Suddenly strummed music bursts from a corner of the small room. It captivates you with its sweet melodies and easy rhythm. You lean back into your chair, eyes closed. The sore muscles, the blisters, and even your sun- and wind-burned skin are momentarily forgotten.

The barkeep takes a sidelong glance at the man in the corner. He is playing an old, skinny looking guitar, known to the locals as a rawap. It is covered with fine snakeskin and decorated colorfully. The barkeep shakes his head at the musician's skill, and goes back to wiping his tables...

Carved from the wood of the Mulberry tree and faced with real snake skin, this rare stringed instrument comes from Kashgar, an outpost on the ancient Silk Road.

This high quality, handmade, traditional Uyghur instrument has 6 strings and is approximately one yard (90cm) long. It can also be made to order with 5 to7 strings, please specify in your order if you want a different version. It is decorated front and back with geometric patterns, and has steel strings.

The Rawap is the most popular instrumentamong the Uyghur, and the best ones are faced with snakeskin. The skins are imported from Thailand, and are not made from an endagered species.

The Uyghur people are accustomed to taking their Rawaps wherever they go: From playing it on the farm to long distance travel by camel. Each unique piece takes over two months to complete by hand. When you hold it you can feel the love they have for their own culture and musical traditions.

The history of the Rawap dates back nearly two millennia. The instrument consists of three main parts, the ear piece, handle, and the rawap head. Notice the double goat's horn that adorns the face, this is a local specialty. In ancient times our Uyghur ancestors used to face the Rawap with horse or donkey hide. Today, however, snake skin is used for the highest quality Rawaps.

The Kashgar Rawap, also known as the Oyma Rawap in antiquity, is commonly outfitted with 6-7 fixed strings, although the ancient examples only have three strings. Only the front two strings are for performing melodies, whereas the rest are sympathetic strings that "sing along" to create an unbelievably rich sound.

About Us

The instruments spend about 2 months in our shop from start to finish. All of our stringed instruments are hand made by an experienced team of master craftspeople according to Uyghur (often mistakenly spelled Uighur) traditional style. Each instrument is built to order and unique. We have been selling instruments worldwide for 18 years from our headquarters in Kashgar, Xinjiang Province, China.

Our decorative wooden musical instruments are crafted with serious professionals in mind, but can also be enjoyed by collectors or any who enjoy traditional or rare musical instruments.

Each of our musical instruments is carefully packed into a custom built, sturdy wooden box to ensure its safe arrival at your home. For most intruments, please allow 20 to 30 days for priority shipping; express shipping is available as well.

We are eager to answer any questions you may have, please feel free to ask the seller.

Be sure to visit our store, The Camel's Back, for more exciting treasures from Central Asia.