Many texts on music, dance and drama continued to be written in different parts of India through the seventeenth century.

Between the twelfth and the sixteenth century, regional styles emerged. Of the medieval texts Śubhaṅkara Kavi's Śrīhastamuktāvalī belongs to the eastern tradition and is significant for its detailed treatment of the hastas (hand gestures). While there is ambiguity with regard to its origins, the text has been found in Maithili and in Assamese transcripts. It throws light on the language of the hand gestures which may have been followed in the eastern regions.

The editor points out the similarities as also differences in the treatment of the subject in Śrīhastamuktāvalī, Nāṭyaśāstra and the Saṅgītaratnākara traditions.