud III died in 1115 with internal strife between his sons ending with the ascension of Sultan Bahram Shah as a Seljuk Vassal.^[24] Bahram shah defeated his brother Arslan for throne.

Sultan Bahram Shah[link]

Sultan Bahram Shah was the last Ghaznavid King ruling Ghazni, the first and main Ghaznavid capital, he ruled thirty five years. Ala'uddin Hussain, a Ghorid King, conquered the city of Ghazni in 1151, for the revenge of his brother Kutubbuddin's death, who was son-in-law of the king but was publicly punished and killed for a minor offense. Allauddin Ghor then razed all the city, and burned it for 7 days, after which he got famous as "Jahānsoz" (World Burner). Ghazni was restored to the Ghaznavids by the intervention of the Seljuks who came to Bahrams aid.^[24] Ghaznavid struggles with the Ghurids continued in the subsequent years as they nibbled away at Ghaznavid territory and Ghazni and Zabulistan was lost a group of Oghuz Turks before captured by the Gurids.^[24] Ghaznavid power in north western India continued until the conquest of Lahore from Khusrau Malik in 1186.^[24]

Military Tactics[link]

Like the other dynasties that rose out of the remains of the Abbasid Caliphate, the Ghaznavid administrative traditions and military practice came from the Abbasids. There were, however, unique changes adopted that met the demands of the geographic situation of the Ghaznavid dynasty. Due to their access to the Indus-Ganges plains the Ghaznavids, during the 11th and 12th centuries, developed the first Muslim army to use war elephants in battle. The elephants were protected by armor plating on their fronts. The use of these elephants in other regions that the Ghaznavids fought in, particularly in Central Asia, to which the elephant was a foreign weapon.^[25]

Legacy[link]

Ghaznavid era art: Free-blown, wheel-cut carafes. First half of 11th century. Excavated at Teppe Madraseh, Nishapur, Iran. New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Ghaznavid empire grew to cover much of present-day Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest India, and the Ghaznavids are generally credited with spreading Islam into the Indian subcontinent. In addition to the wealth accumulated through raiding Indian cities, and exacting tribute from Indian Rajas the Ghaznavids also benefited from their position as an intermediary along the trade routes between China and the Mediterranean. They were however unable to hold power for long and by 1040 the Seljuks had taken over their Persian domains and a century later the Ghurids took over their remaining sub-continental lands.

Culture[link]

Although the Ghaznavids were of Turkic origin and their military leaders were generally of the same stock, as a result of the original involvement of Sebuktigin and Mahmud in Samanid affairs and in the Samanid cultural environment, the dynasty became thoroughly Persianized, so that in practice one cannot consider their rule over Iran one of foreign domination. They also copied their administrative system from the Samanids.^[26] In terms of cultural championship and the support of Persian poets, they were far more Persian than the ethnically Iranian Buyids rivals, whose support of Arabic letters in preference to Persian is well known.^[27]

Historian Clifford Edmund Bosworth explains: "In fact with the adoption of Persian administrative and cultural ways the Ghaznavids threw off their original Turkish steppe background and became largely integrated with the Perso-Islamic tradition."^[28] As a result, Ghazni developed into a great centre of Arabic learning.^[29]

The Ghaznavid Dynasty[link]

• Green shaded row signifies Ghaznavid vassalage under the Samanids.
  • Blue shaded row signifies interruption in the Ghaznavid dynasty by usurpers.

See also[link]

History of Iran

See also: Kings of Persia · Timeline of Iran

Antiquity Prehistory Proto-Elamite period 3200–2800 Elamite dynasty 2800–550 Kassites 16th–12th cent. Mannaeans 10th–7th cent. Median Empire 728–550 Achaemenid Empire 550–330 Seleucid Empire 330–150 Parthian Empire 248 BCE–226 CE Sassanid Empire 226–651 Middle Ages Islamic conquest 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Sajid dynasty 889/890–929 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 875–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1062 Sallarid 942–979 Ma'munids 995-1017 Ghaznavid Empire 963–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuq dynasty 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Ilkhanate 1256–1353 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Sarbadars 1337–1376 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid dynasty 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu 1407–1468 Aq Qoyunlu 1378–1508 Modern history Safavid dynasty 1501–1722/36 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand dynasty 1750–1794 Qajar dynasty 1781–1925 Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Interim Government 1979–1980 Islamic Republic since 1980 view talk edit

