9 CHAPTER I The History of Indian music can be classified under three main periods namely 1.The Ancient Period, 2.The Medieval Period, 3.The Modern Period. The Ancient Period of Indian Music: Indian music tradition traces its origin in the Sāma Vēda. The Vēdic hymns of Rgvēda, the most ancient of the Vēdas, were the prayers to different Gods. The date, according to researchers is about 4500 B.C. Vēdic chants have three forms namely, Arcikā, Gāthikā and Sāmikā as stated in Nārada Siksā. Sāma Gāna is differentiated by adding new notes to the Gāthikā system. Sāma Vēda has no text of its own. The repetition of the scale with the notes Sa, Ma or Pa as fundamental with its component notes unaltered in pitch and order, finds three different scales which are the result of development of Sāmagāna. During the period 2500 B.C. to 1400 B.C., there was a progress by means of seven fixed notes in the Sāmavēda Scale. With the advent of next stage being the literature in music or in other words the compositions or the Upanishads, the Āranyaka and Grāmagāna flourished during the period 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C. Āranyaka Gāna was limited to the three scales Harapriyā, Kambhōji and Bhairav (History of south Indian music). The Sāman notes were in the descending order according to Nāradiya Siksā, such as Ma, Ga, Ri, Sa, Ni, Dha, Pa giving an irregular pattern of svarā combination. From Saman music, arrived Gāndharva and Mārga music. Gāndharva is sacred music which represents a counterpart of Vēdic music. 1 1 Dr.Geetha Ravikumar, The concept and Evolution of Rāgā in Hindustāni and Karnatic music,pg5
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9
CHAPTER I
The History of Indian music can be classified under three
main periods namely 1.The Ancient Period, 2.The Medieval Period,
3.The Modern Period.
The Ancient Period of Indian Music:
Indian music tradition traces its origin in the Sāma Vēda. The
Vēdic hymns of Rgvēda, the most ancient of the Vēdas, were the
prayers to different Gods. The date, according to researchers is about
4500 B.C. Vēdic chants have three forms namely, Arcikā, Gāthikā and
Sāmikā as stated in Nārada Siksā. Sāma Gāna is differentiated by
adding new notes to the Gāthikā system. Sāma Vēda has no text of its
own. The repetition of the scale with the notes Sa, Ma or Pa as
fundamental with its component notes unaltered in pitch and order,
finds three different scales which are the result of development of
Sāmagāna. During the period 2500 B.C. to 1400 B.C., there was a
progress by means of seven fixed notes in the Sāmavēda Scale.
With the advent of next stage being the literature in music or in
other words the compositions or the Upanishads, the Āranyaka and
Grāmagāna flourished during the period 1500 B.C. to 500 B.C.
Āranyaka Gāna was limited to the three scales Harapriyā, Kambhōji
and Bhairav (History of south Indian music). The Sāman notes were in
the descending order according to Nāradiya Siksā, such as Ma, Ga, Ri,
Sa, Ni, Dha, Pa giving an irregular pattern of svarā combination. From
Saman music, arrived Gāndharva and Mārga music. Gāndharva is
sacred music which represents a counterpart of Vēdic music. 1
1 Dr.Geetha Ravikumar, The concept and Evolution of Rāgā in Hindustāni and Karnatic music,pg5
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The development of music triggered into various treatises in
music created by scholars like Bharatā, Kōhalā, Dathilā, Nārada etc.
and their famous treatises are Nātya Śastrā, Sangithamēru, Dathilam,
and Nāradasiksha respectively. Nātya Śastrā was the foremost literary
work on music, dance and drama and it is ascribed to the 2nd
Century
B.C. This work is considered to be the oldest text on the theory and
practice of music. Kōhala and Datilā are the contemporaries, while
Nāradā is associated with the Sage Nāradā and his works are
Nāradasikshā, Nāradeeyam, Svarārṇavā, Nāradasamhitā and Saṅgita
Makarandā of which Saṅgita Makarandā is ascribed to the Medieval
Period.
These creative works on music portray the abundant knowledge
possessed by people in music even during those times. ‘N ātya Śastrā’
the maginificent text by Bharatā in Sanskrit paved way for future
works in the same discipline. Seven chapters of Nātya Śastrā are fully
devoted for music and musical instruments.
Bharatā defines Svarās, Grāmās, Mūrcanās, Tānās,
Svarasthānās, Varṇās, Alankarās, Śrutis and Yathi. He mentions 2
grāmās namely the Ṣaḍja grāmā and Madhyamā grāmā based on the
22 śrutis. He also describes 7 Mūrcanās in each of these two grāmās,
18 Jāthis of which 7 belong to Ṣaḍja grāmā and 11 in Madhyamā
grāmā. He also explains 3 types of layā and the Tālā prasthārā. He
gives a very detailed picture about music, in his treatise, though it is
basically a book on Dramaturgy.
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Evolution of Raga system
It was Matangā who defined the term ‘r āgā’ for the first
time.Brihaddēśi of Matanga is ascribed to the 9th century A.D. and
deals with both Mārga and Dēśi music. The author has tried to follow
Bharatā in many respects. He describes the jāties based on twenty two
Śrutis and also refers to only two grāmās namely Ṣaḍja grāmā and
Madhyamāgrāmā. He explains 49 shādava and 35 audava
Mūrcanās2and gives description of Grāma rāgās alongwith their
derivatives and gives aesthetic treatment to rāgā.Matangā quotes in his
book his predecessors, namely Bharatā, Kōhalā, Datilā, Viśwavasu
and Nāradā.
