The dilruba is what the taus becomes when it needs to travel: smaller, lighter, rectangular-bodied, quicker to learn to hold if never quick to master. Its name is an endearment — dilrubā, the heart-stealer.
What is not in doubt is the arc that followed. After the harmonium arrived under British rule, the dilruba fell out of use — it is far harder to learn, and the harmonium was cheap, loud, and instant. For most of a century the heart-stealer sat in corners. It has been revived in recent decades, and since 2006 has again accompanied ragis at the Harmandir Sahib. An instrument can come back. That is worth a page in any archive.
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Sources & a note on images and audio
- Reference material on Punjabi and Sikh musical instruments, including — where relevant above — the explicit scholarly notes on contested attributions. Instrument-origin claims are labelled with their confidence throughout.
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