The purpose of the book is to provide critical editions of ten Indo-Persian writings on music theory, along with English translations written during the Mughal period, in order to shed more light on the evolution of the Indo-Persian writings on Hindustani music during this period. These ten selected writings are: 1. The section on saṅgīta in the third daftar (volume) of Akbar-nāma known as Āʾīn-i Akbarī by Abū l-Fażl ʿAllāmī, completed in 1597–8. 2. An untitled treatise by ʿIvaż (Muḥammad) Kāmilkhānī on the construction of the instrument vīṇā/bīn and on the ṭhāṭ/ṭhāṭh-s of Indian rāga-s, very likely written during the reign of Shāh-Jahān, or rather sometime between the 1630s and 1650s. 3. An untitled treatise attributed to Kāmil Khān on the ṭhāṭ/ṭhāṭh-s, presumably written during the reign of Shāh-Jahān. 4. A table which, according to the scribe, was drawn by Mirzā Abū l-Khayr, the son of Kāmilkhān sometime between 1640 and 1666. 5. A second table which, based on scribe’s report, was drawn by Qubād b. ʿAbd al-Jalīl Ḥārisī before 1668. 6. An undated treatise with the heading Asāmī-yi sur (The names of svara/sur-s) by an anonymous author, completed before 1668. 7. The fifth bāb (part) of Tuḥfat al-hind on ʿilm-i saṅgīt (the science of saṅgīta) by Mīrzā Khān b. Fakhr al-Dīn Muḥammad, written around 1675. 8. A part of Khulāṣat al-ʿaysh-i ʿĀlam Shāhī by Maẓhar Khān/Muẓaffar, completed in 1763–4. 9. Parts of Uṣūl al-naghamāt (al-Āṣafī) by Muḥammad/Ghulām-Riżā b. Muḥammad Panāh, probably written in 1789–90. 10. The section on tāla in Naghma-yi ʿandalīb by Muḥammad-Riżā b. Abū l-Qāsim Ṭabāṭabā with the takhalluṣ (pen name) Najm, completed in 1845. These writings and works were selected based on their importance for the development of Indo-Persian writings on music theory as well as the accessibility of their manuscripts. They were written over a span of some two hundred and fifty years, i.e. from around 1597–8 to 1845, which was one of the most formative and vital periods in the development of Hindustani music. During this time, the older grouping and classification of the rāga-s began to lose its validity, and various competing classification systems emerged and developed in response to changing social, cultural, political, and ethnic conditions in the northern part of the subcontinent. Furthermore, it was during this period that the rāga-rāgiṇī system was theoretically recognised as the dominant system of Hindustani music. These changes and developments were not limited to the modal system, however, and other musical elements, i.e. compositional forms and the rhythmic system (tāla), also underwent far-reaching changes. Structurally, the present book is divided into two parts. Part One contains the presentations of the primary sources and their English translations. Part Two is devoted entirely to the Persian critical editions of the presented writings. The five appendices at the end of the first part will hopefully help readers get a better picture of the theoretical discussions and descriptions in the selected sources.
