Swarmandal

Modern swarmandals are similar to European psaltries. Autoharps are used as an equivalent instrument in India today, especially with the chord-button mechanism taken out. Modern swarmandals are trapezoidal and measure {{Convert|51|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length and {{Convert|28|cm|in|abbr=on}} width. Instruments may have as many as 40 strings, while older instruments from the 19th century were recorded as having 21 strings.{{cite book |author= Charles Russell Day |title= The music and musical instruments of southern India and the Deccan |pages= 131–134 |section= Plate VIII Svarmandala |publisher= Novello, Ewer & Company |date= 1891 |place=New York & London|url= https://archive.org/details/musicmusicalinst00dayc/page/n183/mode/2up}} The strings are hooked in a nail lodged in the right edge of the swarmandal and on the left are wound around tuning pegs which can be tightened with a special key. Wooden pegs were used instead of metal ones in the medieval period. A sharp {{convert|1/2|in|adj=on}} ridge on both sides of the swarmandal stands a little apart from the nails on which the strings are tightened. This ridge functions as a bridge on both sides. The swarmandal is similar to the autoharp or zither in many respects.

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The swarmandal may be the same as {{Speculation inline}} the 13th-century instrument known as the mattakokilā (intoxicated cuckoo).{{cite encyclopedia |year=1984 |encyclopedia=The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments |id=Volume 3 |editor-last=Sadie |editor-first=Stanley |page=477 |quote=in...Sangītaratnākara, a chordophone with 21 strings...is mentioned...does not make it clear whether this was a board zither or even whether the author had actually seen one...may have been a...harp-vīnā... |author= |entry=Surmandal}} In the Mughal period, the swarmandal was seen as equivalent by the Ā'īn-i-akbarī to the qanun. In the 19th century, a writer{{Who|date=May 2022}} commented that good performances on the instrument were rare, because it was difficult to play and, at the time, expensive to buy.

Several modern artists have performed with the instrument. Some of the vocalists who have used it extensively are Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Salamat Ali Khan, Jasraj, Kishori Amonkar, Rashid Khan, and Ajoy Chakrabarty. After travelling to India in late 1966, George Harrison introduced the swarmandal into the Beatles' sound on their 1967 single "Strawberry Fields Forever".{{cite book|last=Babiuk|first=Andy|author-link=Andy Babiuk|year=2002|title=Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio|publisher=Backbeat Books|location=San Francisco, CA|isbn=978-0-87930-731-8|page=193|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Eo743Uh2UOEC}}}} He also played it on his Indian classical-style composition "Within You Without You", from the band's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.{{cite news|first=Philip|last=Elwood|title=Last Respects to Beatles in an Album That Turns on|work=San Francisco Examiner|date=3 June 1967}} Available at [https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/the-beatles-isgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-bandi-capitol-smas-2653 Rock's Backpages] (subscription required).{{cite book|last=Clayson|first=Alan|title=George Harrison|publisher=Sanctuary|location=London|year=2003|isbn=1-86074-489-3|pages=212–13}}

File:Bade Ghulam Ali Khan 2003 stamp of India.jpg|Bade Ghulam Ali Khan featured on an Indian stamp with the swarmandal

File:Ustad rashid kan bharat bhavan bhopal (4).JPG|Rashid Khan playing swarmandal

• Drone (music)
• Hindustani classical music
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Category:Hindustani musical instruments

Category:Box zithers