sarinda

sarinda, folk fiddle of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India. The deep wood shell has a skin belly up to its narrow waist but is open thereafter on both sides of the fretless fingerboard; the body is commonly shaped like a pouch or bag. The three melodic strings are gut or horsehair. Some versions have sympathetic strings like those of the sarangi.

The sarinda may derive from the Central Asian qobuz; both are used for shamanic functions and to accompany dance, and both are played by musicians of lower social status.