Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Samaveda is a sacred Hindu text dating to approximately 1000 BCE that functions as a musical score with embedded codes of swaras or octave notes. This text represents one of the earliest known attempts to preserve music in written form through a system called parvans. The tradition of Indian classical music is fundamentally rooted in these sonic dimensions where the music has been nearly always religious in character.
The Natyashastra is a classic Sanskrit text on performing arts attributed to Bharata Muni that was finalized between 200 BCE and 200 CE. This text established four categories of musical instruments based on their acoustic principles: chordophones, aerophones, idiophones, and membranophones. The chapter on idiophones specifically became a theoretical treatise on the system of time-keeping that remains central to Indian music today.
The Sangitaratnakara is a Sanskrit text written by Sarngadeva in the early 13th century. Patronized by King Sighana of the Yadava dynasty in Maharashtra, this text identifies seven tala families and subdivides them into rhythmic ratios. It serves as the definitive text for both the Hindustani and Carnatic music traditions bridging the gap between ancient theory and contemporary practice.
The music traditions of North and South India were not considered distinct until about the 16th century but acquired distinct forms after the 14th century. North Indian classical music is called Hindustani while the South Indian expression is called Carnatic. The split was caused by the socio-political turmoil of the Delhi Sultanate era which isolated the north from the south and led to different cultural evolutions.
Purandara Dasa was a Hindu composer and musicologist who lived in Hampi of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1484 to 1564. He is considered the Pithamaha or great father of Carnatic music and systematized classical Indian music theory by developing exercises for musicians. His teachings about raga and his systematic methodology called Suladi Sapta Tala remain in use in contemporary times.
In 1958 Ravi Shankar came to the United States and started making albums which started a 1960s penchant for Indian classical music in the States. By 1967 Shankar and other artists were performing at rock music festivals alongside Western rock blues and soul acts and he performed at Woodstock for an audience of over 500,000 in 1969. The tradition has seen rapid growth in reception and development around the globe particularly in North America.