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Made Initial Entry From Scratch

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{{Short description|Central Asian musical instrument}}
{{About|the Central Asian plucked instrument otherwise known as the "Kabuli rebab"|the bowed instrument|Rebab|the north Indian "Seni rebab"|Seni rebab}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox Instrument
| name = Rubab
| names = Rabab
| image = Rubab.jpg
| classification = [[Stringed instruments]]
| hornbostel_sachs = [[List of musical instruments by Hornbostel–Sachs number: 321.321|321.321-6]]
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = [[Necked bowl lutes]]
| range =
| related = [[Arbajo]], [[dotara]], [[dranyen]], [[Pamiri rubab]], [[seni rebab]], [[sarod]], [[tungna]], [[dutar]], [[tanbur]]
}}
{{Infobox intangible heritage
| Image =
| Caption =
| ICH = Art of crafting and playing rubab/rabab
| Countries = Afghanistan, India, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
| ID = 02143
| Region = APA
| Year = 2024
| Session = 19th
| List = Representative}}

The '''rubab''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|r|ʊ|ˈ|b|æ|b}}, {{IPAc-en|US|r|ʊ|ˈ|b|ɑː|b}}) or '''robab'''{{efn|[[Pashto]] and {{langx|fa|رباب}}; {{langx|pa|ਰਬਾਬ/{{nq|رباب}}}} {{translit|pa|rabāb}}; {{langx|ks|رَبابہٕ}}; {{langx|sd|{{nq|رَبابُ}}/रबाबु}}; [[Azerbaijani language|Azerbaijani]] and {{langx|tr|rübab}}; [[Tajik language|Tajik]] and {{langx|uz|рубоб/rubob}}; {{langx|ug|راۋاب/rawap}}}} is a [[lute]]-like musical instrument<ref name="Courtney">David Courtney, 'Rabab', [http://chandrakantha.com/articles/indian_music/rabab.html Chandra & David's Homepage]</ref> of [[Central Asia]]n origin. It is the national musical instrument of [[Afghanistan]] and is also commonly played in [[India]] and [[Pakistan]], mostly by [[Baloch people|Balochis]] and [[Kashmiri people|Kashmiris]],<ref>{{cite book|title=The Wide World Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly of True Narrative, Adventure, Travel, Customs and Sport ...|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=exE6AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA15|year=1905|publisher=A. Newnes, Limited|pages=15–}}</ref> and [[Punjabi people|Punjabis]].

Variants of the rubab include the ''Kabuli rebab'' of Afghanistan, the [[Uyghurs|Uyghur]] ''[[rawap]]'' of [[Xinjiang]], the ''[[Pamiri rubab]]'' of [[Tajikistan]], and the [[North India]]n ''[[seni rebab]]''.<ref name="Vathsala2016" /> The instrument and its variants spread throughout West, Central, [[South Asia|South]] and [[Southeast Asia|Southeast]] Asia.<ref name="Miner2004">{{cite book|last=Miner|first=Allyn|title=Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries|url=https://archive.org/details/sitarsarodin18th00mine|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publications|language=en|isbn=9788120814936|page=[https://archive.org/details/sitarsarodin18th00mine/page/61 61]}}</ref>

The Kabuli rebab from [[Afghanistan]]<ref name="Courtney" /> derives its name from the [[Arabic]] ''[[rebab]]'' and is played with a [[bow (music)|bow]] while in Central Asia and the [[Indian subcontinent]], the instrument is plucked and is distinctly different in construction.<ref name="Vathsala2016" />

==Size variants==
{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"
|+
!English
!Strings
!Pashto
!Persian
!In [[inch]]es
|-
|Small
|5 [[sympathetic string]]s
|وړوکی رباب
Warukay rabab
|زيلچه
''Zaliche''
|27
|-
|Medium
|19 strings, 13 sympathetic strings
|منځنۍ) رباب)
(Mianzanai) rabab
|رباب
Rubab
|28
|-
|Large
|21 strings, 15 sympathetic strings
|لوی رباب
Loy rabab
|شاه‌رباب (king size)
Shah rabab
|30
|}

