- published: 14 Jan 2010
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The Afghani (sign: Afs;Pashto: افغانۍ; Persian افغانی; code: AFN) is the currency of Afghanistan. It is notionally subdivided into 100 pul (پول), although there are no pul coins in circulation.
The first Afghani (ISO 4217 code: AFA) was introduced in 1925. In addition to being subdivided into 100 pul, 20 Afghani were equal to the amani. The rate of conversion from the rupee is sometimes quoted as 1 Afghani = 1.1 rupee, based on the silver contents of the last rupee coins and the first Afghani coins. The Afghani initially contained 9 grams of silver.
Except during World War II Afghanistan's foreign exchange rate has been freely determined by market forces. However, for some periods, a dual exchange rate regime existed in Afghanistan: an official exchange rate which was fixed by the Afghan Central Bank, and a free market exchange rate which was determined by the supply and demand forces in Kabul's money bazaar called Saraye Shahzada. For example, in order to avoid the seasonal fluctuations in the exchange rate, a fixed exchange rate was adopted in 1935 by the Bank-e Milli, which was then responsible for the country's exchange rate system and official reserves. Bank-e Millie agreed to exchange the Afghanis at 4 Afs against 1 Indian Rupee in 1935. After the establishment of Da Afghanistan Bank as the Central Bank of Afghanistan, such a preferential official fixed exchange rate continued to be practiced. Although Da Afghanistan Bank tried to keep its official rate close to the Saraye Shahzada's exchange rate, the gap between the official and free-market exchange rates widened in the 1980s and during the civil war.
Dawood Sarkhosh (Persian: داود سرخوش also spelled as Daud Sarkhosh) is an Afghan poet, singer, and musician born 1971 in Daykundi, Oruzgan (now Daykundi Province) of Afghanistan. He belongs to Hazara ethnic minority group of Afghanistan.
Sarkhosh's inspiration was his elder brother Sarwar Sarkhosh, a legendary musician of his times who was killed during the civil war.[citation needed] Sarkhosh learned playing dambura and singing from him at the age of seventeen. After the death of his brother Sarkhosh migrated to Pakistan first to Peshawar city then moved to Quetta.
Sarkhosh revived his skills by singing and composing songs inspired by a sense of nationalism and suffering in exile. He didn't sing for commercial gain, but out of nostalgia and to convey the feelings about refugee life as experienced by refugees of Afghanistan dispersed throughout the world. They went to his concerts in their thousands, marking Sarkhosh's rise as a singer.[citation needed] It was in Quetta that he mastered the harmonium under the Pakistani composer Arbab Ali Khan.