Al Rabab to Sri Rabab: Journey Of The Chosen Instrument

Chris Mooney Singh

Throughout its long and ancient history, the noble rabab has helped to express some of the highest sentiments known to humanity. Guru Nanak made the instrument famous when he chose Bhai Mardana Rababi, his Muslim-born companion to accompany the singing of divine shabads. Thus, the rabab became the true emblem of shabad kirtan for all time.

The ancient rabab is a shared tradition of Eastern civilization. During the last 1000 years it defined the merging of the best of things Islamic and Hindustani. Loved by all, it was a musical bridge between the pre-existing philosophical systems and helped to create new ones like Sikhism. It symbolized the mystical marriage between poetry and music and evoked a sense of timeless expression that can not be erased from racial memory.

Once heard in royal courts and played under the trees by bards, minstrels, sufi fakirs and other religious mendicants, it was known as rabab al mughanni (the singer’s instrument) or rabab al shair (the poet’s instrument). Always associated with poetry, reflection and moments of spiritual elevation, al rabab seems to have originated in Northern Afghanistan or Iran. The earliest known record has been traced 2000 years ago to the archaeological excavations at Nangarhar.

Although its deepest roots are in Central Asia and the Middle-East, the rabab's influence has reached as far east as Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and west to regions of Europe and Africa. Its diffusion is closely tied to the growth of the Islamic world and the development of extensive trade routes after the 10th century. The generic name for skin-covered world music instrument, either plucked or played with a bow, al rabab gave rise to the European rebec, played on the knee, or lap like a sarangi. This is the early forerunner of the western violin and near cousin of the tenor banjo, guitar, mandolin on one hand, and the father of the Indian sarod on the other. Rabab is the predecessor of them all.

It came to India during the Gaznavid invasions of the 11th Century AD. Entering North Indian music it was highly celebrated in the poetry of Amir Kushrau, becoming the leading instrument of the Mughal drupad period from the time of Tansen. The body, shaped like a tortoise shell, is 3-4 feet in length with a long elegant neck. Plucked like a guitar, al rabab has a deep and resounding voice. With the shift away from drupad forms to lighter classical music, the instrument went into decline. The smaller short waisted Afghani rabab is still heard in the folk music of Kashmir.

Chris Mooney playing the Rabab

At the same time, Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana walked 38,000 kms for more than 20 years throughout India and the ancient world. He chose the rabab because it was already well accepted by Hindu-Muslim cultural milieu in which he moved. Most likely, Bhai Mardana’s instrument would have been light and portable, for the Guru’s performances took place under trees, on mountain-tops, in forests and in deserts. Thus, the rabab has always been loved as an instrument that evokes the spirit of simplicity and of nature itself.

Perhaps it is the rabab’s unique natural sound that led Al-Farabi – the early Arabic scholar in his Book of Music to describe it as the instrument that most closely resembles the human voice. The word itself means ‘to resonate.’ No doubt this has mystical connotations in the context of Indian philosophy where the inner Amrit-pani (nectar of immortality) is experienced through subtle vibration of sound - in the same way that a pond ripples when a stone is thrown, agitating the surface from its epicenter. Considerable research in the sound laboratory indicates that string instruments produce such pleasing and subtle tones that can heal the physically and mentally ill and can hasten ‘super-learning’ responses in controlled environments.

As Sikhism grew, the size of rabab perhaps increased to more than four feet in length so that it could be heard in larger group congregations. Thus Guru Gobind Singh’s rabab (given at a gift to Maharaja Sidh Sen around 1692) now on display at Suket Mandi Gurdwara in Himachal Pradesh is a typical drupad rabab with a deep and resounding bass tone, plucked and strummed. Combined with bowed instruments of the shabad kirtan tradition – siranda, taus and dilruba, a rabab played in this manner continued to be the leading instruments of Sikh sacred music up until the end of the 19th Century when the it was replaced by the expedient and dull-sounding German harmonium. Played by a rising generation of roti ragis they led classical kirtan off the main path of devotional worship.

It is no co-incidence that as traditional instruments disappeared from the kirtan darbar, the rich classical performance tradition as enshrined by the Sikh Gurus dissipated and disintegrated. Over time the ordinary listener, too, lost the ability to relish kirtan in its pristine form. By the second half of the 20th Century, ragis(traditional singers) had begun employing romantic ‘film’ tunes to gain easy popularity and commercial success. With the waning of the rabab and the tradition it symbolizes, many other negative trends have gained ground in contemporary Punjab. Ethnic and indigenous ways of life have been interrupted forever by globalization and ‘music-for-the-eyes’ satellite MTV culture. Thus, Punjabi pop-singers are now idolized as demigods, while religious singers are perceived as money-grabbers. This is the reality of aesthetic values in Punjab today.

Despite the adverse affects of rapid technological materialism and what this is doing to the traditions and heritage of Eastern civilizations, the pure spirit of music only disappears temporarily from view. Like a natural underground spring, it never really dries up; it finds new openings like the Rabab Research and Education Foundation www.rabab.org - registered as a Charitable Trust, based in Chandigarh and Ludhiana with branches in Singapore, Australia and the UK. There is a growing interest in the rabab as a symbol of revival of traditional, spiritual and artistic values.

Ajit Singh made the first replica of Guru Gobind Singh's Rabab

The original rabab of Guru Nanak may have disappeared in the pilgrim dust of history, but the rabab of the 10th Sikh Master has survived providing a vital link of continuity with the past. For ethno-musicologists, it is a rare artifact and for Sikhs it is a priceless relic that gives a new way to look at the personality of Guru Gobind Singh. Locating it and making a replica with the support of the S.G.P.C. Dharam Prachar Committee, Gurdwaras of Singapore and many individuals from Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, UK and Australia has been the inspiration for the development of various classical designs and newer versions of the rabab.

In 2000, The Rabab Foundation established the Rabab Seva Workshop – a vocational training program for village youth in Amritsar district where they are learning the art of instrument-making and gaining employment. The Rabab Foundation has also established classes under qualified ustads along with the Bebe Nanaki Rabab Scholarship Program to train gifted and needy students in Mohali and Ludhiana. The first pilot program teaching rabab to future Sikh religious musicians at Gurmat Gyan Missionary College has commenced. Thus, the rabab is now being heard once again in places of Sikh worship and on the concert stage. The Rabab Foundation is also commencing its ‘Student Music Contact program 2000’ which is introducing the rabab and other classical instruments through exhibitions, lecture demonstrations and hands-on workshops to schools, colleges and institutions.

Twentieth Century may not have been the rabab’s century, but perhaps the 21st will be – for the ancient rabab perfectly represents the spirit of revival, unity and cross-cultural dialogue at a time when the planet is moving toward global civilization. Music, is the one universal language that is instinctively understood by all, promoting peace, tranquility and harmony. It can help repair the torn fabric of heritage, spirituality and tradition, which is the bedrock of civilization. The soothing tones of Sri Rabab are a much-needed balm for our troubled times.

Photo Credit:
Rabab on main page - David Schalliol