Rubab (instrument)

Rubab, Robab, or Rabab (Pashto /, Punjabi: ਰਬਾਬ, Kashmiri: رَبابہٕ, Sindhi: رَبابُ (Arabic script) , रबाबु (Devanagari) , Azerbaijani / Turkish: Rübab, Tajik / Uzbek рубоб) is a lute-like musical instrument. The rubab is the national musical instrument of Afghanistan, is also commonly played in Pakistan and India mostly by Pashtuns and Balochis, Sindhis, Kashmiris and Punjabis. Variants of the rubab include the Kabuli rebab of Afghanistan, the Rawap of Xinjiang, the Pamiri rubab of Tajikistan and the seni rebab of northern India. The instrument and its variants spread throughout West, Central, South and Southeast Asia. The Kabuli rebab from Afghanistan derives its name from the Arabic rebab and is played with a bow while in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the instrument is plucked and is distinctly different in construction.

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 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 is attested from the 7th century CE. It is mentioned in old Persian books, and many Sufi poets mention it in their poems. It is the traditional instrument of Khorasan and is widely used in countries such as Afghanistan, 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 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.

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

 * Ustad Mohammed Omar (1905—1980), Rabab player From Kabul, Afghanistan
 * Ustad Rahim Khushnawaz (1945-2010), 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 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