Where does Tabla (pair of hand drums) come from?
The tabla comes from northern India, around Delhi. The pair of hand drums took shape there in the 1700s, and it has been the main drum of Hindustani classical music ever since, prized for the ringing tones of its black-spotted heads.
An old idea, a new pair
Drums are ancient in South Asia: a carving from the 2nd century BCE in the Bhaja Caves shows a woman playing a pair of small drums. But the tabla as it is played today is fairly recent. Clear pictures of it appear only from about 1745, and its shape kept developing until the early 1800s. Grinnell College's instrument collection says the pairing probably came about at the Mughal court in Delhi in the second half of the 18th century.
Sidhar Khan and the Delhi style
The earliest name linked to the tabla in historical records is Sidhar Khan Dhadi, who founded the Delhi gharana, the oldest tabla lineage, in the 18th century. He began as a player of the pakhawaj, a barrel-shaped drum, and his school set the tabla apart from it with a lighter 'two-finger' style and new forms such as the qayada, a theme with variations. His heirs went on to found other schools, among them Lucknow, Ajrada, Farukhabad and Benares.
The ink that makes it sing
Each drumhead carries a black circle called the syahi, 'ink', built up from layers of paste made of rice or wheat starch mixed with a black powder; recipes include iron filings. It gives the drums a clear pitch and bell-like overtones. The smaller right-hand drum, usually of wood, is tuned to the soloist's keynote with a hammer and wooden dowels, while the larger left-hand drum, often of brass or copper, gives the bass. Players learn each stroke as a spoken syllable, a bol.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org › Tabla ↗ · en.wikipedia.org › Delhi gharana ↗ · britannica.com ↗ · omeka-s.grinnell.edu ↗
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