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Artist
Aziz Mian Qawwal (Urdu: عزیز میاں قوال) (April 17, 1942 – December 6, 2000) was one of Pakistan's leading traditional qawwals and also famous for singing ghazals in a unique style of qawwali. Aziz is still one of the most popular qawwals of South Asia. He is responsible for the longest commercially released qawwali, Hashr Ke Roz Yeh Poochhunga, which runs slightly over 115 minutes. Aziz Mian was born as Abdul Aziz (Urdu: عبد العزیز) in Delhi, British India. The exclamation Mian, which he often used in his qawwalis, became part of his stage name. He began to introduce himself as Aziz Mian Mairthi. The word Mairthi refers to Meerut, a city in northern India, from which he migrated to Pakistan in 1947. At the age of ten, he began learning the art of Qawwali under the tutelage of Ustad Abdul Waheed Khan. He received sixteen years of training at the Data Ganj Baksh School of Lahore, and obtained a degree in Urdu literature from the University of Punjab, Lahore. Aziz Mian was one of the more traditional Pakistani Qawwals. His voice was raspy and powerful. Aziz Mian was the only prominent qawwal[citation needed] to write his own lyrics (though, like others, he also performed songs written by other poets). His break-out performance was in 1966, when he performed before the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He won first prize and a gold medal from the Shah of Iran. In the early days of his career, he was nicknamed Fauji Qawwal (Urdu: فوجی قوال) (meaning "Military Qawwal") becau