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title: 'How old is the sarangi?'
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date: '2026-10-19T15:22:21+00:00'
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summary: "The sarangi is first described in the A'in-i Akbari of 1588 to 1589; its large classical form developed around Delhi in the mid-19th century."
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  FAQ · Instruments & artforms

# How old is the sarangi?

 Updated 19 October 2026

 The word **[sarangi](/instrument/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.



 

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 ###  Instruments (1) 

- [   Sarangi The sarangi is a short-necked bowed instrument of North India, close to the human voice. It has three gut strings and up to 37 sympathetic strings that ring…     ](/en-int/instrument/sarangi)
 
  

 

 

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