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{{About|the north Indian "Seni rebab"|the Afghan plucked instrument otherwise known as the "Kabuli rebab"|Rubab (instrument){{!}}Rubab|the bowed spike fiddle, as used in Arab countries and in the Indonesian gamelan|Rebab|the mediaeval European instrument sometimes called the "rubible"|Rebec}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox Instrument
|name= Seni rebab
|names=
|image=Indian Rabab.jpg
|caption=Seni Rebab
|classification=
* [[Necked bowl lutes]]
* [[String instruments]]
|range=
|related=[[Arbajo]], [[Dotara]], [[Dranyen]], [[Rubab (instrument)|Kabuli rebab]] [[Pamiri rubab]], [[Sarod]], [[Tungna]], [[Dutar]], [[Tanbur]]
}}

The '''Seni rebab''' ([[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]: सेनी रबाब <small>([[Devanagari]])</small>, {{nastaliq|سینی رباب}} <small>([[Nastaleeq]])</small>, [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: ਸੇਨੀ ਰੱਬਾਬ), also known as the '''Seniya rabab''' ([[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]: सेनिया रबाब <small>([[Devanagari]])</small>, {{nastaliq|سنیا رباب}} <small>([[Nastaleeq]])</small>) is a plucked string instrument used in [[northern India]] that is said to have been developed by, and to have taken its name from, the notable musician [[Tansen]] in the time of the emperor [[Akbar the Great]]. It has "a large hook at the back of its head, making it easier for a musician to sling it over the shoulder and play it even while walking."<ref name="Vathsala2016">{{cite web |title=The roar of Afghan's 'lion of instruments' |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/539453/roar-afghans-lion-instruments.html |publisher=[[Deccan Herald]] |access-date=16 August 2021 |language=English |date=10 April 2016}}</ref> It has been used in [[Hindustani classical music]] and religiously, in [[Sikh music]].<ref name="Vathsala2016"/><ref name="Kasliwal2001">{{cite web |last1=Kasliwal |first1=Suneera |title=Rabab |url=https://www.india-instruments.com/encyclopedia-rabab.html |publisher=India Instruments |access-date=10 September 2021 |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Nair|first=Jyoti|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/gurbani-flavour-of-sikh-devotion/article30930734.ece|title=Gurbani: Flavour of Sikh devotion|date=2020-02-27|work=The Hindu|access-date=2020-03-01|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X|quote=Rabab is associated with the Sikh sacred music and can be traced to Guru Nanak Devji’s bhajans, almost 500 years ago}}</ref> The rebab influenced the development of the [[sarod]], another Indian musical instrument.<ref name="Kasliwal2001"/>

Three types of Sikh musician - [[rababi]]s, [[Ragi (Sikhism)|ragi]]s and [[Dhadi (music)|dhadhis]] - flourished during the period of the Sikh gurus.

==History==
As the ''Dekhani rabāb'', the instrument was listed as a native instrument of Central India by Mughal chronicler [[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak|Abu'l Fazl]]. It was played by different castes, from the high [[Brahmins]] leading religious songs to "low-caste entertainers."<ref name=Grove>{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last= Sadie |editor-first=Stanley |title= Rabab, #4 |encyclopedia= The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments |year=1984 |id= Volume 3 |pages= 181–182 }}</ref>

The instrument was associated with the Seniya family, of whom [[Tansen]] was one.<ref name=Grove/> Tansen has been credited with "popularizing" the rabāb. The name'' seni rabāb'' may be an Indian adaptation from a Persian designation of the instrument; "''Sen-e-rabab''" is supposed to mean rebab of [Tan] Sen.<ref>{{cite web |author= David Courtney |website= chandrakantha.com|title= Seni Rabāb |url=  https://chandrakantha.com/music-and-dance/instrumental-music/indian-instruments/seni-rabab/}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:A Musician and Singer Kneel at the Outskirts of a Mughal Camp. A Yogi and a Servant Listen to them, from the Minto Album, c.1630.jpg|Mughal painting from 1630 by [[Govardhan (painter)|Govardhan]] with a musician playing a seni rebab.
File:Photograph of a rababi of Nabha state holding a rabab (rebec).jpg|Photograph of a rababi of Nabha state holding a seni rebab, late 19th or early 20th century.
File:Screenshot from 2024-09-13 18-24-54.png|Seni Rubab, built by unknown maker.
</gallery>

