is called "neck", the tuning pegs are called , or "ear"s. The Kyrgyz word кыл/qyl means "string of an instrument" or "horse's hair". The ancient komuz generally had two or three strings. The three-stringed golcha gopuz was more popular in ancient Azerbaijan and Anatolia: the two-stringed gil gopuz or "iklyg" was used on the Altai plains, in parts of Turkmenistan and in Chinese territory inhabited by the Uyghur people. The golcha gopuz is made from a leather covering which covered around two-thirds of the surface, and the other third is covered with thin wood along with the sound board. The total length of the instrument is 810 mm, with the body 410 mm, the width 240 mm and the height or breadth only 20 mm. The (, literally "mouth komuz") or, alternatively, (, literally "metal komuz" or "iron komuz"), is a jaw harp and as an instrument is unrelated to the komuz. During the Soviet era the instrument fell from favour. It was derided as rudimentary and attempts were made to make it more like the Russian balalaika, notably by adding frets. After independence the komuz was again taught in music colleges, though some of the Soviet changes have remained. In the twentieth century the late Iranian dutar player Haj Ghorban Soleimani invented a new form of the komuz which has received some popularity. Legendary origin In legends, Dede Korkut is seen as the inventor of the kopuz. In The Book of Dede Korkut, his special bond with the kopuz is not limited to his performances as a bard. Of particular importance, there is a passage in the story about the brothers Egrek and Segrek. When Segrek wants to attack Egrek, because he thinks he is dealing with an infidel, he says: Thus a random lute is directly connected to Dede Korkut here, which is presumably a reference to the fact that he was the inventor there. Related instruments Different variations of the komuz spread to several eastern European countries such as the Ukraine, Poland and Hungary during the 4th-5th century A.D, during the mass migration of the Huns into the region. There they became known with similar variations of the name. (See : kobza) In Dagestan (a Russian republic between Chechnya and the Caspian Sea, just east of Georgia in the Caucasus) a special instrument mentioned in both the Vertkov's Atlas SSSR, and in Buchner's book, is called agach