Books written on the history of Indian music are few.  Stray articles on the history of Indian music have appeared off and on in some journals.  As far as South Indian music is concerned, no book dealing with its history has so far been written.  Works on music written in Sanskrit and other Indian languages deal merely with the lakshana of the music of the respective periods.  Brief biographical notes on some of the great composers and musicians have appeared in some recent books.  The study of the history of Indian music has a great cultural value.  Although there are various methods of studying the musical history of a country, the method of taking specific topics and studying its history and evolution through the ages has been adopted in this book.  As far as the lives of composers and musicians and their contributions to music are concerned, the reader may refer to the author's works:- Great composers: Books I and II and (2) Great Musicians.