Dilruba

History

Guru Gobind Singh ji created the dilruba around 1700 as a portable cousin of the taus, easier for the Khalsa cavalry to carry on horseback. It kept the sympathetic-string shimmer of the taus in a much smaller body and quickly became the most widespread bowed instrument in Sikh kirtan, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Meaning 'stealer of the heart,' the dilruba was created by Guru Gobind Singh ji as a lighter, more portable form of the taus — easier for the Khalsa to carry on horseback. It retains the bowed sweetness and sympathetic-string shimmer of the taus in a smaller body.

Tuning & playing guide

Four main steel strings tuned Sa – lower Pa – lower Sa – lower Pa (1 – 5̱ – 1̱ – 5̱̱), with twelve to fifteen sympathetic strings tuned to the swaras of the raag. Press the playing string against the metal frets with the back of the fingernail rather than the fingertip — that is what gives the dilruba its singing meend.

Hear how it sounds