Nagarit

Nagarit [Arab. *naqqāra], kettledrum of Ethiopia, always played in pairs. For centuries they have been symbols of power: those belonging to princes have silver shells, those of high officials are of copper, those of lesser persons are of wood with a membrane of white gemsbok. The Galla and Somali have taken over the nagarit, and among them it is also a symbol of power. Until the Ethiopian war Emperor Haile Selassie had a band of 400 nagarits. Despite its secular origin the instr. has now found…