Which classical musical treatise, composed in the 13th century CE by Sharangadeva in Maharashtra, is considered a foundational text in Indian musicology?

Correct — C. Sangeet Ratnakara, 'Ocean of Music', is the Sanskrit treatise of Sharangadeva, written in the 13th century at the court of the Yadava king Simhana, whose capital was Devagiri in Maharashtra.

Both the Hindustani and Carnatic traditions regard it as a definitive text, the foundational role the stem describes: option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Natya Shastra — Natya Shastra is attributed to the sage Bharata and is far older: most scholars date its first complete version to between 200 BCE and 200 CE.
• (b)
  Sangeet Sudha — Sangeet Sudha is credited to Raghunatha Nayak of Thanjavur, who reigned from 1600 to 1634, centuries after Sharangadeva and far from Devagiri.
• (d)
  Abhinaya Darpana — Abhinaya Darpana, 'The Mirror of Gesture', is Nandikeshvara's treatise on gesture in dance and drama, not a 13th-century music text from Maharashtra.

Sharangadeva arranged Sangeet Ratnakara in seven chapters: sound and svara, raga, performance practice, compositions, tala, instruments, and finally dance.

The text separates marga, the classical practice traced to Bharata's Natya Shastra, from desi, regional practice. Later scholars wrote commentaries on it, among them Kallinatha's Kalanidhi, around 1430.

Key facts

• Sangeet Ratnakara was written in Sanskrit by Sharangadeva in the 13th century.
• Sharangadeva served the Yadava king Simhana (r. 1210–1247), whose capital was Devagiri.
• Its seventh and last chapter, Nartanadhyaya, deals with dance.
• Abhinaya Darpana is attributed to Nandikeshvara.

Common traps

• Picking Natya Shastra as the best-known treatise: it is many centuries older than Sharangadeva.
• Confusing Sangeet Ratnakara with Sangeet Sudha because both titles begin with Sangeet.

No directly related past PYQ was found.