Display: Musical Wonders of India
Surbahar
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Surbahar, wood, gourd, ivory and lac, silver mounted pegs, length 152cm, India, 1890. Museum no. IS.29-1890 Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The term surbahar is Hindi and means a springtime of musical notes.
The surbahar is a type of large, bass sitar. Ghulam Muhammed Khan of Lucknow is credited with its invention around the year 1825. The surbahar was reportedly popularised in the nineteenth century by his son, Sajjad Hussain. The surbahar was a specialised instrument used only in performances of certain types of instrumental classical Indian music. While the popularity of the rudra vina or bin was fading towards the end of the nineteenth century, the surbahar was becoming more prominent, especially in Bengal. Because of its large size, however, C. R. Day reported in 1891 that it was tiring to play and expensive to buy.
A steel plectrum called mizrab is used to play the surbahar, which is held in front of the musician at an angle with its body by the musicians hip and its neck pointing upwards.
Made up of teak wood and inlaid withj mother of pearl original work
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