The ''ghijak'' (also spelled ''ghidjak'', ''ghichak'', ''gidzhak'', ''gijak'', ''g'ijjak'', ', or ''ghijek'' (, or occasionally ; Chinese: 艾捷克 ''aijieke'' or 吉孜哈克 ''jizihake''; ), is a group of related spike fiddles, used by

Afghans Afghans (; ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora. The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks are the largest. The three main lan ...

Uzbeks The Uzbeks () are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, being among the largest Turkic ethnic groups in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakhs, Kazakh and Karakalpaks, Karakalpak ...

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

Tajiks Tajiks (; ; also spelled ''Tadzhiks'' or ''Tadjiks'') is the name of various Persian-speaking Eastern Iranian groups of people native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Even though the term ''Tajik'' ...

Turkmens Turkmens (, , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to Central Asia, living mainly in Turkmenistan, northern and northeastern regions of Iran and north-western Afghanistan. Sizeable groups of Turkmens are found also in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, ...

, Qaraqalpaks and in the

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

province of western China. Despite the similarity of the name, it is more closely related to the Persian

kamancheh The kamancheh (also kamānche or kamāncha) (, , , ) is an Iranian bowed string instrument used in Persian, Azerbaijani, Armenian, Kurdish, Georgian, Turkmen, and Uzbek music with slight variations in the structure of the instrument. Th ...

than the ghaychak.

History

The instrument name appears in 10th-century manuscripts, which indicate that the bridge (''harrak'') was made of

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

shells. The ghidjak as depicted in 15th-century

Persian miniature A Persian miniature (Persian language, Persian: نگارگری ایرانی ''negârgari Irâni'') is a small Persian painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a ...

s resembles the modern instrument in its construction.

Xinjiang

The ghijek as it is used in Xinjiang has four strings, either with a bowl soundbox (similar to the ''

''), or with a box soundbox often made from a tin can. One of Xinjiang's most prominent ''ghijek'' players is Akram Omar (艾克热木·吾买尔 / ئەكرەم ئۆمەر / Акрам Омар), from Kashgar.video
/sup>

References

External links

Afghan ghaychak (box lute)Tajik ghijak (box lute
Chinese musical instruments Culture in Xinjiang Uyghur musical instruments Kazakhstani musical instruments Kyrgyz musical instruments Afghan musical instruments Uzbekistani musical instruments Tajik musical instruments Turkmen musical instruments {{lute-stub

History

Xinjiang

See also

References

External links