The sarod is a stringed instrument used in Hindustani music from the Indian subcontinent. It is one of the most important and well-known instruments, along with the sitar. The sarod has a deep, heavy, and thoughtful sound, different from the sitar's sweet and rich tone, which includes strings that vibrate to create a full, echoing sound. The sarod has no frets, allowing it to make smooth slides between notes, called meend, which are an important part of Indian music.

Origins

The word "sarod" came to India from Persian during the late Mughal Empire. It is older than the Indian musical instrument itself. The word "sarod" is linked to the Persian word "sorūd," which means "song," "melody," or "hymn." This word comes from the Persian verb "sorūdan," meaning "to sing," "to play a musical instrument," or "to compose."

Another possible origin of the name "sarod" is the Persian word "šāh-rūd," which combines "šāh" (meaning "king") and "rūd" (meaning "string").

The history of sarod music begins with the lively and rhythmic melodies of the Afghani rubāb and the Indian seni rubāb. These instruments were important in Mughal royal courts. The sarod developed in India during the early 19th century as an improved version of the Afghani rubāb. It was commonly played in areas east of Delhi by Afghan communities. In the second half of the 19th century, the descendants of Ghulam Bandagi Khan, an Afghan musician and merchant, added metal strings and a metal plate to the instrument. These changes helped create longer notes and allowed for the detailed musical styles of dhrupad and khyal.

There are many different stories about the sarod's origins. One story says that the ancestors of Amjad Ali Khan, a famous sarod player, invented the instrument. His ancestor, Mohammad Hashmi Khan Bangash, brought the Afghan rubāb to India in the mid-18th century and became a court musician for the Maharajah of Rewa (now in Madhya Pradesh). His grandson, Ghulam Ali Khan Bangash, who worked in the court of Gwalior, changed the rubāb into the modern sarod. Another story credits Niyamatullah Khan, a descendant of Madar Khan, with making the same change around 1820. The sarod in its current form became widely recognized as a serious instrument in the early 1800s in places like Rewa, Shahjahanpur, Gwalior, and Lucknow. In the 20th century, Allauddin Khan and his brother Ayet Ali Khan improved the sarod by adding more chikari (drone) strings and tarafdar (sympathetic) strings. However, like many young and evolving instruments, the sarod still needs more work in the area of craftsmanship to allow for consistent customization and exact copying of successful instruments. This reflects the current state of Indian instrument-making. While the sarod is sometimes called a "bass rubāb," its range of sounds is much broader than the rubāb, especially in the middle and high tones.

Design

The way the instrument is made depends on the musical tradition (gharana) it comes from. There are three main types:

The traditional sarod has between 17 and 25 strings and looks like a lute. It has four to five main strings for playing melodies, one or two drone strings, two chikari strings, and nine to eleven sympathetic strings. The early version of this instrument is usually credited to Niyamatullah Khan of the Lucknow Gharana and Ghulam Ali Khan of the Gwalior-Bangash Gharana. Today, two groups of players keep this basic design. Amjad Ali Khan and his students use this model, as do followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra. Both Amjad Ali Khan and Buddhadev Dasgupta made small changes to their instruments, which became the models for their followers. Their sarods are made of teak wood and have a soundboard made of stretched goat skin. Buddhadev Dasgupta prefers a polished stainless steel fingerboard for easier care, while Amjad Ali Khan uses a traditional chrome or nickel-plated steel fingerboard. The two versions look similar, with six pegs in the main pegbox, two rounded chikari pegs, and 11 (Amjad) to 15 (Buddhadev) sympathetic strings. Descendants of Niyamatullah Khan, such as Irfan Khan and Ghulfam Khan, also play similar instruments. Some followers of Radhika Mohan Maitra still use a second resonator on their sarods, while Amjad Ali Khan and his followers no longer use one. These instruments are usually tuned to B, the traditional setting.

Another type was designed by Allauddin Khan and his brother Ayet Ali Khan. This instrument, called the 1934 Maihar Prototype by David Trasoff, is larger and longer than the traditional sarod, though its fingerboard is the same. It has 25 strings in total, including four main strings, four jod strings (tuned to Ni or Dha, R/r, G/g, and Sa), two chikari strings (tuned to Sa of the upper octave), and fifteen tarab strings. The main strings are tuned to Ma ("fa"), Sa ("do"), lower Pa ("so"), and lower Sa, allowing the instrument to cover three octaves. This version is especially good for playing alap, with the four jod strings creating a background for the raga’s mood. However, it is not as easy to use for clean right-hand picking on individual strings. This instrument is typically tuned to C.

Sarod strings are made of steel or phosphor bronze. Most modern players use strings from Germany or the United States, such as Roslau, Pyramid, and Precision. The strings are plucked with a triangular plectrum (java) made of polished coconut shell, ebony, cocobolo wood, horn, cowbone, Delrin, or similar materials. Early players used plain wire plectrums, which produced a soft, ringing sound.

Playing technique

The sarod is a challenging instrument to play because it has no frets, and the strings are very tight. To make music, players must press the strings firmly against the fingerboard.

There are two ways to stop the strings of the sarod. One method uses the tip of the fingernail to press the strings, while the other method combines the fingernail and fingertip to press the strings against the fingerboard.

How musicians press the strings depends mostly on the choices of individual musicians rather than on the musical tradition they follow. For example, Radhika Mohan Maitra used the index, middle, and ring fingers of his left hand to stop the strings, similar to musicians who follow Allauddin Khan's style. However, Maitra used the third fingernail more often for sliding and hammering techniques. Amjad Ali Khan, who was part of the same musical tradition as Maitra, preferred to use only the index and middle fingers of his left hand. However, pictures from around 1960 show Amjad Ali Khan playing with all three fingers of his left hand.

Notable sarodiyas

• Mohammad Amir Khan (1873–1934), Court Musician of Darbhanga and Rajshahi
• Allauddin Khan (1862(1882?)–1972)
• Hafiz Ali Khan (1888–1972)
• Radhika Mohan Maitra (1917–1981)
• Ali Akbar Khan (1922–2009)
• Jotin Bhattacharya (1926–2016)
• Bahadur Khan (1931–1989)
• Buddhadev Das Gupta (1933–2018)
• Dhyanesh Khan (1942–1990)
• Kalyan Mukherjea (1943–2010)
• Sakhawat Hussain (1877–1955)
• Sharan Rani Backliwal (1929–2008)
• Vasant Rai (1942–1985)
• Rajeev Taranath (1932–2024)
• Shahadat Hossain Khan (1958–2020)
• Aashish Khan (1939–2024)

• Amjad Ali Khan (born 1945)
• Brij Narayan (born 1952)
• Narendra Nath Dhar (born 1954)
• Biswajit Roy Chowdhury (born 1956)
• Vikash Maharaj (born 1957)
• Tejendra Majumdar (born 1961)
• Amaan Ali Khan (born 1977)
• Ayaan Ali Khan (born 1979)
• Joydeep Mukherjee (musician) (born 1982) [1]
• Abhisek Lahiri (born 1983)
• Wajahat Khan
• Arnab Chakrabarty (born 1980)
• Soumik Datta (born 1983)
• Aayush Mohan (born 1995)
• Apratim Majumdar
• Kaushik Mukherjee
• SuraRanjan Mukherjee
• Vishal Maharaj (born 1986)
• Rajeeb Chakraborty (born 1963)
• Shiraz Ali Khan
• Prattyush Banerjee (born 1969)
• Rajrupa Chowdhury