According to the Music Encyclopedia (1974), the tambura is a folk instrument played by plucking. It is a traditional, not indigenous instrument of the southern Slavs and other peoples in the Balkans. The tambura is an instrument belonging to the cordophone group and the lute family. The main parts of the tambura are the torso, the neck with the grip and the head with the screws. The origins and the creation of the tambura as a plucking instrument is quite controversial and there are several conflicting opinions and claims. Nevertheless, it can be concluded that the first existence of the tambura in the Balkans was Bosnia, and with smaller migrations it was transferred to Slavonia, Srijem and Bačka, where it became a musical idiom. The first tambura in the region which Croatia occupies today was samica, with a characteristic name because it was played as a solo instrument. Tamburas of various shapes, sizes, tunes and functions within a larger musical group - a musical ensemble or orchestra - were soon created. From its arrival in the Balkans until the 1930s, the tambura was a rural solo instrument. The turning point comes when the tambura gradually started being accepted by the bourgeoisie as well as becoming part of amateur music societies. The first tambura amateur society, ie an orchestra of six amateur tambura players, was founded by the Illyrian musician and patriot Pajo Kolarić in 1847 in Osijek. This event is the beginning of group tambura music making and gives the city of Osijek the status of the cradle of orchestral tambura music in Croatia. Thus, it can be stated that the musical life of Osijek, primarily artistic tambura music, got its foundations through the work of Pajo Kolarić and his contemporaries. Thus, the tambura turned from a traditional instrument into a national symbol and a means of fighting for the Illyrian movement in Croatia.