Editing Harp (section)

==== South Asia ====
{{See also|Yazh|Ancient veena}}
[[Mesolithic]] era paintings from [[Bhimbetka rock shelters|Bhimbetka]] show harp playing. An [[arched harp]] made of wooden brackets and metal strings is depicted on an [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus seal]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Varadpande |first=Manohar Laxman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyxOHOCVcVkC&q=Varadpande |title=History of Indian Theatre |date=1987 |publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=9788170172215 |pages=14, 55, plate&nbsp;18 |language=en}}</ref> The works of the Tamil [[Sangam literature]] describe the harp and its variants, as early as {{nobr|200 BCE.}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Vipulananda |year=1941 |title=The harps of ancient Tamil-land and the twenty-two srutis of Indian musical theory |url=http://www.southasiaarchive.com/Content/sarf.120137/211446/003 |journal=Calcutta Review |volume=LXXXI |issue=3}}</ref> Variants were described ranging from 14 to 17&nbsp;strings, and the instrument used by wandering minstrels for accompaniment.<ref name="Zvelebil1992">{{Cite book |last=Zvelebil |first=Kamil |title=Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature |date=1992 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-09365-6 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=qAPtq49DZfoC&pg=PA145 145ff]}}</ref> Iconographic evidence of the yaal appears in temple statues dated as early as {{nobr|600 BCE.}}<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Magazine |first1=Smithsonian |last2=Gershon |first2=Livia |title=Listen to the First Song Ever Recorded on This Ancient, Harp-Like Instrument |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/hear-sound-ancient-indian-instrument-180977426/ |access-date=28 September 2021 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref> One of the Sangam works, the ''Kallaadam'' recounts how the first ''yaaḻ'' harp was inspired by an archer's bow, when he heard the musical sound of its twang.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Another early South Asian harp was the [[ancient veena]], not to be confused with the modern Indian [[veena]] which is a type of lute. Some Samudragupta gold coins show of the {{nobr|mid-4th century {{sc|CE}}}} show (presumably) the king [[Samudragupta]] himself playing the instrument.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVNmAAAAMAAJ |title=The Journal of the Numismatic Society of India |date=2006 |publisher=Numismatic Society of India |pages=73–75}}{{full citation needed|date=June 2020|reason=article title; author; volume, issue}}</ref> The ancient veena survives today in Burma, in the form of the ''[[saung]]'' harp still played there.<ref name="Goyala1992">{{Cite book |last=Śrīrāma Goyala |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DkVuAAAAMAAJ |title=Reappraising Gupta History: For S.R. Goyal |date=1 August 1992 |publisher=Aditya Prakashan |isbn=978-81-85179-78-0 |page=237 |quote=...&nbsp;yazh resembles this old vina ... however it is the Burmese harp which seems to have been handed down in almost unchanged form since ancient times}}</ref>