The Rubāb of Hulbuk

Image: Representation of the rubāb of Hulbuk (Khulbuk).

In the 11th century, the citadel of Hulbuk, or Khulbuk, featured an astonishing fresco showing two female musicians at play. This citadel is located in the village of Kurbanshaid, in the Vose district of the Khalton region, in the south-west of present-day Tajikistan. The citadel was no less than the capital of Khuttal, a small Iranian principality in the empire of the White Huns. The architectural elements and artefacts found, such as ceramics and coins, have made it possible to estimate the date of the building: between 970 and 1060. As for the fresco, it is likely to be closer to the 11th century. Unearthed in 1983, it showed two instruments being played: a rubāb and a chang, a kind of harp without a pillar. This fresco is the earliest to depict an asymmetrical bow, showing an evolution in the instrumental gesture of bowed strings.

Image: Representation of the possible cavity of the rubāb of Hulbuk.

Although it is impossible to certify this, it is possible that the rubāb of Hulbuk has a complex cavity made up of three chambers: lower, middle and upper. This type of cavity can still be found today on rubāb from the Pamir, such as the tanbur from the Pamir. The measurements used to reconstruct the instrument were based on the elements of the fresco that are still visible, as well as on the graphic records made at the time of its discovery.

Montage: Superimposing the drawing or reconstruction of Hulbuk's rubāb on a photo of the fresco.

There is not much available of the Hulbuk fresco. However, a rare black and white photo shows some of the elements that make up the handle. There are vertical lines on the inside of the neck. These appear to be frets. If this hypothesis is confirmed, we would be able to say that frets were already present in the 11th century and that this type of instrument could be played with both a bow and a plectrum.

For more information, see the article (in French) published in the journal Arts Asiatiques, no.
73

https://www.academia.edu/41483180/Sur_la_piste_du_rubb_la_peinture_murale_de_Hulbuk

Image: Representation of the chang of the Hulbuk fresco