• Historic states represented in Turkish presidential seal
• Mahmud of Ghazni
• History of Afghanistan
• List of Sunni Muslim dynasties

Footnotes[link]

Further reading[link]

• OCLC 3601436 Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1963) The Ghaznavids: Their Empire in Afghanistan and Eastern Iran 994–1040 Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh,
• Bosworth, Clifford Edmund (1977) The Later Ghaznavids: Splendour and Decay, The Dynasty in Afghanistan and Northern India 1040–1186 Columbia University Press, New York, ISBN 0-231-04428-3
• M. Ismail Marcinkowski (2003) Persian Historiography and Geography: Bertold Spuler on Major Works Produced in Iran, the Caucasus, Central Asia, India and Early Ottoman Turkey Pustaka Nasional, Singapore, ISBN 9971-77-488-7

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ghaznavid Empire

• Coins of Ghaznavid Rulers
• Mahmud of Ghazna Columbia Encyclopedia (Sixth Edition)
• Mahmud Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition)
• Ghaznavid Dynasty Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition)
• Ghaznavids and Ghurids Encyclopædia Britannica (Online Edition)
• Mahmud Ghaznavi's 17 invasions of India
• The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Periodby Sir H. M. Elliot; Edited by John Dowson; London Trubner Company 1867–1877 Elliot, Sir H. M., Edited by Dowson, John. The History of India, as Told by Its Own Historians. The Muhammadan Periodpublished by London Trubner Company 1867–1877. (Online Copy: - Online version posted by: The Packard Humanities Institute; Persian Texts in translation)
• Afghan secrets revealed on Google Earth

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

v t e Iran topics History Pre-Islamic Prehistory Proto-Elamite civilization BCE 3200– BCE 2800 Elamite dynasties BCE 2800– BCE 550 Bactria-Margiana Complex BCE 2200– BCE 1700 Kingdom of Mannai BCE 10th– BCE 7th cent. Median Empire BCE 728– BCE 550 Achaemenid Empire BCE 550– BCE 330 Seleucid Empire BCE 330– BCE 150 Greco-Bactrian Kingdom BCE 250– BCE 125 Parthian Empire BCE 248–CE 224 Kushan Empire CE 30–CE 275 Sassanid Empire CE 224–CE 651 Hephthalite Empire CE 425–CE 557 Kabul Shahi kingdom CE 565–CE 879 Islamic Patriarchal Caliphate 637–651 Umayyad Caliphate 661–750 Abbasid Caliphate 750–1258 Tahirid dynasty 821–873 Alavid dynasty 864–928 Saffarid dynasty 861–1003 Samanid dynasty 819–999 Ziyarid dynasty 928–1043 Buyid dynasty 934–1055 Ghaznavid Empire 975–1187 Ghori dynasty 1149–1212 Seljuk Empire 1037–1194 Khwarezmid dynasty 1077–1231 Ilkhanate 1256–1335 Kartids dynasty 1231–1389 Ottoman Empire 1299–1923 Muzaffarid dynasty 1314–1393 Chupanid dynasty 1337–1357 Jalayerid dynasty 1339–1432 Timurid Empire 1370–1506 Qara Qoyunlu Turcomans 1375–1468 Aq Qoyunlu Turcomans 1378–1508 Safavid Empire 1501–1722 or 1736 Hotaki dynasty 1722–1729 Afsharid dynasty 1736–1750 Zand Dynasty 1750–1794 Durrani Empire 1794–1826 Qajar Dynasty 1794–1925 Modern Pahlavi dynasty 1925–1979 Interim Government of Iran 1979 Islamic Republic of Iran 1979–present See also Ancient Iran Iranian Cultural Continent Indo-Iranians (languages) Jiroft civilization Aryans Persian peoples Tajik people Iranian peoples Kings of Persia Military history Years in Iran Politics Government Intellectual movements Women's movement Elections Constitution Supreme Leader President Judicial system Assembly of Experts Parliament Guardian Council Expediency Discernment Council Supreme National Security Council City and Village Councils Human rights LGBT Officials Provincial governors Reformists Principlists United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747 Ambassadors Foreign relations Ministry of Intelligence Terrorism Military Army Air Force Navy Censorship Nuclear program Allegations of state terrorism Iranian Green Revolution Anglo-Iranian Oil Company Operation Ajax White Revolution Iranian Revolution Embassy siege Iran-Iraq war Iran Air Flight 655 1987 massacre of Iranian pilgrims Chicago's Persian heritage crisis History of the Islamic Republic of Iran Iranian Presidential Election, 2009 Persian Constitutional Revolution Propaganda Demographics Iranian citizens abroad Religion Muslims Bahá'ís Christians Azerbaijanis Armenians Persian Jews Ethnic minorities Religious minorities Zoroastrians persecution Women Languages Persian language Iranian Languages Azerbaijani Language Armenian Language Indo-Iranian languages Geography Cities list Iranian Azerbaijan Iranian Balochistan Iranian Kurdistan Iranian Plateau Islands Mountains Provinces Earthquakes Wildlife Economy Economic history of Iran Agriculture Fruit Industry Water and sanitation Health care Central bank Companies automobile manufacturers Banks Research centers Brain drain Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) Military equipment IDRO National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) Space Milad Tower and complex Military exports Rial Tehran Stock Exchange Electronic banking Intellectual property International Oil Bourse Bonyad Asalouyeh industrial corridor Kish Island Free Trade Zone Chabahar Free Trade-Industrial Zone Labor and tax laws Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Mining Construction Privatization Foreign Direct Investment Supreme Audit Court Communications Telecommunication Company of Iran (TCI) Transport Railways Metro Airlines Iran Shipping Lines Energy Petroleum industry Nuclear program Tourism Environmental issues Economic Reform Plan Middle East economy List of major economic laws in Iran Iran and WTO Economic history of Iran Society Culture Iranian nationality Iranology Education Higher Science Scientists and scholars Universities Philosophy List of Iranians Literature Media News agencies student newspapers Architecture architects Achaemenid architecture Art modern/contemporary Persian gardens Cinema Cuisine Public holidays National symbols Opium consumption Music Ey Iran Heavy metal Persian traditional music Folk Pop Rap and hip-hop Rock and alternative Blogs Mythology Folklore Islam Islamization Scouting Sport Football Other topics Calendar Persian New Year Crown jewels Anti-Iranianism Persian names Tehrangeles International rankings of Iran Sorood-e Shahanshahi Iran Portal

