The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

VIU

PREFACE

social,religious,

andartistic

aspectsof

Indo-Aryancivilisation,

asrevealed

intheancientand

medieval

monumentsof

India. Far

thechronological

andstatistical

framework ofit

I have mostly

usedthedata

furnishedby

suchwell-known

authoritiesas

ProfessorT.W.

Rhys

Davids'

"

Buddhist

India," Mr. Vincent

Smith's

"

Early

History

ofIndia,"and Dr.

Barnett's

"AntiquitiesofIndia."

The

interpretationof

Indian history

and mytho-

logythrough thereading

ofthe

symbolismof

Indianartis myown,

and

my authoritiesthe

architecture,

sculpture, and

painting here illustrated.

Ifmyreadingiswrong,

mycriticswill

convictme

oferrorfromthesame

sources.

Thereasonsfor

rejectingentirely

Fergusson's

classificationsofstyles

andsomeofthechronological

estimates

whichhavehitherto

beenadopted

by allarchaeologists are

stated in the text.

Owingto the

factthat for

the lastfifty years

archaeologicalresearch in India

has been

conducted

entirely on

the lines laid down by Fergusson, it

has been

sometimes

difficultfor me,not havinghad the

opportunities ofcollecting

material

for myselfwhich officers of the

Archaeological Survey of India

enjoy,

to give a sufficiently clear

demonstration

of

various statements.

The

positionofunquestioned

authoritywhichFergusson'sworkshave

hitherto

obtained hasunfortunately

hadtheeffectofpreventingthe collection

and

publicationofmuch

materialwhichwoulddemonstratethefallacies

ofhis

theories

;

butIhave

nottheleastdoubtthat

agreat

dealmorewillbe

forth-

coming

when

the

clues I have givenare carefullyfollowed up.

Inthe

meantime I mustcontent myselfwith making

the

mostof the

material

at

mydisposal. Atsomefuturetime I hope

tobe

ableto dealwith the

subjectmoreeffectivelyineveryrespect.

I have to acknowledge the valuableassistance renderedme bythe

SecretaryofStateforIndiaingrantingmepermissiontouse

illustrations

from

official publications. In

etymological questions Professor

T. W.

Rhys

DavidsandMr.F. W.Thomas

havefreelygivenmethe

aid

of

their

accomplished scholarship. Dr.

J.

H. Marshall, CLE.

(Director-General

oftheArchaeologicalSurveyofIndia),

Mr.AbanindroNathTagore,

C.I.E.,

Mr. Nanda Lai Bose, M. Victor

Goloubeff and the Editor of

L'Art

Decoratif,Paris,havehelpedmemuch

withtheillustrations. Iamindebted

to Mr.RatanTataforplacingat mydisposal

reportson theexcavations

nowinprogressonthesiteofPataliputra,

andtoMr.Murrayforallowing

metheuse ofblocksfrom Fergusson'sworks.

Messrs.Johnston&Hoff-

mann, Calcutta, havepermitted me to reproduce oneof

theircopyright

negatives,andIhaveto

thank Mr.

J.

Marshallfor

someusefulreferences.

E. B. H.