==Components==
{{multiple image|caption_align=center
|header_align=center
|header=Historical instruments
| align = right
| image1 = 13th century rubab from ceramic plate, Rayy ( Iran ) ca 1200 CE.jpg
| width1 = 140
| alt1 = Iranian rubab image on ceramic plate
| caption1 = Iranian style rubab from the 13th century C.E., found in Rayy (near Tehran, Iran)

|image2 = Karnati ragini-Women playing veena and seni rabab,1680-1700.png
| width2 = 150
| alt2 = Women playing veena and seni rebab
| caption2 =Woman playing the [[seni rebab]] in [[Medieval India]], 1680–1700

|image3 = Man playing Lyre from Yusufzai Gandhara.jpg
| width3 = 116
| alt3 = Siddhartha playing the lute, sculpture
| caption3 =[[Kushan Empire]], 1st to 3rd century. Lute or vina, from the [[Yusufzai]] district near [[Peshawar]]. [[Greco-Buddhist art|Greco Buddhist]] ([[Gandhara]] School). Resembles rubab, [[sarod]] and [[tungna]].

|image4 = Mongolian lute, circa 1279-1368, Tomb of Wang Qing.jpg
|width4 = 140
|alt4= Painting of rubab found in Mongolian grave in China
|caption4=Mongolian lute, circa 1297, tomb of Wang Qing, China
}}

{| class="wikitable"
|+
!English
!Pashto
!Persian
|-
|[[Headstock]]
|تاج
Tāj
|سرپنجه or تاج
"Tāj" or "Sar Penjah"
|-
|[[tuning mechanisms for stringed instruments|Tuning peg]]
|غوږي
Ghwagi/Ghwazhi
|گوشی‌
Goshi/Gushi
|-
|[[nut (string instrument)|Nut]]
|?
|شیطانک
Sheitanak
|-
|[[neck (music)|Neck]]
|غړۍ
Gharai
|دسته
Dastah
|-
|[[String (music)|Strings]]
|تارونه
Tāruna
|تار
Tār
|-
|[[Drone string|Long/Low drones]]
|شاتار
Shātār
|شاهتار
Shahtar
|-
|[[Drone (music)|Short/High drones]]
|?
|?
|-
|[[Sympathetic string]]s
|بچي
Bachi
|?
|-
|[[Fret]]s
|پرده
Pardah
|پرده
Pardah
|-
|Chest
|سينه
Sinah
|سینه
Sinah
|-
|Side
|?
|صفحه
Safhah
|-
|Skin belly
|ګوډی or څرمن
"Tsarman" or "Goday"
|پوست
Pust
|-
|[[drumhead|Head]] or Chamber
|ډول
Dol
|کاسه
Kasah
|-
|[[bridge (instrument)|Bridge]]
|ټټو
Tatu
|خرک
Kharak
|-
|[[tailpiece]]
|?
|سیم‌گیر
Seemgeer
|-
|[[Plectrum]]
|شاباز
Shabaz
|مضراب
Mezrab
|}
In detail about the strings:
{| class="wikitable"
!'''English'''
!'''Explanation'''
!'''Pashto'''
!'''Persian'''
|-
|Strings
|Main strings: 3 and made out of nylon
Long Drone: 2-3 and made out of steel

Short Drone: 2 and made out of steel
|تارونه
Tāruna
|تار
Tār
|-
|First/Low/Bass String
|Low/Bass String is the thickest string
|کټی
Katay
|?
|-
|Second String
|Thinner than bass string and thicker than high string
|بم
Bam
|بم
Bam
|-
|Third/High String
|The thinnest string out of all the three main strings
|زېر
Zer
|زیر
Zir
|}

