Indian music has a very long, unbroken tradition - the accumulated heritage of centuries. The origin can be traced back to the Vedic times - nearly two thousand years ago. The culture of India, today, is an outcome of the interaction and interweaving of races and cultures, both indigenous and foreign; and it is the study of the contribution of these various races and tribes that gives us the picture of the evolution of Indian music. The Mongoloids, the Dravidians, and the Aryans, have all contributed to the complexity of the Indian culture.

North Indian Music is popularly known as Hindustani Music and South Indian Music is known  as Carnatic Music. Their origin is the same, only the approach and styles are different. When and how the two main schools crystallised would be an interesting study but the earliest treatises of Indian music do not make any distinction between the northern and southern school of thought.