Xinjiang Province of Western China
Uyghurs

Various woods, metal strings, horse hair, mother-of-pearl
ca. 1970’s
Length: 28 inches
Chordophones – Lutes

The  khustar (khush means bird and tar means strings), is a bowed lute with a body made of staves like a lute or oud.  These staves are made of mulberry or apricot wood. The soundboard is made of pine and the pegs are made of walnut wood.  This khustar has 4 strings in 4 courses and is tuned G, D, A, E.   At the top of the neck is a carved bird that serves as a head scroll.  Its roots connect all the way back to the heyday of the Silk Road, from 130 B.C.E. until 1453 C.E.  The khustar is played upright on the knee, with the curved attachment on the end of the body resting on the knee itself.