==Construction==
[[File:Stamps of Azerbaijan, 2011-983.jpg|thumbnail|2011 postal stamp of [[Azerbaijan]] depicting a 19th-century rubab]]
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 [[Perfect fourth|fourths]], two or three [[drone string]]s 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==
{{See also|Lute#History and evolution of the lute|History of lute-family instruments#Gambus and rabâb, skin tops plucked and bowed, rebab, rubab rabâb, robab}}

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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miner |first=Allyn |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nPHTCS8vfUC |title=Sitar and Sarod in the 18th and 19th Centuries |date=2018 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1493-6 |pages=61 |language=en}}</ref> It is mentioned in old [[Persian literature|Persian]] books, and many [[Sufi]] poets mention it in their poems. It is the traditional instrument of [[Greater Khorasan|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 (union territory)|Jammu and Kashmir]] and [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]] regions of [[North India|northwest India]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nadsadhna.com/pages/indianmusic/IndianInstruments.asp?About=Rabab |title=Indian Music : Indian Instruments |access-date=2017-10-23 |archive-date=2017-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024042822/http://www.nadsadhna.com/pages/indianmusic/IndianInstruments.asp?About=Rabab |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The ''rubab'' is known as "the lion of instruments" and is one of the two national instruments of Afghanistan (with the ''[[zerbaghali]]'').<ref name="Vathsala2016"/> 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]].<ref name="Vathsala2016"/> In appearance, the Kabuli rubab looks slightly different from the Indian rubab.<ref name="Kak1982">{{cite book|last=Kak|first=Siddharth |title=Cinema Vision India, Volume 2|year=1982|publisher=Siddharth Kak|language=en |page=25|quote=The rubab of Kabul is very similar to the sarod. The Indian rubab looks different. The sarod is a blend of these two rubabs.}}</ref> It is the ancestor of the north Indian ''[[sarod]]'', although unlike the sarod, it is [[fret]]ted.<ref>{{cite web|author=Simon Broughton|url=http://www.sarod.com/sarod/default.htm|title=Tools of the Trade: Sarod|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061118162205/http://www.sarod.com/sarod/default.htm |archive-date=2006-11-18|work=Songlines-The World Music Magazine}}</ref>

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 (hymn)|''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]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 December 2024 |title=UNESCO-listed musical instrument stifled in Afghanistan |work=France 24 |url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241229-unesco-listed-musical-instrument-stifled-in-afghanistan |access-date=29 December 2024}}</ref>

<gallery>
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 Iran|Safavid Empire.]] 8-shaped body resembles a [[Tar (string instrument)|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 Caliphate|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.
</gallery>

==Variants==
[[File:Photograph of rabab players (rababis) titled 'Lute Players Near the Golden Temple', taken on 28 January 1903.jpg|thumb|Photograph of rabab players ([[rababi]]s) titled 'Lute Players Near the [[Golden Temple]]', taken on 28 January 1903]]
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."<ref name="Vathsala2016">{{cite web |title=The roar of Afghan's 'lion of instruments' |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/539453/roar-afghans-lion-instruments.html |publisher=[[Deccan Herald]] |access-date=16 August 2021 |language=English |date=10 April 2016}}</ref>

The [[Sikh Empire|Sikh]] rabab was traditionally a local Punjabi variant known as the 'Firandia' rabab ([[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: ਫਿਰੰਦੀਆ ਰਬਾਬ ''Phiradī'ā rabāba''),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rabab |url=https://www.sikhmusicalheritage.com/rabab |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Sikh Musical Heritage - The Untold Story |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Raj Academy {{!}} Rabab |url=https://rajacademy.com/instruments/rabab |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Raj Academy |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rabab |url=https://www.sikhsaaj.com/rabab.html |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=SIKH SAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sikh Instruments-The Rabab |url=http://www.oxfordsikhs.com/2021/09/sikh-instruments-rabab.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016221908/http://www.oxfordsikhs.com/2021/09/sikh-instruments-rabab.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=October 16, 2021 |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Oxford Sikhs |language=en}}</ref> however Baldeep Singh, an expert in the Sikh musical tradition, challenges this narrative.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Bharat Khanna|date=Nov 1, 2019 |title=Punjabi varsity's Firandia rabab helps revival of string instrument {{!}} Ludhiana News - Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/punjabi-varsitys-firandia-rabab-helps-revival-of-string-instrument/articleshow/71851191.cms |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Baldeep |date=2012-06-27 |title=Rabab goes shopping… |url=https://anadfoundation.org/2012/06/27/rabab-goes-shopping/ |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=The Anād Foundation |language=en}}</ref>

