Barbat (lute) - History

History

The barbat is one of the oldest instruments in the world, and it is likely originated in Central Asia. The earliest image of the barbat dates back to the 1st century BC from ancient northern Bactria, while a more "clear cut" depiction of the barbat from Gandhara sculpture dates to the 2nd-4th centuries AD. According to Encyclopedia Iranica, this type of instrument could have been introduced by the Kushans and was later adopted by the Persians. By the 7th century, the barbat was adopted by the Arabs into its current form, called the oud. After the tanbur, it is the oldest string instrument in Iran.

The instrument was abolished in Safavid period for an unknown reason (perhaps due to religious fanaticism), even until recent decades.

It is likely that the earliest ouds were carved from a solid piece of wood. By the time of the Moorish period in Spain, the body was in its characteristic staved wood vaulted back design. In fact, this staved wood may be the namesake for the oud as the word means "wood" or "flexible stick," and the top was made of wood, as opposed to the skin of the earlier lutes, and the vaulted back that provided the model for the European lute and mandolin was constructed from many steam-bent "flexible sticks" unlike the Persian barbat, which was carved out of a single piece of wood and may have been the original model for the oud. Also, as one can see in the images, after the barbat was taken to the Arab world, the body became larger and the neck got shorter.