Alim Qasimov
Alim Gasimov
Background information
Born	1957
Origin	Shamakhi, Azerbaijan
Genres	Mugham, Ashiq
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Singing, Daf
Years active	1977–present
Associated acts	Farghana Qasimova

Alim Qasimov (born 1957) is an Azerbaijani musician, and one of the foremost mugam singers in Azerbaijan. He was awarded the International Music Council-UNESCO Music Prize in 1999, one of the highest international accolades for music. His music is characterised by his vocal improvisation and represents a move away from the traditional style of mugham.^[1] Qasimov has recorded nine albums, three of which are mugham albums with his daughter, Ferghana Qasimova.

According to The New York Times, "Alim Qasimov is simply one of the greatest singers alive, with a searing spontaneity that conjures passion and devotion, contemplation and incantation."^[2]

He joined fellow Azerbaijani, Sabina Babayeva on stage at the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku to sing back vocals for her entry, When the Music Dies.

Biography[link]

Formative years[link]

Born in 1957, Qasimov grew up in Nobur near Shamakha, Azerbaijan, a village 100 km north of the capital Baku.^[3][4] His family worked on a Soviet commune and Qasimov worked alongside his parents from a young age.^[5] He later reflected that growing up in poverty helped him to live modestly later in life and he never attempted to extricate himself from his peasant background.^[6] Qasimov's father was an occasional singer with a good voice but he was a humble man; he never pursued a professional career in singing.^[3] Qasimov on the other hand was a keen singer from a young age and his parents noticed his musical desire.^[5] Lacking the money to buy him an instrument, his father used a frame and a goat's stomach lining to make a crude drum for his son.^[3]

