Dhol (Hindi pronunciation: [ɖʰoːl]) can refer to any one of a number of similar types of double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent.

Its range of distribution in Indian subcontinent primarily includes northern areas such as the Jammu, Himachal, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Kashmir, Sindh, Assam Valley, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Konkan, Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

[1] The dhol is a double-sided barrel drum played mostly as an accompanying instrument in regional music forms.

In other regions, dhols can be found in varying shapes and sizes, and made with different woods and materials (fiberglass, steel, plastic).

The drum consists of a wooden barrel with animal hide or synthetic skin stretched over its open ends, covering them completely.

These skins can be stretched or loosened with a tightening mechanism made up of either interwoven ropes, or nuts and bolts.

Traditionally the Dhol player would go and look for a branch from a hardwood tree known as Tali (oak or mahogany) that was naturally curved at that angle and use this as the Dagga (Bass Stick).

The bass stick or Dagga is the thicker of the two and is bent in an eighth- or quarter-circular arc on the end that strikes the instrument.

In the pre-Partition era, dozens of rhythms were played on the Punjabi dhol, which corresponded to specific functions.

The staged "bhangra" dance, originating in the 1950s, gave special prominence to kaharva, for the performance of actions called luddi.

Johnny Kalsi is a UK Dhol player that established a syllabus to teach the art of playing this instrument.

[6][page needed] The introduction of electronic devices such as tape recorders has led to a decline in the importance of dhol players in celebratory events.

In Pakistan, the dhol is mostly played in the Punjab region; however, it is also used throughout the country ranging from as far south as Karachi and as far north as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Celebrated in mid-April every year (usually on 14 or 13 April according to the Assamese traditional calendar), the dhol is an important and a quintessential instrument used in Bihu dance.

The origin of the Dhol in Assam dates back to at least the 14th century when it was referred in Assamese Buranjis as being played by the indigenous people.

This shows that the origin of Dhol in Assam was much older than the rest of India, and the name was probably due to sanskritisation.

Played by using a bamboo stick with bare hands, the Assamese dhol is made up of a wooden barrel with the ends covered primarily with animal hide (unlike the rest of the Indian subcontinent, where it could be a synthetic skin as well), that can either be stretched or loosened by tightening the interwoven straps.

[13] In the Garhwal region, specific musical caste groups like the auji, das or dholi have historically played the dhol and damau, the two folk instruments of the region, at special occasions or religious festivals according to the Dhol Sagar, an ancient treatise that was transmitted orally and by practical teaching.