In AD 963, commissioned by Abu Salih Mansur Ibn-i Nuh (AD 961-976), the Samanid wazir, Abu Ali Muhammad Ibn-i Muhammad Ibn-i Ubaidullah-i Bal'ami (d. 974), began the translation into Tajiki of the Arabic text of the Perso-Islamic scientist Imam Abu Ja'far Muhammad Ibn-i Ja'far Ibn-i Yazid-i al-Tabari (AD 829-923). Called the Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk (History of the Prophets and Kings), the work deals with world events from the beginnings to the year AD 915, i.e., to the middle of the reign of the Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir (AD 908-932). Bal'ami's work which covers the events until AD 824, i.e., until the death of Caliph al-Mu'tasim, is known as the Tarikh-i Tabari of Abu Ali Bal'ami.¹

Nevertheless, it is obvious that the materials presented by Bal'ami are not sufficient for a comprehensive study of the musical traditions of the Iranian peoples at the beginning of the Middle Ages. Tabari's data is not original to him. Furthermore, many of the sources on Iranian musicians and dancers, used by Bal'ami in his work, have not survived. Bal'ami's own insight, however, is of great significance for the study of the musical culture of the Iranians. Bal'ami's work, like Tabari's, can serve us as an informed guide. Without such a guide it would be impossible to trace the contributions of the Iranian musical tradition in the Arabic sources. And we are speaking about works that, according to al-Dinavary (AD 828-889), formed the bulk of the knowledge of the savants of the reign of Caliph Umar al-Khattab (AD 634-644).²

Compared to the scholars who followed, too, we find Bal'ami's knowledge of the pre-Islamic musical culture to have been noteworthy.³ All this has brought us to an examination of the contents of al-Tabari's work on the subject of the musical culture of the Iranians before the advent of Islam. After all, at a time when the culture of the Tajiks is being "revived," we should know what status it held during the early Islamic times and what light additional sources can shed on the subject. Some of what is outlined below will be a reiteration of facts, of course, but there is still some merit in the exercise. Although worth close scrutiny, Bal'ami's views on the musical culture have not been studied before.

Although Tarikh-i Tabari is redolent with information about the lifestyle and culture of pre-Islamic Iran, it is Bal'ami's contribution to it, especially on the musical culture, that makes the work attractive. Bal'ami's coverage of the musical culture at various courts is brief, of course, but when it comes to the court of Khusrau Parviz (AD 590-628), his views become focused and poignant. In fact, it is this kind of informative contribution by Bal'ami that has gained fame for al-Tabari's Tarikh.

According to Tabari, Khusrau Parviz was the most astute, brave, and insightful of the Sassanian monarchs. He was called Parviz (victorious) because he had gathered the most wealth and because he had excelled in Luck among his peers.⁴

Recalling Khusrau Parviz's reign, Bal'ami writes, "Parviz had a treasure which he called 'Badavarda' (blown in by the wind). Originally, this was a treasure that was being sent by the Emperor of Rome to Ethiopia. It was carried on a thousand ships all filled with gold, precious stones, pearls, rubies, and silks. The ship [sic] was sunk in a storm but the cargo, brought to the shore by the wind, fell into the hands of Parviz and was called Ganj-i Badavarda... Furthermore, 12,000 maidens served at the court of Parviz as singers, dancers...and he had a unique musician called Borbad..."⁵ Similarly, Parviz's wife, beautiful Shirin, had gathered dancers and singers like Borbad, Sarkash, and Khushazarvak around her to enhance her knowledge of the national music of Iran. The directorship of the activities of these performers, singers, composers, and clowns at Shirin's "White Pavilion" was entrusted to Borbad.⁶ It was also at this very juncture when Parviz was being entertained by the Great Borbad, that historical Tajikistan began its life under the Turkish Khaqan of the Hephthalites. The Hephthalite government, a superpower of that time, had created strong political and cultural ties with the countries of the world, especially with China. Records indicate that between AD 507 and 531, the Hephthalites sent 13 embassies to the court of the Toba-Vays. Among the members of the embassies there were musicians and performers as well.⁷

