The Music of Jammu & Kashmir (Devanagari: जम्मू और कश्मीर के संगीत, Perso-Arabic: جموں اور کشمیر کے سنگیت) reflects the rich musical heritage and cultural legacy of the Jammu & Kashmir region of India and Pakistan. Traditionally the music composed by ethnic Kashmiris has a wide range of musical influences in composition. Due to Kashmir’s close proximity to Central Asia, Eastern Asia and Southern Asia, a unique blend of music has evolved encompassing the music of the three regions. But, overall, Kashmiri music is closer to Central Asian music, using traditional Central Asian instruments and musical scales.
Sufiana Kalam is the classical music of Kashmir, which uses its own ragas (known as maqam), and is accompanied by a hundred-stringed instrument called the santoor, along with the Kashmiri saz, wasool, tabala and sitar. Sufiana Kalam has been popular in Kashmir since arriving from Iran in the 15th century and has been the music of choice for Kashmiri Sufi mystics. The dance based on the sofiyiana kalam is the hafiz nagma
Music in Kashmir performed by Hindus is mainly influenced by Indian classical music, using instruments such as the sitar. Sarangadeva, who wrote the famous Sangeet Ratnakara, was a Kashmiri. Music and musical instruments find mention in the earliest texts like the Nilmatapurana and Rajatarangini by Kalhana. The very fact that it was a Kashmiri, Abhinavagupta (the great philosopher), who wrote a commentary called Abhinavabharati on Bharata’s Natyashatra shows how much importance was given to music in the ancient times. The most popular folk instrument is the santoor (Shat-tantri-veena), a hundred string percussion instrument which is played by the goddess Sharada (the goddess of learning and art in ancient Kashmir). Henzae is a music form sung by Kashmiri Pandits on religious and cultural festivals.