KAMANJA

also spelled Kamanja, fiddle prominent in Arab and Persian art music. It is a spike fiddle; i.e., its small, round or cylindrical body appears skewered by the neck, which forms a foot that the instrument rests on when played. It has a membrane belly and, commonly, two to four strings. The kamanja apparently originated in northern Persia and was mentioned by the 10th-century philosopher and music theorist al-Farabi. Though still common in the Middle East, it has given way in North Africa to the vertically played European viola and violin, there called kamanjas. Both the instrument and the name are widely diffused. In Central Asia, northern India, and Southeast Asia, spike fiddles closely resembling the kamanja are common under the name rebab. The kamanja is called rabab in Turkey, the derivative name kemene being applied to a pear-shaped fiddle similar to the Greek lira.