The hammered dulcimer has been known and played throughout many parts of the world for many centuries; scholars of music history differ on what criteria can be used to verify its original location, thus you can hear it said to be “as much as 800 years old” all the way to “as much as 3,000 years old!” Players in Iran and India claim their lands (the original Persian Empire) to be the inventors, and we don’t see a reason to dispute that, so we tend toward the earlier date. If that’s true, then the santur probably spread eastward to the Asian lands long ago and westward perhaps during the Crusades. There’s reason to believe it was brought here to the Virginia colony from England in the 1600s. For further information you may want to look at the articles in Wikipedia, starting with “Hammered Dulcimer.”
Below are names of the hammered dulcimer in many countries where it is played, with special links to those Wikipedia articles.
Santur (santūr, Santoor, Santour) in Iran (سنتور), Afghanistan, Armenia, Turkey, Pakistan, Iraq, and India (Shatatantri vina in ancient sanskrit writings)
Salterio in Italy, Spain (also dulcémele), and Mexico
Saltério in Brazil (Brasil) and Portugal
Santoor, sandouri, or santouri (σαντούρι) in Greece
Yangqin, yángqín, yang quin, or yang ch'in (扬琴 from 揚琴) in China and Tibet; also a silk-strung version hudie qin (蝴蝶琴)
Chang in Uzbekistan
Yanggeum 양금 in Korea
Joochin in Mongolia
Khim ( ขิม) in Thailand, Cambodia and Laos
Tam-thap-luk or đàn tam thập lục in Vietnam
Darushimaa ダルシマー in Japan
דולצימר פטישים in Israel
Tsymbaly (цимбалы) or dultsimer (Дульцимер) in Russia
Tsymbaly in Belarus (Цымбалы), and Ukraine (цимбали), Moldova, and Poland (cymbały)
Tsimbal (цимбал) in Serbia
Tsimbl in Yiddish communities
Cimbalom, cimbalom, cymbalum, ţambalin Hungary (Magyarország)
Cimbal in Slovakia
Ţambal in Romania
Tiompan (Scottish Gaelic) or tiompán (Irish) in Scotland and Ireland
Psaltérion and tympanon in France
Cimbal, cimbale in Croatia
Cimbál in Czech Republic
Cimbalai, cimbolai in Lithuania
Cymbal, cimbole in Latvia (Latgalia)
Cimbale, oprekelj in Slovenia
Hackbrett in Austria (Osterreich), Switzerland (Schweitzer) and Bavaria (Bayern, in southern Germany)
Hakkebord in Belgium
Hakkebræt in Denmark (Danmark)
Hakkebord in the Netherlands
Hakkebrett in Norway
Hackbräde, hammarharpa in Sweden
Hammered dulcimer in England
Hammered dulcimer, Whamdiddle, Lumberjack Piano in Early North America
For more information on dulcimers, check out Dulcimers 101.