Sangit Makarand is an ancient work on classical music written by Narada

Narada

Narada or Narada Muni is a divine sage from the Vaisnava tradition, who plays a prominent role in a number of the Puranic texts, especially in the Bhagavata Purana, and in the Ramayana...

. This work is a rare collection of definitions, descriptions and comments on al the essentials music by other ancient reputed authors from Bharata to Sharangdeva. Its main feature is the treatiment of Ragas; categorizing them as male, female and neuter.

History

The treatise circa 1100 CE is the earliest text where rules similar to the current Hindustani classical music

Hindustani classical music

Hindustani classical music is the Hindustani or North Indian style of Indian classical music found throughout the northern Indian subcontinent. The style is sometimes called North Indian Classical Music or Shāstriya Sangeet...

 can be found. Narada actually names and classifies the system in its earlier form before the advent of changes as a result of Persian influences.

The three distinct stages

It also hints on the uniqueness of the raga-nomenclaturing. On close study of it, one learns of three distinct stages on the nomenclaturing of the Indian ragas.

• Stage one refers Bharata's Natyashastra (prior 2nd century BC). It is the stage of raga-nomenclature when the ragas were named after the saliant swara of the ragas. For example, after Shadaj swara, originated the name of the Raga called shadaji; after Arishabh swara originated the name of Aasharbhi Raga; and after Gandhari swara was named the Gaandhari Raga, the last one being still in currency.

• In the second stage, the Ragas were named after different jana (tribe
  Tribe
  A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
  
  s or the clan
  Clan
  A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
  
  s) dwelling in different geographical locations. For example, after Shaka
  Shaka
  Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....
  
   tribe was named Shakatilak Raga or Shakamishrat variants of Shaka Raga; after Pulinda tribe was named the Pulinda Raga; after Abhira clan was named Abhiri Raga; after Savara tribe was named Saviri or Saverka. Similarly after Malava, Andhra, Gurjar, Kambhoja
  Kambojas
  The Kambojas were a kshatriya tribe of Iron Age India, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature.They were an Indo-Iranian tribe situated at the boundary of the Indo-Aryans and the Iranians, and appear to have moved from the Iranian into the Indo-Aryan sphere over time.The Kambojas...
  
   (Kamboja) tribes were named Ragas Malvika, Andhrri, Gurjari and Kambhoji (Kamboji) respectively, with all their variants .

• In the third stage, the ragas were named after the janapada or desha or country of their origin. For example, after Bengal
  Bengal
  Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
  
   was named Bangal-Raga; after Sindhudesha was named Saindhvi Raga; after Sauvira Janapada was named Sauviri or Sauvirak Raga; after Saurashtra was named the Saurashtri (or Sorathi or Surat or Surat-malar); and after Karnata janapada was named Karnati Raga etc. Similarly, the Kambhoji Raga or Ragini which is now very popular in southern India was named after the Kambhoja janapada. Scholars believe that the Kambhoji raga or ragini had probably originated in the jana rather than the janapada stage.. This implies that the basic tune of raga Kamboji or Kambhoji must have evolved during epic
  Epic India
  Epic India is the geography of Greater India traditionally around early 10th century BC and later on from the Sanskrit epics, viz. the Mahabharata and the Ramayana as well as Puranic literature ....
  
  or even pre-epic times.

Further reading

• Critical Study of Sangita Makaranda of Narada By M. Vijay Lakshmi; foreword by G.H. Tarlekar ISBN: 8121205263