Dumbira

Dumbira is a plucked stringed instrument characteristic of the traditional music of the Bashkirs in the South Urals, predominantly in the Republic of Bashkortostan in Russian Federation.

It is closely related to Kazakh dombra and similar instruments of other neighboring Central Asian peoples.

Together with the other musical instruments of the Bashkir people, the ancient dumbira is a symbol of Bashkir identity.

The modern wooden dumbira has a pear-shaped or an oval form. They used birch or willow wood and goat's guts to make the dumbira. The Bashkir dumbira is shorter than the Kazakh dombra (about 80 centimeters) and has three metal or tendon strings.

A performer strikes all the strings at the same time. The upper string performs the bourdon tone and the lower string performs the melody. A dumbira is used as a solo as well as an ensemble instrument. The information about the dumbira has come to us from ancient times. In the 12-18 centuries the dumbira was used by the Bashkir sasans to accompany their poetic legends and kubairs. There are some lines about a dumbira in the epic poem "Zayatulyak and Hiuhiliu". However, by the beginning of the 20 century, the dumbira was forgotten. The scientists have made a link between the disappearance of the dumbira and Bashkir insurrections. The sasans were often the main ideologists of ethnic insurrections. So when the Russian administration put down a rising, they punished the sasans and destroyed their dumbiras.

In the 2nd part of 20th century, several reconstructions were carried out.

At present, the revivalist work continues. Among others, performer V. Shugayupov works on the revival of the dumbira.

External links

*http://www.bashedu.ru/konkurs/kuzbekova/en_variant/instrument.html