| Summary/Abstract |
Indian music before the 10th century AD was of a kind which we may today even find
difficult to understand, because we are no longer familiar with the nuances of that
tradition. The original forms of the musical instruments used during that time have
also virtually disappeared from mainstream India. But these instruments can be found
more or less in their original form outside India in South East Asia. These instruments
travelled out of India to these countries due to historical reasons. This essay brings
forth research that help us reconstruct the journey of the ancient Indian string
instruments (the Harp, the Tube Zither and the Stick Zither) from their original form
to their highly developed modern form, and in that process, demonstrates how India
was the fountainhead of foundational theories upon which classical string instruments
have developed in various cultures outside India, especially Myanmar and Cambodia.
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