The tabla is a South Asian membranophone percussion instrument consisting of a pair of drums, used in traditional, classical, and popular and folk music.  It has been a particularly important instrument in Hindustani classical music since the 18th century, and remains in use in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The name tabla likely comes from tabl, the Persian and Arabic word for drum. However, the ultimate origin of the musical instrument is contested by scholars, some tracing it to West Asia, others tracing it to the evolution of indigenous musical instruments of the Indian subcontinent.

The tabla consists of two single headed, barrel shaped small drums of slightly different size and shapes: daya also called dahina meaning right, and baya also called bahina meaning left. The dayatabla is played by the musician’s right hand (dominant hand), and is about 15 centimetres (~6 in) in diameter and 25 centimetres (~10 in) high. The bayatabla is a bit bigger and deep kettledrum shaped, about 20 centimetres (~8 in) in diameter and 25 centimetres (~10 in) in height. Each is made of hollowed out wood or clay or brass, the daya drum laced with hoops, thongs and wooden dowels on its sides. The dowels and hoops are used to tighten the tension of the membrane. The daya is tuned to the ground note of the raga called Sa (tonic in Western music). The baya construction and tuning is about a fifth to an octave below that of the daya drum. The musician uses his hand’s heel pressure to change the pitch and tone color of each drum during a performance.

The playing technique is complex and involves extensive use of the fingers and palms in various configurations to create a wide variety of different sounds and rhythms, reflected in mnemonic syllables (bol). In the Hindustani style tabla is played in two ways: band bol and khulabol. In the sense of classical music it is termed “tali” and “khali”. It is one of the main qawali instrument used by Sufi musicians of Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. The tabla is also an important instrument in the bhakti devotional traditions of Hinduism and Sikhism, such as during bhajan and kirtan singing.

Origins
The history of tabla is unclear, and there are multiple theories regarding its origins. There are two groups of theories, one that traces its origins to Muslim and Moghul invaders of the Indian subcontinent, the other traces it to indigenous origins.

Turk-Arab origins
The first theory, very common during the colonial period scholarship, is based on the etymological links of the word tabla to Arabic word tabl which means “drum”. Beyond the root of the word, this proposal points to the abundant documentary evidence that the Muslim armies, as they invaded Indian subcontinent, had hundreds of soldiers on camels and horses carrying paired drums. They would beat these drums to scare the residents, the non-Muslim armies, their elephants and chariots, that they intended to attack. Babur, the Turk founder of the Mughal Empire, is known to have used these paired drums carrying battalions in their military campaigns. However, this theory has had the flaw that the war drums did not look or sound anything like tabla, they were large paired drums and were called naqqara (noise, chaos makers).

The second version of the Arab theory is that Amir Khusraw, a musician patronized by Sultan AlauddinKhilji invented the tabla when he cut an Awaj drum, which used to be hourglass shaped. This is, however, unlikely, as no painting or sculpture or document dated to his period supports it with evidence. If tabla had arrived, or had been invented under Arabic influence from the root word tabl, it would be in the list of musical instruments that were written down by Muslim historians, but such evidence is also absent. For example, AbulFazi included a long list of musical instruments in his Ain-i-akbari written in the time of the 16th century Mughal Emperor Akbar, the generous patron of music. AbulFazi’s list makes no mention of tabla.

The third version of the Arab theory credits the invention of tabla to the 18th century musician, with a similar sounding name Amir Khusru, where he is suggested to have cut a Pakhawaj into two to create tabla. This is not an entirely unreasonable theory, and miniature paintings of this era show instruments that sort of look like tabla, but this would mean that tabla emerged from within the Muslim community of Indian subcontinent and were not an Arabian import. However, scholars such as Neil Sorrell and Ram Narayan state that this legend of cutting a pakhawaj drum into two to make tabla drums “cannot be given any credence”.

Indigenous origins
The second theory traces the origin of tabla to indigenous ancient influences. This version states that this musical instrument acquired a new Arabic name during the Islamic rule, but it is an evolution of the ancient puskara drums. The evidence of the hand held puskara is founded in many temple carvings, such as at the 6th and 7th century Muktesvara and Bhuvaneswara temples. These arts show drummers who are sitting, with two or three separate small drums, with their palm and fingers in a position as if they are playing those drums.] However, it is not apparent in these carvings that those drums were made of the same material and skin, or played the same music, as the modern tabla.

The textual evidence for similar material and methods of construction as tabla comes from Sanskrit texts. The earliest discussion of tabla-like musical instrument building methods, including paste-patches, are found in the Hindu text Natyashastra. The Natyashastra also discusses how to play these drums. The South Indian text Silappatikaram, likely composed in the early centuries of 1st millennium CE, describes thirty types of drums along with many stringed and other instruments, but none of those drums are named tabla.