Music and the qissa legends
Musicians, instruments and the qissas: Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal, Mirza Sahiban.
ਵੇਦ, ਸਿਕੰਦਰ ਅਤੇ ਗੰਧਾਰ
1900 ਈ. ਪੂ. – 1000 · 2
Dancers and Musicians from Phrygia
Seated musicianਗੁਰੂ ਅਤੇ ਮੁਗ਼ਲ
1469 – 1708 · 2
Guru Nanak attended by his musician and holy man.Wellcome Collection (via Europeana) · CC BY ↗
Page 101: Guru Nanak attended by his musician and holy manWellcome Collection ↗ਲਾਹੌਰ ਰਾਜ
1799 – 1849 · 1
ਤਾਊਸਹਰ ਯੁੱਗ ਵਿੱਚ
10
Stringed instrument (sarinda)ਉਨ੍ਹੀਵੀਂ ਸਦੀ · Punjab (India)© Victoria and Albert Museum, London ↗
Eldtång, fire tongs, chimpta/chimtaIndien India Индия Intia Índia Индия Indija Indija Indija Inde India India IndijMuseum of Ethnography (via Europeana) ↗.png)
Ranjha holding Heer after she died, scene from the Heer Ranjha folktaleWikimedia Commons · Chitarman II (Indian, c. 1680–с. 1750) ↗
Brooklyn Museum - Sohni Swims to Meet her Lover MahinwalBrooklyn Museum · photo Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons) ↗
Bracket with Two Musicians100s CE · Pakistan, Gandhara, probably Butkara in Swat, Kushan periodCleveland Museum of Art ↗
Corner Railing Pillar with Drinking Scenes, Yakshis, and Musicians100s CE · India, Mathura, Kushan periodCleveland Museum of Art ↗
Gandharan musician playing an arched harpIndian Museum, Kolkata · photo Original artwork from Gandharan artist, (circa 1st-3rd centu (Wikimedia Commons) · CC BY-SA ↗
Fragment of Panel with Gandharvas, Dancers and MusiciansWikimedia Commons · SpeakingArch · CC BY-SA ↗
An illustrated miniature of a courtly mehfil of musicians, from the ‘Guru Nānak Parkāsh’British Library, London · photo Gurmukh Singh (Wikimedia Commons) ↗
Arjuna and the celestials (maidens and accompanying musicians)LACMA, Los Angeles · photo Kangra painting (Wikimedia Commons) ↗Search the museums' full collections
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Shown here are the objects whose pictures museums have released openly. Far more are in their collections, and in museums with no open search, such as the Lahore Museum. Searching for "Punjab music".
Pictures from the collections of Art Institute of Chicago, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, Berlin-Dahlem Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum (via Europeana), Bhuri Singh Museum, Chamba, 65 more, found automatically: public domain or openly licensed, except the V&A's, shown for non-commercial use with the museum's credit. Titles and dates are the museums' own; each card names its museum and any licence. Updated 2026-10-26.