He began singing at religious events and his parents suggested that he study music at school.^[5] The form proved difficult for him at times: once, while performing in a local music contest at the age of fourteen, the audience —thinking he did not grasp the correct traditional style—laughed him off the stage.^[3] Despite various setbacks, his parents urged him to persist and he did, enrolling in the Musiki Mektebi state music school in Baku at 21-years-old.^[5][6] The course consisted of four years of study, specialising in vocal technique and mugham — the repertoire of classical Azerbaijani song. It was here that Qasimov honed his voice and his teachers were so impressed that they encouraged him to take the final exams two years early. He refused, stating that he still needed time to perfect his abilities.^[6] He had realised that music was no longer a pastime for him, but rather a necessity, saying his sole talent and desire was for music.^[3] Over the final years of his study he refined his vocal technique, easily passing the final exam, but he later reflected that he had placed too much emphasis on vocal perfection; he believed it was not until later that he fully understood the deeper content and emotion of mugham.^[6]

Professional career[link]

Qasimov began singing professionally while Azerbaijan was still under Soviet rule and the mugham form had not received support from the state. Performances were restricted and, whilst a few singers aimed to preserve the history of the traditional style, the ruling communist party largely regarded it as a local curiosity.^[6] However, Qasimov's growing popularity was accompanied by declining Soviet influence and in 1983 he won the national Jabbar Garyaghdioghlu Singing Competition.^[3][6]

As his career progressed he was recognised internationally, winning awards at the 1983 and 1987 UNESCO Symposia on Traditional and Modern Art of Central Asian ans Asian Countries. His tours were very well received in his both home country and abroad; as travel outside the Soviet Union was rare for citizens at the time, his tours and concerts garnered much press and many television announcements.^[6] As his career was blossoming, so was his personal life — Qasimov and his wife, Tamilla Aslanova, had their first child in 1980, Ferghana Qasimova, and later had two more children: a son, Gadir, and second daughter, Dilruba. Despite such changes, Qasimov's background continued to shape his personality and music, dismissing the foreign influences found in cities and television.^[4]

Over time, Qasimov's style had developed to include not only traditional Azerbaijani music and mugham, but also ashiq, a rural bardic tradition with roots in Turkey, Azerbaijan and the Azeri region of Iran.^[7] In addition, he was influenced by artists from other disciplines, placing particular importance on Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan: "When I heard him in concert many doors were opened for me and many questions answered".^[6] His success was all the more impressive for he had broken from the traditional style of mugham and brought his own interpretation to the genre. He saw this as a way of showing mugham to a wider audience and making it relevant to contemporary society, saying: "The world in which we live changes daily. Music has to lend emotional expression to this vitality. I accommodate that by seeking out new paths and interpretations".^[6] Similarly he revolutionised the strict mugham instrumentation, introducing his own improvisation and including new sounds such as the double-reeded balaban (also known as a duduk), the clarinet and the nagara, a metal-bodied drum.^[3] Additionally, he remained conscious of the need to modernise when choosing his ensemble; mixing older, experienced players with younger, more dynamic musicians.^[6]

The 1990s saw Qasimov tour widely with concerts in Iran, Brazil, the United States and throughout Europe.^[3] His music gained more exposure in Europe and North America when a chance meeting with American musician Jeff Buckley at a classical music festival in France resulted in a collaboration. Buckley was a fan of Qasimov's music and they performed a duet of "What Will You Say" which featured on Buckley's Live à l'Olympia release.^[5] Buckley, an avid listener of Qawwali, was highly impressed with Qasimov's performance, noting: "he just came with his drum, and he sang, and it was so pure and effortless... That's what the voice is for".^[8] Qasimov was equally pleased with the collaboration, stating that his American counterpart "was very gifted and had a real feeling for Eastern people." The performance resulted in the introduction of Qasimov's music to a broader Western audience.^[5]

Revitalised by Azerbaijan's declaration of independence from the Soviet Union, the artistic importance of Azeri culture, including both Qasimov and mugham, began to be recognised internationally. Qasimov was named the "People's Artist of Azerbaijan" in 1993 and earned the highest honour in his field in 1999 when he won the International IMC-UNESCO Music Prize — an award given to high calibre musicians such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Leonard Bernstein, Ravi Shankar and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.^[6][9] Partly helped by Qasimov's extensive touring and promotion of mugham, UNESCO proclaimed the mugham of Azerbaijan a "Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" in 2003, reassuring the preservation of a centuries-old classical tradition.^[10][11] Similarly, the preservation of Qasimov's own music was assured as he recorded and internationally released his music for the first time, beginning with Classical Mugham, a 1996 collaboration with the Mansurov brothers, and following with Azerbaijan: Art of the Mugham and Legendary Art of Mugham in 1998.^[12]

