The chest monochord zithers in ancient Sri Lanka

Abstract

The present study inquires about Chest monochord zithers, an extinct instrument type in Sri Lanka. These instruments are a prominent string instrument type around the Indian Ocean with early visual and literary evidence that can be traced to between the late 5th and 7th centuries in South and Southeast Asia. The primary purpose is to investigate the parts of these instruments and how they were assembled over different periods in ancient Sri Lanka. Iconography methods, cross-comparison and document analysis were used for this study and data were obtained from visual, literary sources, and ethnological studies. Eventually, the research identified a few chest monochord zither variants and drew suggestions for assembly systems in ancient Sri Lanka during three different periods between the 6th to 18th centuries.