The Zaan (Dutch pronunciation: [zaːn]) is a small river in the province of North-Holland in The Netherlands and the name of the district through which it runs. The river was originally a side arm of the IJ bay and travels 10 kilometers through the municipality of Zaanstad ("Zaan City") north of Amsterdam, from West-Knollendam in the north to Zaandam in the south, where it empties into the IJ.

The municipality of Zaanstad and several towns along the Zaan are named for the river: Koog aan de Zaan, Westzaan, Oostzaan, Zaandijk and the city of Zaandam. The river also runs past the Zaanse Schans, a village with historic windmills and houses. It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Netherlands.

The name Zaan also refers to the district through which the river runs. The district (Dutch: Zaanstreek [ˈzaːn.streɪ̯k]) is believed to be the world's first industrialized area.^{[citation needed]}

During the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century, the Zaan district was dotted with windmills, which processed materials such as linseed, used in the paint industry, and agricultural products such as mustard seed and wood. By the mid-17th century, approximately 900 windmills could be found along the river, some of them still preserved in the Zaanse Schans.

Sardar Ali Takkar (Pashto: سردار علي ټکر, born 15 July 1956) is a Pashto music singer, who is mostly famous for singing the revolutionary poetry of Ghani Khan. A mechanical engineer by profession, Takkar is a graduate of the University of Engineering and Technology in Peshawar, Pakistan. In recognition of his services to the field of music, the President of Pakistan had bestowed upon him the Pride of Performance Award.

Takkar was born in 1956 at Takkar village (Takht Bhai) in Mardan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He passed his matric examination from his village school. He did his intermediate from Government College Mardan. He completed his graduation in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar. Aside from this he has also attended special courses in U.K and Canada.

His university life provided him more chances to exhibit his hidden talent. Initially he presented his skills before his friends, in different musical programmes in the University. But in 1982 when Yar Muhammad Maghmum, a professor at the historic Edwardes College Peshawar, wanted to celebrate an evening with the legendary philosopher and poet Ghani Khan, but was unable to find a singer who was ready to meet the challenge of putting Ghani's poetry to music. When Takkar became aware of this, he agreed to sing in that programme. Some people also recorded this programme on audio cassette, which got so much prominence that music stores started selling it on a regular basis. In this way, his debut album (solely based on Ghani khan's poetry) touched the market incidentally.