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V.S. Radhika, a research scholar, in her thesis titled, 'Development of Sadir in the court of Raja Serfoji II (1798-1832) of Tanjore,' points to a painting in the possession of the Victoria and Albert Museum that has been recorded by Dr. R. Nagaswamy. In the painting done during the time of Serfoji II, "... canvas shows three Hindustani dancers in action. The dress worn by them is almost akin to the costume of North Indian Kathak dancers with ghagra… Both, from the point of view of the costume and the musical instruments, it is apparent, that the dance is of North Indian origin" (as paraphrased from the thesis). (‘Thanjavur emerged as a thriving cultural capital under the Marathas’ by Kombai S Anwar, The Hindu, April 27, 2018)

It was in thecourt of Serfoji II and his son Sivaji II that the four brothers - Chinnaiah, Ponnaiah, Sivanandam and Vadivelu - popularly known as the Thanjavur Quartet, and credited with laying the foundation of dance, which later took the form of Bharatanatyam, were employed. A letter written in Modi script (Marathi written in the Modi script) by Sivanandam reveals that they were well-versed in Hindustani tradition too. During the reign of Sivaji II, when the palace officials denied them audience with the king, Sivanandam nattuvanar chose to represent their grievances in a letter to the King, whom they addressed as Huzoor. Sivanandam wrote, "as directed, we were teaching the Dasis of the town both Hindustani and Karnataka dance (Bharatanatyam)." ('Thanjavur emerged as a thriving cultural capital under the Marathas' by Kombai S Anwar, The Hindu, April 27, 2018)

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