Their pegboxes were bent backward and many were played with a plectrum and these instruments called barbat (an old Persian instrument) are said to be an ancestor of the four-stringed type of biwa, oud, or lute.
糸倉が後ろに曲がり、多くは撥をもって弾奏されており、この「バルバット」と呼ばれる楽器が四弦系琵琶やウード、リュートの祖先とされる。