PESHAWAR, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 23rd Aug, 2026) The hall erupted as the opening notes of the Pashto national song “Monga Da Khyber Zalmi” (We are Khyber’s youth) rang out in a university amid the unmistakable thunder of the dhol.
As students of City University Peshawar formed a circle and broke into the Attanr dance, the faculty also joined them, their movements gathering speed with every beat in a function held in connection with Pakistan’s independence celebrations.
Shoulders rose and fell, feet struck the floor in rhythm, and synchronized turns transformed the crowded hall into a sea of joyous movement, color and youthful energy. What began as a performance soon became a celebration shared by almost everyone amid clapping hands to DJ music.
For an outsider, it might have looked like simply an energetic traditional dance; for those inside the circle, however, Attanr carried something deeper ancestry, belonging, pride, and the memory of generations. Students belonging to the Wazir, Mehsud, Dawar, Khattak, Marwat and Bettani communities captivated the audience with stunning performances, demonstrating how traditional dance continues to thrive among younger generations in the age of social media.
Attanr is a unique dance mostly performed on Independence Day celebrations, marriages, birthday parties, welcoming guests, and joyous festivals such as Eid, Murtaza Wazir, a participant in the Attanr, told APP. Wearing a green cap, Murtaza noted that Attanr remains one of the most popular dances of Waziristan and is an inseparable part of celebrations there.
He explained that its power lies not only in rhythm but in its ability to bring people together, noting that a dancer does not necessarily need professional training. Young people traditionally learned by standing beside elders at weddings and festivals, watching their foot movements, and gradually joining the circle.
I learned Attanr as a schoolboy by standing beside my uncle at weddings and Eid celebrations and imitating his movements, Murtaza recalled. That informal system of cultural transmission is now being complemented and sometimes replaced by smart-phones and social media. A dance that once remained within a village courtyard of Waziristan can now be recorded on a mobile phone and viewed by thousands of people within hours, traveling through Facebook, TikTok and YouTube to reach audiences far beyond its origins.
The digital revolution in Pakistan has brought both opportunity and challenge. Social media gives traditional performers a powerful platform to showcase their art, but short videos can also reduce complex cultural traditions to a few seconds of spectacle, separating movements from the history and meaning that gave birth to them.
Pashto Ghazal maestro Khayal Muhammad, who has spent more than two decades performing across Pakistan and abroad, noted that Attanr songs are frequently requested during his performances in KP, Islamabad, Karachi, and Dubai. Whenever I traveled to Karachi or the UAE for live performances, the Pakhtoon community frequently demanded Attanr songs, he said.
Having visited many countries for cultural shows, he believes the traditional dances of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remain much more than entertainment they are an identity and cultural heritage requiring government patronage.
Alongside Attanr, traditional forms such as Wardage, Balbala, Zazai, Narawale, Garande Attanr, Topo Attanr, Khanawai, Khattak, and Mehsud dances continue to defy terrorism and the social media onslaught.
Bakhtzada Khan, assistant director of the KP Museum and Archeology Department, described these dances as repositories of collective memory left behind by invaders and kings who passed through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the subcontinent and Central Asian Republics (CARs).
With graceful movements and colorful embellishments, people prior to partition brought to life stories passed down through generations, preserving their heritage with every twirl and spin. Tribal communities including Wazirs, Mehsuds, and Yousafzais played a vital role in preserving these traditions, while distinctive forms also survived in Chitral and other parts of KP.
According to Bakhtzada Khan, Mehsud, Khattak, and Yousafzai dances were historically associated with warfare in the Mughal era. Their vigorous movements, rhythmic formations, and use of weapons reflected societies where martial ability was closely linked to tribal identity.
Over time, however, many of these martial expressions moved from the battlefield to the cultural stage, transforming what once communicated readiness for confrontation into symbols of solidarity and celebration.
Among KP’s best-known traditional forms is the national Khattak dance, associated with the Khattak tribe and widely performed at weddings, births, festivals, and welcoming ceremonies. Developed into several forms including Braghoni, Shahdola, Bangra, Balballah, and Chatrali its rapid movements demand physical fitness, agility, balance, and precise coordination.
The dance also retains a strong connection to the tribe’s martial heritage, further strengthened by the legacy of poet and warrior Khushal Khan Khattak. Today, however, the dance is primarily a celebration where families meet, generations reconnect and communities reaffirm their shared identity.
The continuing popularity of Attanr is especially visible during Eid and Independence Day celebrations across southern KP. Inside the circle, age differences disappear as young performers watch elders, friends challenge one another to match the rhythm and spectators gradually become participants.
Despite challenges, the tradition endures. For Abdullah Bettani, a resident of Tank, Attanr remains a source of happiness despite an injury sustained from accidental aerial firing. Despite the injuries that made it hard for my legs to perform Attanr in festivals, I still perform it for a few moments with school friends on happy occasions, he said.
Local dancer Shahzaib Khan of Nowshera emphasized that traditional dances have become inseparable from everyday cultural life in southern KP, though they need KP Government assistance. He noted that professional dancers and local musicians, if financially supported, can provide better entertainment to local communities. Furthermore, while rapid digital technology has changed how dances are learned and shared, it has also made serious dents in traditional hujra culture.
To safeguard these traditions, cultural experts stress that visibility must be paired with understanding. Cultural institutions, schools, museums, artists and local communities must play a role in documenting traditional dances, recording the memories of elderly performers and creating opportunities for young people to learn directly from experienced practitioners.
At the Federal level, the National Performing Arts Group (NPAG), operating under the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), preserves and presents traditional folk dances, music, and theater on national and international stages. PNCA has also launched professional dance training classes in Islamabad offering instruction in Khattak classical, semi-classical, folk and fusion dances led by senior NPAG choreographers.
Additionally, the federal cultural framework Naqoosh-e-Watan (national cultural narrative) has been introduced at the PNCA to strengthen inter-provincial harmony and spotlight regional heritage. Beyond village celebrations, traditional dances are increasingly viewed as a crucial part of KP’s cultural tourism and soft image.
Shaad Khan, spokesperson for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture and Tourism Authority (KPCTA), stated that opportunities are being provided to artists, poets, musicians and singers through exhibitions, floats, and cultural activities.
For television actor and Pride of Performance recipient Javed Babar, KP’s cultural strength lies in its diversity and music tradition, offering a way to counter terrorism with creativity. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, cultural diversity is not just celebrated; it is embraced, nurtured, and passed on, ensuring that the tapestry of traditions continues to flourish for generations to come, he said.
Ultimately, the enduring magic of Attanr and KP’s other traditional dances proves that behind every beat of the dhol, every synchronized step, and every circle of dancers lies a fragment of collective joyous memory.
Whether seen at a village wedding, a university celebration, or on a smart-phone screen thousands of kilometers away, the circle of Attanr in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continues to thrive a living kaleidoscope of history, identity and shared happiness that refuses to disappear.
APP/FAM
