# Qawwali Wiki (also spelled Qavvali)
> An archive of the Qawwali (Qavvali) tradition: performers (Qawwals), ensembles, poets, sacred compositions (Kalaam), and the family and teaching lineages connecting them.

## Key sections
- [Qawwals](https://www.qavvali.com/qavvals/): individual Qawwali performers, each with lineage, gharana, and biography.
- [Ensembles](https://www.qavvali.com/ensembles/): performing groups (Qawwali parties) with formation history and members.
- [Poets](https://www.qavvali.com/poets/): the authors of the kalaam, with life years and biographies.
- [Kalaam](https://www.qavvali.com/kalaams/): the sung poetry, with transliteration, translation, and text sources.
- [Lineages](https://www.qavvali.com/family-tree/): family (Khandaan) and teaching trees, visualized.
- [Tradition](https://www.qavvali.com/tradition/): background on the Qawwali form and its history.

## Vocabulary (used precisely throughout this archive)
- Qawwali (also spelled Qavvali, Qawwali): the devotional Sufi musical form this archive documents.
- Khandaan: the blood / family lineage of performers.
- Gharana: the musical tradition or school. It is a separate, orthogonal axis from Khandaan -- both inherit only through the blood father, never through a teacher.
- Humnawa: an accompanying member of a Qawwali party.
- Girah: an interpolated verse inserted into a kalaam during performance.