The exposed ring of skin between syahi and kinar — also called sur or lav. Strokes here draw the head's fullest sustained tone: Tin speaks from the maidan, and the open resonance of the drum lives in this zone.
Its width and evenness affect tuning; makers judge a head partly by how true the maidan sounds around its full circle. Players refine their contact points here constantly, since a few millimeters' drift changes the tone color audibly.