The ravanahatha is made of a cut coconut shell that is covered with goat hide. A Dandi, made of bamboo, is attached to this shell with two principle strings made of steel and horsehair played with a bow. This instrument is said to have belonged to a sovereign of India in 5000 BC. Arab traders to India carried the Ravanhatha with them between the seventh and the tenth centuries. Through these trading routes, it reached Arabia, and subsequently the Mediterranean, Spain, Italy and Europe.