Riq
Etymology and Alternative Spellings
Daf Riqq Reqq Rik
Construction
Frame
Wooden
Jingles
Metal Plate
Drum Head
Fish Skin
Goat Skin
Dimensions Range
18" to 20"
History
Some pictures of daf have been found in paintings that date before the Common Era. The presence of the Iranian daf in the 6th–5th century BCE Behistun Inscriptio] suggests that it existed before the rise of Islam and Sufism. Iranian music has always been a spiritual tool. It shows that daf played an important role in Mazdean Iran emerging as an important element during the Sasanian Empire period, during the Sasanian Empire dynasty.
Also, there is a kind of square frame drum in the stonecutting of Taq-e Bostan (another famous monument located 5km northeast of Kermanshah city). These frame drums were played in the ancient Middle East Greece and Roman Empire and reached Islamic world contributions to Medieval Europe|medieval Europe through Islamic culture.
Nowruz (the first day of the Iranian New Year and the national festival of the Iranian people) and other festive occasions have been accompanied by daf in the Sasanian Empire periods (224 AD–651 AD). In this period the daf was played in order to accompany Iranian classical music. Dafs were likely used in the court to be played in the modes and melodies of traditional music. This traditional or classical music was created by Barbad and was named the khosravani after the mythical king Khosrow II.
Recent research reveals that these modes were used in the recitation of Mazdean (Zoroastrian) prayers. The modes were passed down from master to student and are today known as the radif and dastgāh system.
Many of the melodies were lost, but most of those that remain date to the Sassanid period. Dafs can be played to produce highly complex and intense rhythms, causing one to go under a trance and reach an ecstatic and spiritually-high state. For this reason, they have always been connected with religion in Iran.
An engraved bronze cup from Lorestan at the National Museum of Iran in Tehran, portrays a double ney (end-blown reed pipes), chang (harp), and a daf in a shrine or court processional, as similarly documented in Egypt, Elam and the Persian province of Babylonia, where music was arranged for performance by large orchestral ensembles.
The Arabs introduced the daf and other Middle Eastern musical instruments to Spain, and the Spanish adapted and promoted the daf and other musical instruments (such as the guitar) in medieval Europe. In the 15th century, the daf was only used in Sufi ceremonies; the Ottomans reintroduced it to Europe in the 17th century.
The daf still functions as an important part ofIranian music (both traditional and classical) as it did in ancient times. It successfully encourages many young Iranian peoples to take up learning this ancient instrument.
Daf, and its smaller version called dafli, is also used across India. It is believed to have arrived along with other Persian influences in the medieval era, and is a popular Indian musical instruments. In southern India, its use became mainstream, especially in protests, during the early half of the 20th century.[1]