Rubab, Robab, or Rabab is a lute-like musical instrument.The rubab is the national musical instruments of Afghanistan, is also commonly played in Pakistan and India mostly by Pashtuns and Balochis, Sindhis, Kashmiris and Punjabis. Variants of the rubab include the Kabuli rebab of Afghanistan, the Rawap of Xinjiang, the Pamiri rubab of Tajikistan and the seni rebab of northern India. The instrument and its variants spread throughout West, Central, South and Southeast Asia. The Kabuli rebab from Afghanistan derives its name from the Arabic rebab and is played with a bow while in Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the instrument is plucked and is distinctly different in construction.

Kashmiris are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group speaking the Kashmiri language and originating from the Kashmir Valley, which is today located in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.