In Afghanistan, ustad (Persian ustād, “master”) is the respectful title placed before the name of someone who has mastered an art or trade. It is given to great musicians, such as the ghazal singer Ustad Mohammad Hussain Sarahang (1924–1983), but also to teachers, skilled craftsmen and even an expert mechanic. The word goes back to Middle Persian, where it already meant “master” or “craftsman”.
Every ustad implies a shagird, a pupil or apprentice. In the ustad–shagird tradition, the pupil learns directly from the master, often over many years. The rubab virtuoso Homayoun Sakhi, born into a Kabul musical family, studied this way with his father, Ghulam Sakhi, from the age of ten.
The model has also shaped modern teaching. The Aga Khan Music Initiative’s master–apprentice programme in Kabul and Herat has trained more than a thousand students in singing and in instruments such as the rubab, tanbur, dutar and tabla, while the Turquoise Mountain Institute in Murad Khani, Kabul’s old quarter, trains a new generation in woodwork, calligraphy, ceramics and jewellery.