History of the Tabla

The tabla is the most important instrument of North India and is widely used in Indian classical music to Indian film movies and folk music. It has also been incorporated in Western music. The tabla is used in concerts in many ways. It can be played as a solo or accompanying a group. The most common way the tabla is used is by accompanying other instrumentalists, dancers or vocalists. There are numerous legends about how the tabla originated. The name tabla is believed to have originated from the word "tabl" in Arabic. The earliest evidence through pictures is in the Indian palaces in the 1700's. In ancient temples in India, there are many sculptures about a two piece drum which closely represents the tabla. It shows a musician playing a pair of drums of similar size of his hands. This description resembles modern day tabla very closely.

One of the most popular legends that presents how the tabla was created is through another instrument called the pakhawaj. The legend says that a famous pakhawaj player by the name of Sidhar Khan Dhari invented the tabla by accident. Sidhar Khan was an excellent court musician who lived during the 18th century. He was a court musician for Mohammed Shah. It is believed that during a music contest when Sidhar Khan was playing against rival tabla players, he lost the contest. In the argument after the contest, Sidhar Khan became very angry since he lost the contest and out of frustration and anger, he chopped his pakhawaj in two pieces with a sword. After he calmed down, he realized what had occurred due to his anger. He tried playing the broken pakhawaj and to his amazement it still made a great sound and thus, the tabla was created. Many of Sidhar Khan Dhari's compositions when he was a court musician are common repertoire when learning tabla nowadays. Another popular legend says that the tabla was created by Amir Khusrau. Amir Khusrau was a famous musician, scholar and poet who lived in the early 14th century. However, this legend is unlikely as Amir Khusrau loved to brag about his achievements and inventions and went into a lot of detail while writing about them. However, he never mentioned the tabla once in any of his writings. Considering the type of person he was, it should be obvious he would brag about it. Even though there are many other legends on how the tabla was created, these two legends are the most popular and widely accepted myths.