 The stringed komuz is used by Turkic people living in central Asia e.g., Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Turkmens, and Uyghurs etc., as well as by Azeri, Turkish, and Yakut people.In fact, komuz is cognate for the names of several musical instruments, used extensively by Turkic people and key to the music of Central Asia, just as Kazakh kobyz (Uzbek qo'biz) (bowed instruments), the Tuvan and Sakha or Yakut xomus (a jaw harp), Azeri gopuz, Dagestan agach komus, Avar people temur, and Turkish kopuz.The oldest known komuz-like instrument dates from the 4th century although the related Azerbaijani gopuz is believed to date back to 6000 BCE following an archaeological discovery of clay plates depicting gopuz players.