A Comparative Study of Some of the Leading Music Systems of the 15th, 16th, 17th & 18th Centuries c14.1

c14.1

This work was written by the Maharaja Tulajirao Bhonsle of Tanjore. You all know that Tanjore was formerly ruled by a Mahratta belonging to the family of the Maharaja Shivaji. The date, therefore, of the Sangeeta Saramrita will not be difficult to determine. It is said to be 1783 A.D. or thereabouts. Sangeeta Saramrita deals with the southern system of music, and its shuddha scale, is therefore, the Mukhari scale, or the present Kanakangi. I have already stated the Hindusthani notes corresponding to the shuddha notes of the Karnatik system. In the Swaradhyaya, Tulajirao brings in many of the details described by Pandit Sharangdeva in his Sangeeta Ratnakara, without adding, which is unfortunate, any reason or explanation for the procedure. The sruti, swara, grama, murchhana, tana, alamkara, jati, chapters are all brought in more or less in the language of Sharangdeva After that the author abruptly begins as follows:—