Dutar: Afghanistan musical instrument

The dutar is a musical instrument with long neck and two-string lute found in Iran, South Asia and Central Asia. Its name was derived from the Persian name of “two strings” which is “do tar.” The small dutar is about 100cm. Dutar is mainly made of mulberry tree; The Afghanistan dutar has fourteen strings. The strings are being plucked by the Uyghur of Western China when it is being played and slummed and plucked by the Tajiks, Turkmen, Uzbeks, Afghan people and Pakistan. A related musical instrument called dotara is played by the Baul community of West Bengal and Bangladesh. At front side and mostly at backside of high quality dutar are national decorations fixed. Dutar means double string; it has a longer history and is widespread among the people.

The Shepherds made the string of the instrument from gut in the beginning of the 15^th century, but with the coming of Silk Road, the strings were manufactured from twisted silk. The typical sizes for the pear-shaped instrument range from one to two meters.  The dutar has a warm, pleasant to hear tone It is used to accompany singing and dancing and also can be an instrument of virtuosity.