Inventory

TAUS

Full Description:

A popular stringed musical instrument in nineteenth century Northern India and Punjab characterised by a zoomorphic shape.

This traditional Indian wooden bowed lute is known as a taus (Persian) or mayuri veena (Sanskrit), both names referring to its peacock form. It is polychrome-painted, lacquered, and decorated with inlaid bone crest and rectangular plaques on the edges of the headstock, profusely incised with repeating auspicious ‘eyed’ or ‘ring and dot’ motifs outlined in geometric patterns.

It features four melody strings crossing the tall, straight and narrow dandi (fingerboard or stem), from the top four turning pegs down to the peacock-shaped kudam (resonator). Its base is enhanced with long, iridescent ‘eyed’ peacock feathers. The vibrating skin of the resonating chamber, above the back of the bird, is made of a piece of animal skin with a lovely patina. To further enhance its zoomorphic rendering, the elongated eyes, curved beak and carved wings with rounded feather motifs are painted in red, white, black, and gold and the underbelly presents the birds’ feet in yellow. The fingerboard is decorated with cusped arches and flowers painted in black and gold. The tail of the instrument is fittingly adorned with later peacock feathers placed in an aperture solely designed for this purpose.

Borrowing elements from other classical Indian chordophones, this extremely rare taus or mayuri veena was probably played with a matching bow touching the four main melody strings, located over the metallic frets on the stem - one for each semitone of two octaves. Sadly, the metallic frets, and sympathetic strings, which provided additional resonance, are now missing from the present example. Departing from the standard design of Southern Indian veena instruments, this zoomorphic bowed lute distinguishes itself for the absence of both a smaller gourd fixed underneath the stem’s neck, and three drone or side strings used for rhythmic accompaniment.

The lack of accurate written accounts recording the transmission of specialised musicians’ (kirtanee or ragi) musical knowledge and the instruments they played at the time of the Sikh Gurus, makes it difficult to determine this instrument’s genesis. The invention of the taus is commonly credited to the highly revered Guru Hargobind Sahib (19 June 1595 – 28 February 1644), the Sixth Guru of Sikhi, founder of the Akal Sena (Sikh military force), and commissioner of the Akal Takht (seat of justice and earthly authority) in Amritsar. According to the personal recollection of an esteemed Sikh taus player and long-standing, elite member of the Gurbani Kirtan Parampara, Bhai Avtar Singh (1925 – 2006),¹ Guru Hargobind’s inspiration to design this new instrument was sparked by a real peacock, which spontaneously joined a musical gathering, crying out its typical wailing sound. Its call left the Guru inspired and resolute to craft an instrument which combined the resonation of classical Hindustani string instruments and the peacock’s plaintive cry.² In the same interview where Bhai Avtar Singh described the genesis of this instrument, he also shared the memory of how he started playing the taus at the age of ten, under the strict supervision of his father. He stated that: “When the taus is being played, it has such a loud and deeply resonant sound that no other instrument can match it.” (Bhai Avtar Singh, recorded interview, Espanola, New Mexico, 27^th August 2003). From this account, it became clear that the bowed lute came to play a pivotal role in Sikh kirtan and as such, in the transmission of the vidya (spiritual knowledge) to the sangat (community). Its relevance still reverberates in modern Sikh history. In fact, during the Jaito Morcha (a planned peaceful protest which began in February 1924 against the British who had put the Sikh community under heavy siege), Bhai Avtar Singh’s father, one of the Sikh leaders, was badly injured affecting his hand and joints, preventing him from playing the taus without being in great pain. Nevertheless, he always opened his kirtans with this revered instrument, quickly passing it to his son upon his closure, so he could continue playing it for the rest of the composition.³

Another highly respected kirtani, Bhai Baldeep Singh (born 1969) adds complimenting oral history to that of Bhai Avtar Singh. He places on record, in a collaborative interview with the V&A museum⁴ and Darbar Arts Culture & Heritage Trust,⁵ that it was indeed Guru Hargobind who was responsible for the invention of the taus, and that the Guru was impelled to create the instrument in defiance of the Mughal emperor for creating the Peacock throne (and earlier decreeing that no South Asian ruler should have his throne at the same level or higher than the Mughal throne). Guru Hargobind had already built the Akal Takht (around 1606-1609) in defiance of the decree, and the creating of the taus was sending a clear message to the emperor, Bhai Baldeep Singh quotes Guru: “instead of oppressing people, (with the taus) we will sing the praise of Akaal (God)”

Bhai Baldeep doesn’t name the emperor(s), but the timeline confirms that it was Jahangir who bought the Mughal throne from Allahbad to Agra in 1610, and thus was responsible for the decree (in regard to the heights of other thrones), and that it was Shah Jahan who commissioned the Peacock throne in 1635. The Guru would have been 40 years old when the peacock throne was inaugurated, so this is a suggested time of the invention of the taus.

As has been shown, the taus is a classical Indian musical instrument heralding resilience and strength. Its artistic accomplishment and knowledge could have not been embodied in the visual traditions of the subcontinent by a more pertinent bird than a peacock. Revered as a sacred bird originally created from Garuda’s feathers, symbolising immortality, the peacock is especially linked to two Hindu deities, namely the Goddess of Knowledge, Music and Art, Saraswati, and the God of War and Victory, Kartikeya.⁶

Taus very rarely appear on the market, none are known to us in private collections of Sikh art, but comparable specimens of this remarkable instrument can be admired in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. 89.4.163)⁷; the V&A museum, London (inv. no. 182-1882)⁸; and the Yale Collection of Musical Instruments (inv. no. 4202.1960).⁹ Two lesser-known examples are also housed in St Cecilia’s Hall,¹⁰ a small concert hall and musical museum in Edinburgh, and another in the Egmore Museum, Chennai.¹¹

B.C. & R.S.

Provenance

Tony Bingham collection UK

References