Sayed Shah Ewaz

Sayed Shah Ewaz (1935 – 2019), also known as Ustad Shah Ewaz, was an Afghan singer and dambura player from Bamyan Province. A recording of his performance appears on Afghanistan: Music During the Civil War (1979–2001), a 2015 Smithsonian Folkways album in the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music.

Life and career

Shah Ewaz was born in 1935 in Tay-e Siasang, in the Shunbol area of Shibar District, Bamyan Province. He lost his parents at an early age and was raised by his grandfather, who taught him to read and write.

Smithsonian Folkways recording

A performance by Shah Ewaz, credited as Sayyid Shâh Ewaz, appears on Afghanistan: Music During the Civil War (1979–2001), released by Smithsonian Folkways in 2015.

A photograph of Shah Ewaz taken in Kayan on 6 August 1998 was used as the cover image for the album booklet.

Later life and death

Shah Ewaz moved with his family to Pakistan during the civil war of the 1990s. He settled in the United Kingdom in 2001 and later performed for Afghan audiences there and in Canada. He died on 13 February 2019 at the age of 84.

In July 2026, the Sayed Nadir Shah Al-Hussaini Cultural and Social Association organized a program in Canada about Shah Ewaz's life and music. The program included a documentary and performances by Afghan musicians.