Abstract
During the 13th to 15th century, many Muslim artists played an active role in the North Indian music scene. They brought about drastic innovations to the music style, from which the North Indian music (Hindustani music) as practiced today arose. This article deals with the descriptions of musical duels recorded in musical treatises written in Sanskrit and Persian. In these duels held in court, Muslim musicians and Hindu musicians fought against each other to seek the favor of the king. One episode is told in the Jaina-Rajatarangini, Shrivara's chronicle of Kashmir (15th Cent.). The other is the famous story of Amir Khusrou (13th Cent.), contained in Faqirullah's Risale-i-Ragdarpan (17th Cent.). By contrasting the two different ways in which the duels were described, we can clearly observe a shift taking place in the aesthetic views held during this period.