Under the rule of the Khaqan of the Turks, the historical regions of Varazrud-Takharistan and Sughd were consolidated into independent states. The views of Abu Ali Bal'ami and the other authors regarding the musical tradition of the peoples of Varazrud, Takharistan, and Sughd during the Middle Ages is as follows. Both regions of Takharistan and Sughd are the homeland of Borbad-i Marvazi. Unlike Iranshahr and Khurasan that formed a single government, Takharistan and Sughd were separate political entities. Takharistan consisted of the southern and central regions of present-day Tajikistan, the Surkhan-Darya region of Uzbekistan, and northern Afghanistan. And this vast region, according to the Chinese traveler, Siyun Tszan, was divided by national boundaries into twenty-seven nearly independent kingdoms. Like Takharistan, Sughd, too, had its own constituents, including two regions, five urban districts, and fourteen rural districts in the Zarafshan and Qashqa Darya Valleys.⁸

In tandem with the development of the musical cultures of Iranshahr and Khurasan at the court of the Sassanians under the Great Borbad, in Takharistan and Sughd, too, similar efforts were underway for performance, voice, and research in aspects of musical culture. The situation of solo instrumentation and voice in the context of literature, philosophy, and ethics was improving and expanding. Indeed, according to various written sources and archaeological finds, among the Takhari and Sughdian musicians of the time, Borbad-i Marvazi's "seasonal" and "ritual" songs occupied a special position. Chinese and Perso-Islamic sources indicate that the Takharistanis and the Sughdians used small and large drums, various types of flutes (nai and qaranai), lute, and large and small tambourines, and dutar. N. B. Bentovich states that in their performances, the Sughdians employed more than eighteen different instruments.⁹

During the fifth to the eighth centuries, historical Takharistan and Sughd had a considerable musical culture. In spite of the silence of the Perso-Islamic sources about what had existed, Chinese sources and recent archaeological finds point to a high level of musical culture in Takharistan and Sughd. They also indicate that Sassanian Iran's musical culture was positively impacted by this eastern development. Of course a great deal of this activity between Takharistan/Sughd and eastern (China) and western (Roman) lands depended on increased trade among the peoples involved. The best musicians, performers, singers, and clowns accompanied the trades people, ambassadors, and visitors to those lands. Discoveries at ancient Panjkent, Afrasiyab, Varakhshah, Tal-i Barzu, Ajinnateppe, and Balalikteppe indicate the type of professionals that lived and performed in Sughd and Takharistan during the time of Borbad-i Marvazi. In fact, images of musicians playing different musical instruments have been discovered in Panjkent, Ajinnateppe, Balalikteppe, and in the ruins of Khatlan. In the ruins of Panjkent we encounter the image of a beautiful woman in a white dress. She wears a crown made of gold and golden rings.¹⁰ Elsewhere we encounter four women, musicians and singers, playing various instruments and singing.¹¹ Furthermore, in the palaces of the rulers of Khatlan, I. Ghulamova has discovered the pictures of two women one of whom is playing the ''ud and the other the ghizhzhak. In addition, in his search in Balalikteppe, L. I. Albaum has found the broken pieces of the body of a tar and the handle of a ghizhzhak. The evidence outlined above proves that the musical cultures of Takharistan and Sughd had been on a par with the musical cultures of Iran and Khurasan.¹²

Chinese sources-The History of the Sung Dynasty ¹³ (AD 581-618), The History of the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), and The New History of the Tang Dynasty-contain a wealth of information about the Sughdian and Takhari singers, dancers, clowns, and the instruments they employed. The authors of the History of the Sung Dynasty, after much deliberation on the musical culture of the Sughdians write, "Our knowledge of Samarqand goes back to the time when Emperor Ja'in II¹⁴ (AD 561-577) married a girl from the northern villages and brought her here. Actors from those areas accompanied the new queen to our land. This occurrence brought the musical culture of the newcomers to the notice of the emperor. The "Tszidiyan-Nunkhechzhin"¹⁵ songs were favorites.¹⁶

