Šargija: Albanian musical instrument

The Šargija popularly known as the callgi by the Albanians is a fretted long necked chordophone that is being used in the folk music of many Balkan countries, that includes Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Albania and Herzegovina, etc. this musical instrument is known to have originated from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the ruling time of Ottoman Empire from 1463 to 1878 and today this musical instrument is played by these countries. The instrument which originally came with four strings has now been increased to six strings and some even seven. The šargija as a musical instrument normally accompanies the violin and it possesses a jangling sound that is quite similar to the Turkish saz. It is also known to be a similar musical instrument to the two string qiftelia, the difference is that it has more string and looks more like the Turkish saz. Normally there are three courses of metal strings and the frets are usually set to the surface in a non-western design. The body could be carved from different bond of woods or carved from one piece of wood.

The šargija, mainly used by the Bosnian and Herzegovina and the development of this musical instrument was very slow due to economic difficulties, political and socio-cultural isolation from the Western Europe was very slow.