---
title: "Indian Music Traditions: Hindustani & Carnatic"
description: "Compare Hindustani and Carnatic classical music through their theory, instruments, gharanas and saint-composers, with the UPSC-relevant facts and PYQ angles."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/lessons/upsc-art-culture-indian-music-traditions"
---

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Indian music traditions

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# Indian music traditions

Hindustani and Carnatic classical music, their theory, instruments, gharanas and saint-composers, with the UPSC-relevant facts and PYQ angles.

## The Sources and the Grammar

Indian classical music traces its theoretical foundation to the **Samaveda**, whose chants are regarded as the earliest organised musical expression of the subcontinent. The first systematic treatise is **Bharata's Natyasastra** (c. 200 BCE–200 CE), which describes the **22 shrutis** (microtonal intervals) and the **jati** system that preceded ragas. The decisive medieval text is **Sarangadeva's Sangita Ratnakara** (13th century, composed at the Yadava court of Devagiri), revered by both the Hindustani and Carnatic streams because it predates their bifurcation.

The two systems diverged from roughly the 13th–14th centuries. **Amir Khusrau** (1253–1325), attached to the court of Alauddin Khalji, is traditionally credited with synthesising Persian and Indian elements and is associated with the **qawwali**, the **khayal**, the **tarana**, and the invention claim of the **sitar** and **tabla** (the attributions are traditional, not documentary).

## Swara, Raga, Tala

The **saptak** (octave) comprises seven swaras: **Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni**. Sa (Shadja) and Pa (Pancham) are *achala* (fixed); the rest are *vikrit* (variable), yielding twelve semitones.

A **raga** is a melodic framework defined by its ascending (**aroha**) and descending (**avaroha**) movement, its **vadi** (dominant note) and **samvadi** (sub-dominant), and characteristic phrases (**pakad**). Ragas are linked to times of day and seasons (e.g., **Bhairav** at dawn, **Megh Malhar** with the monsoon). A **tala** is the rhythmic cycle; the common Hindustani **Teentaal** has 16 beats (matras) in 4 vibhags.

## The Two Streams

The **Hindustani** tradition of the north absorbed Persian and Central Asian influence, emphasises improvisation through the slow **alap–jor–jhala** progression, and organises ragas under the **thaat** system of ten parent scales codified by **V.N. Bhatkhande** (1860–1936). Principal vocal forms are **dhrupad** (the austere older form patronised by Raja Man Singh Tomar of Gwalior, late 15th century) and **khayal**.

The **Carnatic** tradition of the south, more composition-centred, is built on the **72 melakarta** (parent raga) scheme systematised by **Venkatamakhin** in his *Chaturdandi Prakasika* (1620). Its core form is the **kriti**, and a concert (**kacheri**) culminates in the elaborate **Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi**. The **Trinity of Carnatic music**—**Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, and Syama Sastri**, all born within a few years around 1762–1775 at Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu—defined its repertoire.

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