How old is the sarangi?

The word sarangi names a stringed instrument in Jain texts from 1052, but no early text describes it. The first descriptions come from Akbar's period: the A'in-i Akbari of 1588 to 1589 calls it smaller than the rabab. The earliest painting of a sarangi player dates from the early 17th century, and the large classical form developed in or around Delhi in about the mid-19th century.