Famous Pakistani musicologist Saeed Malik was one of the very few journalists who wrote about music in English. In this book he has discussed the evolution of music in the South Asian subcontinent. He has enumerated the contribution made by the Muslim musicologists, scholars and musicians, during the past about 800 years. The thrust of the series of articles, earlier published in newspapers before their collection in this book, is that classical music - as it exists today - is absolutely different from the one which was in vogue during the pre-Islamic times. In fact Muslim musicians helped in the emergence and development of various forms of musical expression.

The author, Saeed Malik, was a disciple of Sardār Khan - great grandson of Tān Ras Khan Sahib, the Delhi gharana musician of the royal court of India's last Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar. Saeed Malik also learnt music from other masters of the time. Malik was settled in Lahore and worked as Cultural Adviser at the American Center (formerly USIS), Lahore. After retirement from American Center, Malik started writing a weekly column on music in The Pakistan Times in 1980. His other books are: Muslim Gharanas (Schools) of Musicians; Lahore: Its Melodic Culture; Lahore: A Musical Companion; and In Searth of Justice.