Khattak Dance

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A martial dance by the Khattak tribe of Pashtuns. The fast tempo with which the Khattak dance starts and ends distinguishes it from all the other Pakhtun folk dances which are described as Atanr (Pashto word for a family of identical folk dances). Except for the Khattak dance, all the other Pakhtoon folk dances or Atanr start with a slow tempo and get fast as the momentum picks up with a corresponding faster beat. Khattak dance a special type of music is composed the main instrument for it is the piper clarion. Large drums beaten with sticks. The Khattak dance has three kinds of cultural dances.

They are called Shahdola, Bhangrha, and Bulbullah.

Another important dissimilarity between the Khattak dance and other folk dances is the absence of Sanrry (oily hair grown up to a specific length), which the Khattak dancers don't have. The dance comprises a total of 12 steps requiring the dancers to have the best of skills to perform. At one moment they would be performing individually and in a fraction of seconds they would align their body movements with the rest of the troupe members - whose number may be as high as 40.

In the Bhangrah every member swirls while carrying swords as the prop. The Bhangrah is followed by Derabi. At this stage, two youths at a time, carrying one sword and a handkerchief each in their hands, start dancing in front of the man with surnai while the rest of the troupe members wait for their turn. In the Laila, the third step, a group of four performers holding two swords each, perform stunts moving in a circle.

Braghoni is the fastest and the most adventurous of all steps, which a single dancer performs with three swords. He very skillfully swings two swords in the air while holding the third in his mouth.

Bulbullah, the last of the twelve steps, is staged without swords. The dancers sing a love song at a high pitch. At the end of the song, the drumbeat increases slightly and the dance goes on.

[edit] History of Athan (Attan or Khatak) dance

Males performing the Attan dance in traditional clothing.

See also Music of Afghanistan

A British journalist of Pashtun origin, Amanullah Ghilzai, through his scientific study has traced the roots of Athan or "Khatak dance" to the ancient Greek dance of almost the same name. According to his theory, the dance which is internationally known as Khatak, while among the Afghans and Pashtuns as Athan, is actually one of the earliest forms of the ancient Greek dances, called "Athena" attributed to the Greek Goddess of War, Wisdom and Patriotism, of the same name. The Greeks had brought this dance with them to Bactria, ancient Afghanistan about 23 centuries ago when they had colonised this region for several centuries. During this period a sizable chunk of the Greek population had moved to Afghanistan and some western and northern-western parts of Pakistan, mentioned as "Yavanas" in the ancient Hindu books. The dance "Athan" also "Attan", seems to have been preserved in one of its earliest forms by members of the Khatak and some other Pashtun tribes, including the Ghilzais. The Athan dance is performed by many Pashtuns but each of the tribes has changed it a bit or a lot while the name "Athan" remains the same. In the ancient Greece, the dance Athena had the same definition and reverence attached to it as most Pashtuns would still attach to Athan. The dance Athena seems to have disappeared in Greece during the Christian era while interestingly, the Athan survived in Afghanistan and Pashtun parts of Pakistan.^[1]