---
url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-gb/faq/instruments-artforms/when-did-the-piano-arrive-in-india'
title: 'When did the piano arrive in India?'
author:
  name: rajeevk
  url: 'https://kalasudha.com/en-gb/user/fce96177fd193d3a'
date: '2026-10-19T15:21:04+00:00'
updated: '2026-11-02T00:13:01+00:00'
type: website
summary: 'Pianos reached British Calcutta from London in the late 18th century; from about 1840 local firms built tropical pianos for the climate.'
tags:
  - 'Instruments & artforms'
image: 'https://kalasudha.com/themes/custom/music_agency/assets/icon/logo.svg'
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  site_name: KalaSudha
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 FAQ · Instruments & artforms

# When did the piano arrive in India?

 Updated 2 November 2026

 

London music retailers were exporting **[piano](/en-gb/instrument/piano)s** to British Calcutta in the late 18th century, and the pianoforte replaced the harpsichord in Anglo-Indian homes in that period. Humid tropical conditions damaged keyboard instruments in British India. Between about 1840 and 1910, firms in India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar produced tropical pianos built to withstand heat, insects and humidity.

Pianists who play Indian classical music today include Utsav Lal, Anil Srinivasan, who has brought the piano to Carnatic raga, and the raga pianist [Deepak Shah](/en-gb/artist/deepak-shah).



 

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## Related pages

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###  Instruments (1) 

- [   Piano The piano, a hammered keyboard chordophone, reached India through colonial drawing rooms and became central to Hindi film music through R. D. Burman and A. R…     ](/en-gb/instrument/piano)
 
  

 

 

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