Plaque with a Dancer and a Vina Player 1st century B.C.

The ancient veena is an early Indian arched harp, not to be confused with the modern Indian veena which is a type of lute or stick zither. Names of specific forms of the arched harp include the chitra vīṇā with seven strings, the vipanchi vīṇā with nine strings and the mattakokila vīṇā a harp or possibly board zither with 21 strings.[1][2]

The instrument is attested on a gold coin of the Gupta Empire from the mid-300s CE.[3][4][5] The instrument was also illustrated in the oldest known Saraswati-like relief carvings, from Buddhist archaeological sites dated to 200 BCE, where she holds a harp-style veena.[6]

Generic meaning of veena

Carved decoration from a hand-mirror's handle, depicting a woman playing the vina, 6th–7th century.

The Sanskrit word veena (वीणा vīṇā) which is attested already in the Rigveda has designated in the course of Indian history a variety of instruments of various types, as it is a generic term for all kinds of string instruments, just as the Tamil word yazh (யாழ் yaaḻ). In the last centuries and today the instruments designated under the designation veena of which there are several kinds, have tended to be mostly instruments of the lute or cithar type, and recently the word was even applied to modified Western guitars. But the early veenas could be plucked string instruments of any type.

Prehistoric veena

Rock painting at Nimbu bhoj, Pachmarhi, India, date uncertain, possibly 2nd millennium B.C. - 1st millennium B.C.. Bronze Age harper playing a bow harp; the resonator for the harp is the box on its end.

Located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, the rock caves of Bhimbetka have preserved paintings dating from the Mesolithic (older than 5000 BC) to historical times. In addition to numerous depictions of animals, there are scenes from the "late Bronze Age and Iron Age" of ritual dances with harpists and standing drummers.[7] According to the descriptions in the Vedas, the same instrumentation as in Choga Mish—bowed harp, flute, drum and song—was used in the 1st millennium B.C.in ancient India to accompany dancers.[7]

The most common Sanskrit term for bowed harps was vina. Literary evidence is Brahmanas (before 6th century B.C.), according to which the harp was said to have had "a hundred strings" (called satatantri).[8] In the first centuries A.D., stick zithers and long-necked lutes appeared under the name vina, while towards the end of the 1st millennium the bowed harp disappeared from India. They have only survived on the fringes of Indian cultural influence. Two examples: the saung gauk is best known in Myanmar, while the Kafir harp or waji has become rare in its retreat in north-eastern Afghanistan.

Early Gupta vina

Coin ca. 335-380 CE. (Front side) Samudragupta seated left on a low couch or throne, playing veena set on his knees. (Reverse side) Lakshmi seated left on wicker stool, holding diadem and cornucopia.

One of early veenas used in India from early times, until the Gupta period and later (this is probably the instrument referred to as veenaa in a chapter of the Nāṭyaśāstra dealing with instrumental music)[9] was an instrument of the type of the harp and more precisely of the arched harp. It was played with the strings being kept parallel to the body of the player, with both hands plucking the strings, as shown on Samudragupta's gold coins[10] It is not possible to tell exactly the number of strings of the instrument on the coin, but descriptions in early literary sources of an ancient instrument called the saptatantree veenaa (7-string veenaa) seem to coincide generally with the type of instrument represented on the coin. In the Nāṭyaśāstra this 7-string veena (played with the fingers, as opposed to the 9-string vipanchi played with a plectrum) is called a citra.[11]

The depiction of king Samudragupta holding such an instrument on his gold coins testifies of the popularity of the instrument, and also of the interest in music and the arts of a king who was also one of the greatest military conquerors in Indian history.[12]

Descendants

7th century Khmer depiction of harp (pin). National Museum of Cambodia

From India this type of instrument was introduced into Burma at an early period (by the 8th century CE and possibly as early as 500 CE,[13] where, while instruments of this type have disappeared from India itself, it is still played, generally with 15 strings, under the name of saung (known in the West also as the Burmese harp).[14][15][16]

The Cambodians have recreated their ancient harp, the pin. The instrument appeared in Hindu religious art in Khmer temples dating back between the 7th and 13th centuries A.D.[17][18][19]

