Esraj

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Esraj" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Esraj

Esraj on display in the Iyal Isai Museum Exhibition in Government Museum, Chennai
String instrument
Other names	Israj
Classification	Bowed string instrument
Developed	17th century
Playing range
3-4 Octaves
Related instruments
Sarinda Sarangi Taus Dilruba Tarshanai or Tar Shehnai

The esraj or esraaj (from the Punjabi: ਇਸਰਾਜ Shahmukhi: اسراج) is an stringed instrument found in two forms throughout South Asia. It is a relatively recent instrument, being only about 300 years old. It is found in Pakistan and North India, primarily Punjab, where it is used in Sikh music, and West Bengal where it is used in Rabindra Sangeet and Classical Music. The esraj is a modern variant of the dilruba, differing slightly in structure.

The dilruba and its variant, the esraj, had been declining in popularity for many decades. By the 1980s, the instrument was nearly extinct. However, with the rising influence of the "Gurmat Sangeet" movement in an effort to revive the traditional instrumentation of Sikh Kirtan, the instrument has been once again attracting attention. In West Bengal, Rabindranath Tagore made this instrument mandatory for all the students of the Sangeet Bhavan (Music Academy) in Visva-Bharati University (otherwise known as Shantiniketan). Because of this, Esraj is considered the main accompanying instrument for traditional Rabindra Sangeet.^[1]