==Religion==
[[Guru Nanak]] started the Sikh [[rababi]] tradition by engaging [[Bhai Mardana]] as his accompanist. The Muslim singers known as [[Mirasi]]s were "rababis", because they played on the rabab or [[rebec]]. Some notable rababis after Mardana were his son Shahjada, Balwand and [[Satta Doom|Satta]], Babak, son of Satta, Chatra, son of Babak, and Saddu and Baddu. Rababis used to perform [[kirtan]] regularly at Amritsar before the [[partition of India]] in 1947, after which many of the rababis migrated to Pakistan. The Sikh rabab was traditionally a local Punjabi variant known as the 'Firandia' rabab ([[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: ਫਿਰੰਦੀਆ ਰਬਾਬ ''Phiradī'ā rabāba''),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rabab |url=https://www.sikhmusicalheritage.com/rabab |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Sikh Musical Heritage - The Untold Story |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Raj Academy {{!}} Rabab |url=https://rajacademy.com/instruments/rabab |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Raj Academy |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rabab |url=https://www.sikhsaaj.com/rabab.html |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=SIKH SAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sikh Instruments-The Rabab |url=http://www.oxfordsikhs.com/2021/09/sikh-instruments-rabab.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211016221908/http://www.oxfordsikhs.com/2021/09/sikh-instruments-rabab.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=October 16, 2021 |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=Oxford Sikhs |language=en}}</ref> however Baldeep Singh, an expert in the Sikh musical tradition, challenges this narrative.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Bharat Khanna|date=Nov 1, 2019 |title=Punjabi varsity's Firandia rabab helps revival of string instrument {{!}} Ludhiana News - Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ludhiana/punjabi-varsitys-firandia-rabab-helps-revival-of-string-instrument/articleshow/71851191.cms |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=The Times of India |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Baldeep |date=2012-06-27 |title=Rabab goes shopping… |url=https://anadfoundation.org/2012/06/27/rabab-goes-shopping/ |access-date=2022-08-18 |website=The Anād Foundation |language=en}}</ref>

The last of the line of rababis was Bhai Chand. During the 20th century CE the instrument's use in Sikh kirtan was eclipsed by the [[harmonium]] but it has been revived.<ref>{{Cite web |last=PTI |date=2022-05-25 |title=SGPC to revive 'gurbani kirtan' with string instruments in Golden Temple |url=https://theprint.in/india/sgpc-to-revive-gurbani-kirtan-with-string-instruments-in-golden-temple/971031/ |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=ThePrint |language=en-US}}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Karnati ragini-Women playing veena and seni rabab,1680-1700.png|Women playing veena and seni rabab,1680-1700.
File:Guru Nanak with Bhai Mardana with rabab.jpg|Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana with rabab. circa 1740 (Bhai Suchet Singh Collection. Bhai Rupa)
</gallery>

== Prominent Performers of Seni Rabab ==
Ustad Baba Alauddin Khan, Pandit [[Radhika Mohan Maitra]] were the prominent players of the Seni Rabab or the Tanseni Rabab. Pandit [[Joydeep Mukherjee (musician)]], a grand disciple of Pandit [[Radhika Mohan Maitra]], and a disciple of Late Guru Pranab Naha of Kolkata, has revived the Tanseni Rabab<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mukherjee |first=Joydeep |title=Strings attached: How I revived near-extinct musical instruments |url=https://www.deccanherald.com/features/music/strings-attached-how-i-revived-near-extinct-musical-instruments-3057778 |access-date=2024-06-26 |website=Deccan Herald |language=en}}</ref> in the year 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kirpal |first=Neha |date=2024-06-05 |title=Meet musician Joydeep Mukherjee, who has revived some ancient musical instruments |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/meet-musician-joydeep-mukherjee-who-has-revived-some-ancient-musical-instruments/article68211172.ece |access-date=2024-06-26 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Indian musical instruments}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Indian musical instruments]]
[[Category:Sikh music]]
[[Category:String instruments]]


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