Indian lute is brought back by sailor (5)
I believe the answer is:
sitar
'indian lute' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'is brought back by sailor' is the wordplay.
'brought back' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'by' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'sailor' becomes 'tar' (tar is a kind of sailor).
'is' in reverse letter order is 'si'.
'si'+'tar'='SITAR'
(Other definitions for sitar that I've seen before include "Indian stringed instrument" , "Astir with Indian long-necked lute" , "It takes pluck" , "instrument out east" , "music producer" .)