August Eichhorn, musical ethnographer who specialized in Central Asian musical instruments, identified some instruments typical for music-making in the female environment of Turkestan, which were considered favorite among women in the second half of the 19th century.
These are dutar (‘the favorite instrument of Mohammedan women’), rabob or rubab (‘the favorite instrument of local women and girls’) and chirmanda (doira), which, according to the ethnographer, ‘is used by people of all ages, old and young, married women and girls’.
The researcher also added chang (chang-kovuz) to the ‘female’ instruments, copies of which he acquired from one ‘Tajik girl in Brich-Mulla’ and from ‘one Uzbek girl’ in Samarkand.
You can find more amazing facts about the musical traditions of Uzbekistan in the book-album Musical Heritage of Uzbekistan in the Collections of the Russian Federation from the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections series.
The general sponsor of the project "Cultural legacy of Uzbekistan in the world collections" is the oilfield services company Eriell Group.