Description: The dutar is a cordophone who is a member of the long necked lute family. Geographically the dutar is found through out Central Asia, in Uzbekistan, Turkistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. In Farsi the name "du-tar" translates "du" meaning "two" and "tar" meaning "strings". In Arabic originally the "tar" means "drum". The dutar was depicted by the works of Al Farabi. The dutar is considered a close cousin to the tanbur-e-khorosan. The dutar is played by musicians for folk, regional music and classical music the “On Ikki Maqam” or “the 12-maqam a huge repertoire of Uighur classical music. Among the Uighur people the dutar is a very popular instrument, and is found in many Uighur house-holds. In the 20th century the dutar is often found in Uighur classical ensembles to full fledged orchestras. In Turkistan almost every Uighur family would have a dutar present in their home. In Turkistan the dutar is found in several sizes.

In Afghanistan: The dutar is known as "Dutar-e-chahardah jelau" or more commonly as the Herati dutar. This type of dutar has 14 sympathetic strings in which the addition of sympathetic strings is influenced from the Indian sitar. This type of dutar has its origins from the Afghani Tanbur a lute that is still present in Northern Afghanistan. This form of dutar is played in a wide range of urban Afghani music and is also associated with "art music". The Herati dutar is also present through out Afghani film music and popular music's. The frets of this type of dutar are raised and are tied on like the Indian sitar. The bridge of this form of dutar has a raised end where the playing strings are over the sympathetic or "chikari strings". Often in traditional ensembles this form of dutar is played solo, or accompanies vocals, harmonium, tablah or zarb-e-ghali. Amongst the Hazara people a two stringed dutar is played.

In Turkmenistan: This type of dutar has a much shorter neck and often the frets are tied on or on the older models of the dutar the frets are hand-carved of the same neck of the wood. And the body is also carved usually from a single-block of wood. Originally this dutar may have used silk strings however in recent times this dutar uses steel strings. In Turkmenistan this dutar is often played to accompany bardic or "epic" singing. In other ensembles the dutar maybe accompanies by other instruments. Though it’s been known in Soviet Era Turkmenistan many orchestral forms of this instrument have been made.

Anatomy of the Uighur Dutar: The arrangements of the frets on this type of dutar are diatonic; there is also are very small dutar in which the tuning is in unison or fourths and fifths like the standard dutar. My specimen of the dutar in which you see in the photograph is Uigur dutar. On my specimen there are a total of 15 tied nylon frets. My specimen of dutar also has 14 staves and is highly ornate with inlay-ed camel bone, and coloured green, red, black dies in the bone inlay its self. The camel bone inlay is also geometrically ornate or sometimes the fingerboard are’ plain.