What is "baglama"

n. A seven-stringed musical instrument in various cultures in the eastern Mediterranean.

The bağlama (, from bağlamak, "to tie", ) is a stringed musical instrument shared by various cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean, Near East, and Central Asia regions.

The origin of this instrument return to Kurdistan Region of Iran.

It is sometimes referred to as the saz (from the Persian , meaning a kit or set), it is also sometimes referred to as the "cura", although the term "saz" actually refers to a family of plucked string instruments, long-necked lutes used in Ottoman classical music, Turkish folk music, Iranian music, Azeri music, Kurdish music, Assyrian music, Armenian music, and in parts of Syria, Iraq and the Balkan countries. Instruments resembling today's bağlama have been found in archaeological excavations of Sumerian and Hittite mounds in Anatolia dating before Common Era, and in ancient Greek works.

According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "the terms 'bağlama' and 'saz' are used somewhat interchangeably in Turkey." Like the Western lute and the Middle-Eastern oud, it has a deep round back, but a much longer neck. It can be played with a plectrum or with a fingerpicking style known as şelpe.

In the music of Greece the name baglamas is given to a treble bouzouki, a related instrument. The Turkish settlement of Anatolia from the late eleventh century onward saw the introduction of a two-string Turkmen dutar, which was played in some areas of Turkey until recent times.