The most amazing thing about violin is that nobody actually knows who invented it. All we know that the basic ideas of violin could have originated from Middle east, Europe or Asia which makes violin the world’s most universal instrument..
The History of Violin
The Ravanastron(see the pic in left) belonged to a sovereign of India 5000 years before Christ and it is still prevalent in some parts of Rajasthan(an Indian state). The next indication is the history comes after a gap of around 6000 years with the emergence of Rebad or the Rabab which came from northern Indian musical instrument of the lute family and was played in classical dance orchestras and as a solo instrument with tabla (drums) and tamboura (drone-lute) from about 950. It is played by plucking using hands and was prevalent in Persia, Arabia and North Africa. The next instrument which can be considered as predecessor of violin is The Rebec which dates back to the thirteenth century (Arabian, Oriental) contains soprano, alto, bass members in family three strings, tuned in 5ths strings secured and tightened by pegs laterally inserted into peg box, no frets, body shaped like half a pear, neck and peg box are integral parts of the body, playing position at the breast or neck, bowed, held overhand, no sound post.
The modern violin as know came in the times of the renaissance, which had a large impact on all the arts, not least in the construction of instruments. The violin as it is known nowadays was built in the early 16th century. In this climate the viola and the cello also emerged.
In Italy, which escaped the war of thirty years, violin making reached an enormous upswing. Andrea Amati lived in Cremona between 1535 and 1611; he became the founder of the world’s most famous school of violin-making.At first the violin wasn’t popular, in fact, it was considered a musical instrument of low status. But slowly and gradually violin gained the reputation with well known artists acknowledging its class .