In Tajikistan a similar but somewhat distinct ''rubab-i-pamir'' ([[Pamiri rubab]]) is played, employing a shallower body and neck.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pastimes of Central Asians. A Musician Playing a Rubab, a Fretted Lute-like Instrument|url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/10826|work=[[World Digital Library]]|access-date=14 May 2014}}</ref> The ''rubab'' of the [[Great Pamir|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]].<ref>[http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=106106 Music and Poetry from the Pamir Mountains Musical Instruments], The Institute of Ismaili Studies.</ref>

==Notable players==
* [[Bhai Mardana]], companion of Guru Nanak and one of the first Sikhs (1459 - 1534)
* [[Mohammad Omar (musician)|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 District|Nowshera]]/[[Nokhar]], Pakistan
* Ustad Waqar Atal, Rabab Player, From [[Peshawar|Peshawer]], Pakistan
* Ustad Hamyuo sakhi, Rabab player, From Afghanistan
* [[John S. Baily]], emeritus Professor of [[Ethnomusicology]] at Goldsmiths, [[University of London]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Professor John Baily |url=https://www.gold.ac.uk/music/staff/baily/ |website=Goldsmiths, University of London}}</ref>
* Khaled Arman (b. 1965), Rabab Player and Guitarist From Kabul, Afghanistan <ref>{{cite web |title=Biography |url=http://khaledarman.com/biography.html |website=Khaled Arman}}</ref>
*Daud Khan Sadozai, Afghan Rubab and [[Sarod]] Player from Kabul Afghanistan <ref>{{Cite web|title=Biography|url=https://www.daud-khan.art/biography/|access-date=2021-05-19|website=www.daud-khan.art|language=en-US}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Rababi]]
* [[Rebab]]
* [[Rebec]]
* [[Sarod]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Rubab}}
*[https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=_0XcR_aPRLU Video, rubab being played. Part of performance is slide rubab, like slide guitar.]
*[https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-07-04/musicians-faced-death-under-taliban-rule-they-may-be-silenced-once-more Existence of rubab threatened in modern Afghanistan.]
*[https://www.wsj.com/articles/taliban-afghanistan-national-institute-of-music-kabul-women-girls-zohra-carnegie-hall-kennedy-center-polar-music-prize-rubab-ashmed-naser-sarmest-11629308870 Will the Taliban Stop the Music in Afghanistan?]
* [http://farabisoft.com/Pages/FarabiSchool/InstrumentsDetails.aspx?lang=en&PID=4&SID=29 Farabi School ]
* [http://worldmusiccentral.org/artists/artist_page.php?id=1578 World Music Central - Ustad Mohammad Omar ]
* [http://www.amc.org.uk/education/articles/Music%20of%20the%20Uyghurs.htm Music of the Uyghurs]

{{Iranian musical instruments}}
{{Lute}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Azerbaijani musical instruments]]
[[Category:Persian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Afghan musical instruments]]
[[Category:Pakistani musical instruments]]
[[Category:Indian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Necked bowl lutes]]
[[Category:Drumhead lutes]]
[[Category:String instruments with sympathetic strings]]
[[Category:Iranian inventions]]
[[Category:Pashtun music]]

Rubab (instrument) - Revision history

SilasCorrie: Made Initial Entry From Scratch