Apparently, over the centuries, the music of the west (Chinese view), from Sughd to Khurasan, had many supporters among the Chinese, Tibetans, and Indians. This attraction to western music was intensified even more during the Sung and Tang dynasties. I. Shafer, an American musicologist, writes that whenever western regions were conquered by the Chinese, their music, too, was treated like a "slave." Music was expected to be delivered to the conqueror.¹⁷ At the court, the emperor's chosen individuals were assigned to special "bureaus." According to the annals of the Sung Dynasty as many as seven bureaus, including bureaus for Samarqand and Bukhara, were established. When discussing the music of Samarqand and Bukhara, mention is made of the flute, naqarah, lute, tambourine, wind instruments, as well as ten other instruments. In the Bukhara bureau twelve artists, dancers, and singers were at work. A realist observer of the scene states that the Chinese were jealous of the progress that the Takharistanis and the Sughdians had made. The attendants of the Emperor of China as well as the Emperor himself were entertained by Bukharan artists-flute players from Samarqand, surna players from Khutan, and Dancers from Chach.¹⁸

According to the information in Chinese chronicles presented by Shafer in his Shaftaluha-i Zarrin-i Samarqand, in AD 713, the ruler of Samarqand sent a number of dancers as gifts to the court of Siyan Tszun (AD 710-755).¹⁹ Similar gifts were sent by the governors of Kumid (AD 719), Kish, Samarqand (AD 727), and Maimurgh (AD 733). In addition to dancers, singers and musicians, too, were sent to China from Takharistan and Sughd.²⁰ Chinese sources include pictures of some of the Takhari dances like Gului, Khytenu, Chzhenzhi, and, especially, Khusyunu. According to these sources, there were two types of Takhari dances: quiet and agile. The quiet dance had smooth moves with which the dancer soothed the audiences. But the dance that the Chinese youth preferred was called "jumping." It was performed by Sughdian and Chachi performers. The young dancers wore vaskats, long hats and shoes and danced to the music of the surnai. The Chinese audiences also liked the "Chachi" dance performed by Sughdian girls wearing tasseled hats, embroidered dresses, gold or silver belts, and gold embroidered shoes. The music was played by the famous Sughdian artist, Kan-Kunlin.²¹

The most famous of the dances of the Sughdians was the "Whirlwind" or khusyunu. The dancer included several whirling moves in her initial act referred to as "the girl's whirlwind moves." According to Shafer, when performing this dance, "Sughdian girls, wearing red dresses, green capes, and red shoes danced their way from one side of the stage to the other, including flighty moves and jumps in the act. At the climax of the dance, the Sughdian dancers winked at the audience, increasing the impact of the dance. Often the dancer's moves were so fast that a poet had remarked, "Any increase in the jump would, like a piece of a cloud, hurl her into space." At the time the emperor, his wife Lady Yan, and Rakshan favored this dance. The emperor's wife had gone as far as learning this dance while Chinese poets composed many poems about it and about the beauty of the eyes of the Sughdian dancers.²²

Within Takharistan; and Sughd, too, like in Iranshahr and Khurasan, music continued its development. According to the annals of the Tang Dynasty, "On the eleventh month, the Sughdians, tambourine in hand, danced, asking for rain or warmth. In their happy mood, they sprinkled water on each other," or "The Sughdians in large numbers danced in the streets and sang."²³

The foregoing was a brief look at the history of the development of the musical culture of pre-Islamic Sughdia and Takharistan as outlined in Tabari's History and in the annals of China. the analysis was not meant to be comprehensive. It is hoped that researchers will continue the effort thus started.

Selected Bibliography

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