Ustad Amir Jan Khushnawaz: Heina be karha (“Henna is needed”)

Amir Jan Khushnawaz (vocal and harmonium), Muhammad Rahim Khushnawaz (rubab), Muhammad Naim Khushnawaz (tabla). 26 January 1974, at their house in Herat’s Old City. Amir Jan selected this ritual song as the second item in his recording session. Widely performed across Afghanistan, it is generally known as Henna biyarid (“Bring henna”); Heina be karha is its Herati title. Henna is an auspicious natural plant dye whose red colour may symbolise life, fertility and the bride’s virginal blood. In separate marriage rituals, women and men would dye the bride’s palm and bridegroom’s thumb with henna. Set in the Indian mode of Pilu, this song uses romantic verses in the classical ruba’i metre with many repeated lines and often no clear division between quatrains. Occasionally a longer refrain adds that we don’t have henna, so we’ll need to bring it from Kabul – emphasising the value of this ritual substance. This recording has been digitised by the British Library from an original tape recording held in the Baily-Doubleday Archive.