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The first notes
 "Music opens us to the raptures of being alive," said a poet. The primitive man must have undoubtedly experienced this feeling, for music seems to be as old as mankind itself. But how did he stumble upon this great art? The sounds of nature, for sure, were the genesis of the sound of music. Inspired by them, he must have articulated sounds that were different from his speech. His own voice and his hands must have been his first musical instruments. As he discovered the joys of music, tools and instruments that he used for his everyday activities became mediums to create music. Thus it was that the scrapper, the rattle, the hunter's bow and many others of their kind evolved over the years as musical instruments. It is interesting to note that even today the Savaras of Orissa - one of the oldest ethnic groups - handle a variation of the scrapper and call it the
'doddurajan'.
The Pullawars of Kerala, a hill tribe, even now can be seen handling a rustic kind of bowed instrument reminiscent of the vil yazh (a bowed instrument of the Tamil Sangam age) of yesteryear.
What is the chronological age of the various musical instruments in vogue today or how did they evolve? Curt Sachs, in his book, 'The Rise of Music in the Ancient World', declares, "In ancient India as in Egypt, there is no instrument for which we can trace a native origin."
For reasons unknown, Sachs probably did not delve into the indigenous tribal music. Ethnological studies have revealed six main races in the Indian subcontinent. The earliest was apparently the Negrito. This tribe, still extant in the south of India, is credited with the invention of the bow-shaped stringed instruments. The Santhals, Baigas and other non-Aryan people of the central Indian belt are probably the crafters of the drum called the madal. At best, these are all only logical conjectures arrived at on the basis of certain evidences and not on indisputable facts.
Indian culture, as it is today, evolved over centuries. Numerous invasions from other countries and infiltration of people from different parts of the world both for conquest and for mercantile activities resulted in a dramatically diverse culture. On the reverse side, migration of the Indian people to other parts of the world also contributed to the spread of their culture abroad. With the result, in the source materials of yesteryear, we find similarities in the structure of some musical instruments as also radically different instruments but with a common name. An unbiased study of the history of ancient India, nevertheless, does lead us to the originating factors of many instruments currently in use.
 The Indus Valley Civilisation was the most extensive of the ancient civilisations and among its centres of authority were the two main cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Excavations at these sites have unearthed musical instruments; hour-glass drums like the hudukka, bow-shaped harp, castanets, cymbals, clay whistles, reed flutes or pipes, stringed instruments of the lute variety and harps along with many seals and other things. Some of the pictorial representations on these seals reveal a crude stringed instrument. Clearly, the Indus valley people were musical!
By about 2000 BC, the Indus Valley Civilisation declined. The Aryans entered the scene around 1500 BC. The Vedic literature, which forms the main source materials regarding the early Aryans, abounds in information on the music and musical instruments of the times.
The Rig Veda, one of the four Vedas, is a simple recitation of the text with three notes of different pitch values. The Sama Veda, for the major part, a musical recitation of the Rig Veda used all the seven notes in a descending scale. Musical instruments were used to accompany the chant. As the Sama-Vedic priest, the udgata sang, their wives played different kinds of stringed and other instruments collectively called the veena. Percussion instruments like the dhundubi, bhoomidundhubi and many others are mentioned. Wind instruments like toonava and nadi are also mentioned. In addition, the aghati or cymbal also seem to have been prevalent.
Sanskrit literary works function as source materials for the musical instruments of that time. The two epics, Ramayana and the Mahabharata, are concerned with events that took place between circa 1000 BC and 700 BC. These works mention many musical instruments of interest. To cite a few - Lava and Kusha sing to the accompaniment of the veena. Hanuman saw many musical instruments in the palace of Ravana - stringed instruments - veena, vipanchi, percussion instruments - madduka, pataha dindima, wind instruments - the vamsi and a host of others. It is significant that all the instruments mentioned by Valmiki were without frets. In the Mahabharata, Arjuna as Brhannalla is said to have taught veena to the Virat princess. Other references abound amongst which, Krishna's flute and his Panchajanya (conch) are well known.
As the years rolled by, tribal organisations gave way to monarchies. In the year 305 BC Chandra Gupta Maurya defeated Greek general Seleucus Nikator. Despite the battle, friendly relations between the Mauryas and the Seleucid dynasty existed. It is recorded that along with a regular exchange of gifts between the two, a musical party accompanied Seleucus on his journey from India to Greece. It is interesting to note that consequent to this battle, the Seleucid provinces of the Trans-Indus, which today would cover a part of Afghanistan, were ceded to the Mauryas. This brings our attention to the constantly changing geographical boundaries of the country and the resultant cultural exchanges and impact.
The Sungas ascended the throne in 180 BC followed after some time by the Kushana period - circa 78
AD. The Kushana period is regarded as a culturally-rich period. Testifying to this statement, archaeological excavations at Rupar have yielded terracotta figurines in the Sunga and Kushana styles. They depict the figure of a woman playing the veena. It has been dated between circa 200 BC and 600 AD. A veena that looks like the modern-day sarod has been depicted in the Gandhar, Mathura (of the Kushana period) and Amaravati sculptures.
Between 300-700 AD was established the Gupta dynasty. Historians often refer to the Gupta period as the 'Classical Age' of ancient India. The literature of the Gupta period mentions vipanchi, parivadini, cymbals and a variety of musical instruments. Gold coins that have been unearthed depict King Samudragupta (335 AD) as playing the parivadini - a type of
veena.
 It was in this 'classical age' and the period immediately subsequent to it that Sanskrit literature flourished. Kalidasa, the famous Sanskrit littérateur, refers to turya vadya - wind instruments, vallaki and atodya - stringed instruments - in his literary works. The mrdanga, flute and Pushkara-drum are also mentioned. Bana, another poet, has referred to venu, veena, jallarika, kahala amongst many others in his works.
Down south as well art was developing on a rapid scale. The Silappadikaram, an epic in Tamil written in the 2nd century AD, by Ilango, a scion of the Chera dynasty, mentions many musical instruments. Notable amongst them are the yazh with its many varieties, 30 kinds of percussion instruments, venu (flutes) made of different materials and several others. Many poems of the Sangam age also refer to music and musical instruments on a fairly vast scale.
Besides the yazh, kuzhal (flute), muzhavu (a small drum), and other instruments were frequently used by musicians. The reign of Mahendra Varman Pallavan (600-630 AD), his knowledge of music and his patronisation of the arts are all but too well known. The Cholas (circa 900-1300 AD) were also great patrons of music and art. Nagaswaram was an almost ubiquitous instrument in the religious and social scene of those times. The temples of the Pallava and Chola periods display many instruments carved in stone too. Even today, one can see the stone nagaswaram at the Kumbheswara Swami temple at Kumbakonam. Musicians and poets of a later age like Arunagirinathar of the 15th century have referred, in their compositions, to many musical instruments, including 17 varieties of percussion instruments. The next stage in this evolution was another invasion …
To be continued..
Lakshmi Devnath
(Copyright of the above article vests with the author.)
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