The rubab (UK: /r ʊ ˈb æ b/, US: /r ʊ ˈb ɑː b/) or robab is a musical instrument similar to a lute. It comes from Central Asia and is the official musical instrument of Afghanistan. People also play it in India and Pakistan, mainly among the Balochi, Kashmiri, and Punjabi communities.

Different types of rubab include the Kabuli rebab from Afghanistan, the Uyghur rawap from Xinjiang, the Pamiri rubab from Tajikistan, and the North Indian seni rebab. These instruments and their variations are found in West, Central, South, and Southeast Asia.

The Kabuli rebab got its name from the Arabic word "rebab." In Afghanistan, it is played with a bow. However, in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the rubab is plucked and has a different design.

Construction

The body of the instrument is carved from a single piece of wood. A hollowed-out bowl covers the head, creating a sound chamber. The bridge rests on the skin and is held in place by the tension of the strings. The instrument has three melody strings that are tuned in fourths, two or three drone strings, and up to 15 sympathetic strings. It 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 written record of an instrument called the rabab comes from Arabic texts in the 10th century, as noted by Henry George Farmer. This instrument, along with similar versions such as the rubab, rebab, and rabob, became popular in many areas of West, Central, South, and Southeast Asia. Old Persian books describe it, and many Sufi poets wrote about it in their poems. It is the traditional instrument of Khorasan in present-day Afghanistan and is used in countries like Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. It is also found in the Xinjiang province of northwest China and the Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab regions of northwest India.

The rubab is called "the lion of instruments" and is one of Afghanistan’s two national instruments, the other being the zerbaghali. Classical Afghan music often includes the rubab as a main instrument. In other regions, it is known as the Kabuli rebab, which is different from the Seni rebab of India. The Kabuli rubab has a slightly different appearance compared to the Indian rubab. It is the ancestor of the north Indian sarod, but unlike the sarod, the rubab has frets.

The rubab was the first instrument used in Sikhism. Bhai Mardana, a companion of Guru Nanak, the first Sikh teacher, played the rubab. When Guru Nanak received spiritual songs called shabads, he would sing them while Bhai Mardana played the rubab. Bhai Mardana was known as a rababi. Sikhs, such as the Namdharis, continue the tradition of playing the rubab.

In 2024, UNESCO recognized the craft of making the rubab as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

• Late 12th to early 13th century, Iran. Musicians played the ney, rubab, and daf.
• Late 12th to early 13th century, Iran. A musician played the rubab.
• A young man with an Iranian rubab, 16th century, Safavid Empire. The rubab’s body is shaped like an 8, similar to a tar, but tars have both sides of the 8 covered with hide. Rubabs have a lower part covered with hide and an upper part covered with wood.
• Iraq or Egypt. An Abbasid-era rubab, painted inside a bowl from the 10th century. The instrument looks like a spike lute, with the neck inserted into the body beneath the soundboard. It has two strings.

Variants

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

The Sikh rabab was traditionally a local Punjabi version called the 'Firandia' rabab (Punjabi: ਫਿਰੰਦੀਆ ਰਬਾਬ Phiradī'ā rabāba). However, Baldeep Singh, an expert in Sikh musical traditions, questions this description.

In Tajikistan, a similar but slightly different instrument called the rubab-i-pamir (Pamiri rubab) is played. It has a shallower body and shorter neck. The Pamir rubab has six gut strings, one of which is attached partway down the neck instead of running from the head to the bridge, like 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 (born 1965), Rabab player and guitarist from Kabul, Afghanistan
• Daud Khan Sadozai, Afghan rubab and sarod player from Kabul, Afghanistan