Origin of Sitar

Sitar is the most popular and highly evolved String Instrument of India. Sitar has become synonimous with Indian Culture and tradition due to contribution of some all time great exponents in 20th Century.String instruments have gained so much popularity because, these are considered as the best medium which can immetate most of the elements and fluidity of human voice.Particularly Sitar represents the Hindustani Classical Music world wide. It has its unique characteristic sound which is very much similar with the Indian Philosophy and Culture, that’s why this ancient musical instrument is considered as one of the best mediums of Hindustani Classical Music. Sitar has its unique technique of playing which even varies slightly with various styles of playing.Opinions differ regarding the Origin of Sitar.The word Sitar comes from the Persian word ‘She-Tar’ which literally means the ‘Combination of Three Strings’. However, this is far from the sufficient of describing the present form of the instrument.Some of the musicologists think that, the Indian Veena was popular as Sitar in the Middle East.Some claim Sitar as Iranian or Persian instrument.Others say, the Persian Lute was called ‘She-Tar’ which had come to India in its ancient form and was called Sitar.According to another theory, sitar has been evolved from the ancient veenas (Rudra Veena, Saraswati Veena, Kinnari Veena and Kachuya Veena) which had their origin in India itself.The most of the credit of inventing Sitar goes to the court musician and royal poet of Khilji Samrat Ala Uddin Khilji, Hazrat Amir Khusro (Bulbul-E-Hind: Nightingale of India) who was one of the iconic figures in the cultural history of the Indian subcontinent. Persian- Islamic influence in Hindustani Music began with the Khilji Empire itself.It is said that Khusro was the first one who modified the structure of Indian Veena and converted into the very basic form of Sitar. His modifications are described as:Removal of the wooden frets and introduction of Metal Frets which made the sound of the instrument more sharp, pin pointed and penetrating. He tied the metal frets with thread.He changed the direction of revolving the strings on the pegs.The form of Sitar, modified by Khusro had 3 strings and 14 frets. The first string was tuned to ‘Ma’, the others were tuned to ‘Pa’ and ‘Sa’ respectively.Mizrab was used for playing and it was wore on the fore finger of the right hand, but there was no ideal posture of sitting with the instrument.Perhaps a copper or iron plate was used as the flat bridge, where proper tuning on jawari was not possible for making the proper inclination and smoothness by filing, as done today.Chikari string was absent in SitarThe more developed form of the instrument was formed in the Mughal Age.According to another opinion ("Sangeet Sudarshana") the sitar was modified from Persian sehtar in the 18th century by a fakir named Amir Khusru , who was a different person from Hazrat Amir Khusru. It is said that he was the 15th descendent of Naubat Khan, the son-in-law of Tansen.Dr. Lalmani Misra writes in his book ‘Bharatiya Sangeet Vadya’ that the Sitar was originated from the Tri-tantri Veena (Veena with 3 strings) of India.In Maharastra, Sitar is called ‘Satar’, which makes some thinkers to believe that origin of Sitar was Sapta-tantri Veena (Veena with 7 strings). So the word came fromSapta Tantri -> Sapt taar -> Sat-tar -> Satar.Sitar in its first form was influenced by the Persian lutes played in the Royal courts, but it was evolved from the major modification done on Indian Been (Veena)According to the forefathers of our Gharana, the Etawah Gharana, it is accepted that the sitar was invented by Hazrat Amir Khusro.

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