2000 to present: Introducing Ferghana[link]

	"Bagishla mani" noicon from Love's Deep Ocean Demonstrating the mugham style
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Qasimov's daughter, Ferghana Qasimova, had been informally practising with her father since the age of sixteen and was an avid student of mugham.^[3] By the age of twenty she had become a fully-fledged singer in her own right and Qasimov chose to introduce his daughter into his ensemble. Ferghana first appeared on 1997's The Legendary Art of Mugham on which the two shared the vocal tasks on the song Getme Getme. Their next album included a track, Bagishlamani, dedicated to his forebear; Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.^[6] The release marked a high point for Qasimov as it was his first widely available release to western audiences and it proved a critical success.^[13] His aim to reconnect younger generations with mugham began to pay dividends; not only was he appealing to traditional Islamic sections of the Azerbaijani population, but also to more Americanised and modern audiences.^[5] The break through amongst the younger generations spurred him on: "Sometimes young people come up after a concert to thank me. That's like giving me wings. I feel so elated when I can awaken such feelings in people while they are still young; mugham is not an easy genre for young people to understand".^[3]

Qasimov recorded and released further works with The Art of Mugham in 1997 and Central Asian Series, Vol. 6: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan in 2007.^[12] He took the opportunity to perform in New York City in 2005 as part of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project. The concert aimed to promote multi-cultural artistic exchange between eastern and western cultures and The New York Times regarded Qasimov's performance, alongside Malik Mansurov and Rauf Islamov, as the highlight of the event.^[14] He toured throughout Europe, now bringing Ferghana along with him, and was in demand to appear at spiritual music festivals in countries such as France and Egypt.^[4][15] Their performances were often critically acclaimed, regardless of the location. Remarking upon a performance in London as part of "Voices of Central Asia", Michael Church stated in The Independent that "initial shock turned to delight as we were drawn into his intimate, multicoloured world".^[16] The father and daughter duo paid dividends and, following their performance in Cairo in May 2008, Al-Ahram Weekly stressed the qualities of their powerful vocal unity and stage presence, describing Qasimov as "a master of mugham".^[4]

Their brand of mugham proved equally popular the following September, performing a collaboration with experimental classical group the Kronos Quartet. Band leader David Harrington was keen to work with the Azerbaijani for the Ramadan Nights Festival, saying: "I realised his voice was as unique as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's, or the tenor John McCormack's in Irish ballads, or Bessie Smith's in St Louis Blues. There's a special quality to that voice, a connection between it and his inner life...he is up there in the top five of all time [singers]".^[5][17] Despite initial problems involving the Kronos Quartet's arrangements and Qasimov's improvisation, the event received positive reviews. Robin Denselow of The Guardian opined that Qasimov "is certainly one of the most thrilling, unashamedly emotional performers on the planet, and the finest exponent of mugham".^[18]

Influence and legacy[link]

In 21 November 2009, he was included in a 500 most influential Muslims of world book.^[19][20][21] The Icelandic singer Björk complimented Qasimov, by naming him as her "favourite singer alive today".^[22][23] In 2010, Alim Qasimov was nominated for the United States National Public Radio's "50 great voices in recorded history" award. ^[24]

Discography[link]

Alim Gasimov on the semi-final allocation draw ceremony of Eurovision Song Contest 2012

Albums[link]

• Classical Mugham (3 January 1996)
• The Art of Mugham: Azerbaidjan (Live) (1 December 1997)
• The Mugham of Azerbaidjan (1 October 1999)
• Love's Deep Ocean (11 October 1999) with Ferghana Qasimova
• The Legendary Art of Mugham (15 October 1997) with Alim Qasimov Ensemble
• Central Asian Series, Vol. 6: Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan (25 September 2007) with Ferghana Qasimova
• "Intimate dialogue" - Live at Morgenland Festival Osnabrück 2009 with Ferghana Qasimova

Singles[link]

References[link]