References

  1. ↑ Piyal Bhattacharya; Shreetama Chowdhury (January–March 2021). "How the Ancient Indian Vīṇā Travelled to Other Asian Countries: A Reconstruction through Scriptures, Sculptures, Paintings and Living Traditions" (PDF). National Security. Vivekananda International Foundation. 4 (1): 50–53.
  2. ↑ Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1984). "Surmandal". The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. p. 477. Volume 3. in...Sangītaratnākara, a chordophone with 21 strings...is mentioned...does not make it clear whether this was a board zither or even whether the author had actually seen one...may have been a...harp-vīnā...
  3. ↑ "Coin, Samudragupta". The British Museum. Gold coin.; Samudragupta, seated on a high back couch, facing to the left, wearing a waistcloth, ear rings and necklace. Has halo around head. Holds a lyre/vina in his lap which he plays.
  4. ↑ "The Gupta Empire: A Time of Great Prosperity and Achievement in the Elites". 5000 years of Indian History. 17 October 2016.
  5. ↑ "The Coin Galleries: Gupta: Samudragupta". CoinIndia.com. [The coin is in the 12th image down, under the title "Lyrist type."]
  6. ↑ Catherine Ludvík (2007). Sarasvatī, Riverine Goddess of Knowledge: From the Manuscript-carrying Vīṇā-player to the Weapon-wielding Defender of the Dharma. BRILL Academic. pp. 227–229. ISBN 90-04-15814-6.
  7. 1 2 Meshkeris, Veronika (2000). "Musical Phenomena of Convergency in Eurasian Rock Art". In Ellen Hickmann; Ricardo Eichmann (eds.). Studien zur Musikarchäologie I. Saiteninstrumente im archäologischen Kontext. Orient-Archäologie, Band 6 (Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute, Berlin). Rahden/Westphalia: Verlag Marie Leidorf. pp. 74, 75, 83. plate VII, figures 5, 6 and 7... Then, in the late Bronze Age and Iron Age (2nd-1st mill. B.C.) the attention of the painters shifted from imaginary images to ritual participants...development of musical culture is confirmed by the appearance of different musical instruments...the bowed harp and hourglass drum (Plate VII, 5-7, India)...
  8. ↑ Kaufmann, Walter (1981). Musikgeschichte in Bildern [Music history in pictures] (in German). Vol. 2.8 Music of Antiquity, Ancient India. Leipzig: Werner Bachmann. VEB German Music Publishers. pp. 22, 39.
  9. ↑ Nāṭyaśāstra, XXVIII, 4-5 (the veena is also used and described in other shlokas which follow 4-5 in chapter XXVIII)
  10. ↑ "The Coin Galleries: Gupta: Samudragupta". CoinIndia.com.
  11. ↑ Nāṭyaśāstra, XXIX, 120
  12. ↑ "The fact that the king wanted to publicize an image of himself as a musician is remarkable and a window into the value system of the Gupta state" Coin India site Catalog and description of the gold coins minted during Samudragupta's reign (Web page)
  13. ↑ Judith Becker, The Migration of the Arched Harp from India to Burma, The Galpin Society Journal, vol. 20, pp. 17–23
  14. ↑ Śrīrāma Goyala (1 August 1992). Reappraising Gupta History: For S.R. Goyal. Aditya Prakashan. p. 237. ISBN 978-81-85179-78-0. - ...yazh resembles this old vina... however it is the Burmese harp which seems to have been handed down in almost unchanged form since ancient times
  15. ↑ According to the site Harp History a similar instrument is played in Thailand. A photograph of the Thai harp is shown on that site.
  16. ↑ Ank van Campen, Iconography: Pictures Existing instruments on the Harp History site (Web page)
  17. ↑ Rosa Ellen (10 May 2013). "The living sound of Angkor". The Phnom Pen Post.
  18. ↑ Koam Chanrasmey (8 July 2013). Angkorian harp reborn. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  19. ↑ "Cambodian folk Music". Women's Media Center of Cambodia. Retrieved 27 October 2018. According to experts, the "harp" is a kind of traditional Khmer instrument from native to India. " Harp "has existed in Cambodia since the 7th century and disappeared in the late 12th century or early in the 13th century, according to Keo Sorunwy, professor of the Faculty of Education, Trei Royal University of Fine Arts.

Bibliography

  • Judith Becker, The Migration of the Arched Harp from India to Burma, The Galpin Society Journal, vol. 20, pp. 17–23
  • Terry E. Miller and Sean Williams. The Garland handbook of Southeast Asian music. Routledge, 2008. ISBN 0-415-96075-4
  • Muriel C. Williamson The Burmese Harp: Its Classical Music, Tunings, and Modes, Northern Illinois University Center For Southeast Asian Studies, 2000
  • Arthur Llewellyn Basham, The Wonder That Was India, Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan, 2008, 696 pp.
  • The Natyasastra (Vol. 2): A treatise on Hindu dramaturgy and histrionics (Chapters 28-36) (translated by Manomohan Ghosh), 1961, Calcutta, Asiatic Society of Bengal (Biblioteca Indica); reprint: Chaukhamba Surbharati Prakashan, 2016, Varanasi
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