Brihaddēśi highlights many aspects of music which were
omitted by Bharatā. The ancient history of Indian music perhaps
ended with the emergence of Matangāwhich gave way to the medieval
period. During this period exhaustive commentaries on Nātyasāstra
also sprang up.
Medieval Period
From the beginning of the medieval period of musical history
the concept of rāgā found its important place.The names of rāgās, their
Laksanās and their classifications were included by different
Lakṣanakārās in their treatises. These treatises were called as
Lakṣanagranthās and Nātya Śāstra was the pioneer in this aspect.
Large commentary works on Nātya Śāstra came as a boon to the
future musicians and researchers on music.
2 Dr. S,Bhagyalekshmy, Lakṣanagranthas in Music, page 55
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Saṅgita Makarandāof Sage Nāradā can be ascribed to the 11th
century and there exists difference of opinion regarding the accuracy
of its period. This work describes 22 Śrutis giving names to them
which are different from those given by his predecessors. 93 different
rāgās are explained and the classification of rāgās into Masculine
(Purusa) and Feminine (Stree) and Neuter (Putra) is given for the first
time.
Some of the books belonging to the period 11th
– 13 th
centuries
include Saṅgitasamayasārā by Parṣvadēvā, Saṅgitasārā by
Vidhyāranyā and Saṅgita Ratnākarā by Sārngadēvā. These works
clearly illustrate the development of music through the centuries, of
which Saṅgita Ratnākarā of Sārṅgadēvā is an authoritative text next to
the major works Nātya Śāstra and Brihaddēśi and can be considered as
one of the earliest and longest standard treatises that dealt with all
aspects of music. Sārṅgadēvā classifies Mārga and Dēśi music as‘M
ārga was Gandharva music, a highly devotional form of music,
whereas Dēśi was popular music based on region, culture, local
traditions and folklore’.
Sārṅgadēvā explains 22 Śrutis, the seven svarās with their
names and their corresponding animals and also about the Vādi,
Anuvādi, Samvādi and Vivādi svarās. Unlike other music texts, he
explains three grāmās namely Ṣaḍja, Madhyamā and Gāndhara grāmā.
He defines nearly 264 rāgās inclusive of panns of Tēvāram, melodies
or rāgās of both South Indian and North Indian music. He describes 34
Pūrvaprasiddha and 52 Adunaprasiddha rāgās3.
3 Dr. S,Bhagyalekshmy, Lakṣanagranthas in Music, page 76
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Evolution of Mela System
The next magnificent work on music in this period is
‘Svaramēlākalanidhi’ written by R āmāmātya. This is mainly a work
on svarā and mēlā and hence gets the name. This is believed to have
been published in 1550 A.D. Rāmāmātya, greatly inspired by ‘Sa ṅgita
Ratnākarā’ which is regarded as a scientific approach to Indian music
packed with the facts and techniques of music presented in a
systematic manner and being a versatile scholar in music himself,
brings in all the particulars relating to the theory and practice of music
in detail, and tried to reconcile tradition and current practice.
‘Svaramēlākalānidhi’ is a comprehensive work consisting of
328 couplets in Sanskrit having 5 chapters, namely, Preface,
Svaraprakaranā, Vīnāprakaranā, Mēlāprakaranā and Rāgāprakaranā.
For the first time the term ‘mēlā’ is used and there are listed 20 mēlās
starting with the Śuddha scale Mukhāri. Some of his mēlās became
janyās of later time. Mālavagaula mēla became Māyāmālavagaula;
Śuddharāmakriyā became Kāmavardhani; Dēśākṣi to Sūlini;
Kannaḍagaula to Vāgadheeswari; Śuddhanāti to Chalanāta and so on.
The Śuddha scale Mukhāri became the Kanakāngimēlā of later
time. In addition to mēlās, a number of janyārāgās were derived from
these mēlās and the classification of rāgās as Uthama, Madhyamā and
Adhama based on the musical forms, time theory of rāgās, and the
rāgā Lakṣanās was also dealt with. His concept of MadhyamēlāVina
technique has proved a milestone in the scientific development and
systematic analysis of rāgās.
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Many contemporary works like Saṅgitadarpanam,
Rāgatarangini, Rāgavibhoda and Saṅgitasudha within a period of 100-
200 years, contributed greatly on the development of Indian music
under the two categories viz., South Indian or Carnātic music and
North Indian or the Hindustāni music. This was the period when there
was an emergence of Janaka-Janyā rāgā classification. Saṅgitasudha
by Gōvinda Dīkṣitar belonging to the 17th
century provides a detailed
knowledge of the style and system of music prevalent during that
time.
This period happened to be the gateway of the Golden Era of
music, with the emergence of Janaka-Janyā classification, later
replaced by Mēlā-Rāgā classification in the South and the Thāt-Rāgā
classification in the North and this could be attained with the help of
the theoretical bonanza, gifted to the future generations by
Rāmāmātya, Somanāthā and Gōvinda Dīkṣitar through their illustrious
treatises namely Svarāmēlākalanidhi, Rāgāvibodha and Saṅgitasudha
respectively.
Vēnkaṭamakhi, greatly influenced by his father, Gōvinda
Dīkṣitar, the author of ‘Sa ṅgitasudha’, created his authentic work on
the theory of music ‘Caturdaṇḍiprakāśikā’, called the Bible for
musicologists. Vēnkaṭamakhi is addressed as the Pānini or the
Pithāmahar of Carnātic music. The 10 chapters of the work are