The tablā, which is the more popular of the two instruments in the west, and a very important percussion instrument in North India, is of Muslim origin.  It was introduced into India during the latter part of the 15th century. Unlike the mridanga, which is a barrel-shaped drum, the tablā is a pair of single-sided drums, and although it is commonly known throughout the world as the tablā, its full name is

'tablā-bāyā'.  The tablā is the right drum and the bāyā the left drum.  described the various aspects of Natya Shastra and the usages of 'Anganga-s'. The different strokes or beats of the tablā are designated by single syllable words known as 'bols'.  These are words that are called out aloud during a drummer's training to indicate to him which kind of stroke is to be made on the drum. These bols are given such names as Dha, Gay, Dhin, Na, Dhi, Tin, Ki, Ta, Tu etc.  By giving each stroke of the drum these different names according to the sound produced it was found easier to memorise the 

basic rhythms and their variations. The name given to the basic rhythmic patterns is the 'thekā', and their variations are called 'parans'.  Further embellishments on the tāla are the 'tukrā' and the 'tihāi'.  The tukra is a brilliant string of beats carried over two or three avartas (rhythmic cycles) using all the rhythmic devices possible, such as double, triple and multiple time: