Kafir harp

Kafir harp
	Line drawing of a Kafir harp.
String instrument
Other names	voč, voj, vẫć, vâj
Classification	chordophone
Hornbostel–Sachs classification	311.122; 322.11; (Musical bow with several heterochord strings. Bow attached to resonator by poking through; has to be taken apart to remove the resonator. Alternatively can be called an arched harp if one considers resonator to be attached to bow.);
Related instruments
	ennanga

The Kafir harp is a traditional four- or five-stringed arched harp used by the Nuristanis native to the Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan and Lower Chitral District of northwestern Pakistan. It is played during social gatherings, and to accompany epic storytelling or songs of heroic tales.

Similar harps used to be widespread in ancient times throughout Central Asia and India, and this harp possibly entered Afghanistan during the spread of Buddhism across the region but today the waji is not used in any other part of Afghanistan. It has been compared to the ennanga of Uganda and harp designs used in Sumer and ancient Egypt as far back as 3000 BC.

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