Rubab (instrument)

Size variants

Components

In detail about the strings:

Construction

The body is carved out of a single piece of wood, with a head covering a hollow bowl which provides the sound-chamber. The bridge sits on the skin and is held in position by the tension of the strings. It has three melody strings tuned in fourths, two or three drone strings and up to 15 sympathetic strings. The instrument is made from the trunk of a mulberry tree, the head from an animal skin such as goat, and the strings from the intestines of young goats (gut) or nylon.

History

The earliest historical record of an instrument named rabab dates back to 10th-century Arabic texts, as identified by Henry George Farmer. This instrument, along with its variations like rubab, rebab, and rabob, subsequently gained popularity in various regions of West, Central, South, and Southeast Asia. It is mentioned in old Persian books, and many Sufi poets mention it in their poems. It is the traditional instrument of Khorasan present Afghanistan and is widely used in countries such as Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as in the Xinjiang province of northwest China and the Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab regions of northwest India.

The rubab is known as "the lion of instruments" and is one of the two national instruments of Afghanistan (with the zerbaghali). Classical Afghan music often features this instrument as a key component. Elsewhere it is known as the Kabuli rebab in contrast to the Seni rebab of India. In appearance, the Kabuli rubab looks slightly different from the Indian rubab. It is the ancestor of the north Indian sarod, although unlike the sarod, it is fretted.

The rubab was the first instrument used in Sikhism; it was used by Bhai Mardana, companion of the first guru, Guru Nanak. Whenever a shabad was revealed to Guru Nanak he would sing and Bhai Mardana would play on his rubab; he was known as a rababi. The rubab playing tradition is carried on by Sikhs such as Namdharis.

In 2024, UNESCO recognised the art of creating the rubab as an Intangible cultural heritage in Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

File:Beaker fragment with musicians - Iran - late 12th or early 13th century - Gulbenkian museum - Inv. 999.jpg|Late 12th-early 13th century, Iran. Musicians with ney, rubab and daf. File:Rubab late 12th or early 13th century AD.jpg|Late 12th-early 13th century A.D., Iran. Musician playing rubab. File:A Youthful Musician, Persia, Safavid, Isfahan or Khurasan, late 16th century.jpg|Young man with Iranian rubab, 16th century, Safavid Empire. 8-shaped body resembles a tar, but tars have both sides of the 8 covered with hide. Rubabs had a lower section covered with hide, and an upper hollow section covered with wood. File:Musician with rabab, photo by Maurice Pezard from the book Ceramique Archaique de L'Islam, page 138, cropped.jpg|Iraq or Egypt. Abbasid era rubab, painted on the inside of a bowl, 10th century CE. Appears to be spike lute (the neck inserted into the body, beneath the soundboard. The instrument has two strings.

Variants

In northern India, the seni rebab, which emerged during the Mughal Empire, has "a large hook at the back of its head, making it easier for a musician to sling it over the shoulder and play it even while walking."

The Sikh rabab was traditionally a local Punjabi variant known as the 'Firandia' rabab (Punjabi: ਫਿਰੰਦੀਆ ਰਬਾਬ Phiradī'ā rabāba), however Baldeep Singh, an expert in the Sikh musical tradition, challenges this narrative.

In Tajikistan a similar but somewhat distinct rubab-i-pamir (Pamiri rubab) is played, employing a shallower body and neck. The rubab of the Pamir area has six gut strings, one of which, rather than running from the head to the bridge, is attached partway down the neck, similar to the fifth string of the American banjo.

Notable players

• Bhai Mardana, companion of Guru Nanak and one of the first Sikhs (1459 - 1534)
• Ustad Mohammed Omar (1905–1980), Rabab player From Kabul, Afghanistan
• Ustad Rahim Khushnawaz (1943–2011), Rabab Player From Herat, Afghanistan
• Ustad Homayun Sakhi, Rabab Player From Kabul, Afghanistan
• Ustad Ramin Saqizada, Rabab Player From Afghanistan
• Ustad Sadiq Sameer, Rabab Player, From Afghanistan
• Ustad Shahzaib Khan, Rabab Player From Nowshera/Nokhar, Pakistan
• Ustad Waqar Atal, Rabab Player, From Peshawer, Pakistan
• Ustad Hamyuo sakhi, Rabab player, From Afghanistan
• John S. Baily, emeritus Professor of Ethnomusicology at Goldsmiths, University of London
• Khaled Arman (b. 1965), Rabab Player and Guitarist From Kabul, Afghanistan
• Daud Khan Sadozai, Afghan Rubab and Sarod Player from Kabul Afghanistan

Notes

References

References

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3. Miner, Allyn. (2004). "Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries". Motilal Banarsidass Publications.
4. Miner, Allyn. (2018). "Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries". Motilal Banarsidass Publ..
5. "Indian Music : Indian Instruments".
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7. Simon Broughton. "Tools of the Trade: Sarod". Songlines-The World Music Magazine.
8. (29 December 2024). "UNESCO-listed musical instrument stifled in Afghanistan". France 24.
9. (10 April 2016). "The roar of Afghan's 'lion of instruments'". [[Deccan Herald]].
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14. Bharat Khanna. (Nov 1, 2019). "Punjabi varsity's Firandia rabab helps revival of string instrument {{!}} Ludhiana News - Times of India".
15. Singh, Baldeep. (2012-06-27). "Rabab goes shopping…".
16. "Pastimes of Central Asians. A Musician Playing a Rubab, a Fretted Lute-like Instrument". [[World Digital Library]].
17. [http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=106106 Music and Poetry from the Pamir Mountains Musical Instruments], The Institute of Ismaili Studies.
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