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

INTRODUCTION

xxiiii

which

caused

its wonderful development in Europe in the

twelfthand

thirteenthcenturies; and there, consequently, and

there alone,

the student ofarchitecturehasa chanceof seeing

the

real principles of the art in action. In Europe, at the

presentday,architecture

is practisedinamannersoanomalous

and abnormal

thatfew,ifany,havehitherto beenabletoshake

oflf the influence ofa false system and to see that the art of

ornamental buildingcanbe based upon principles ofcommon

sense; and that when

so

practised the result not onlyis but

must

be satisfactory. Those who have

an opportunity of

seeingwhat perfectbuildings the uneducated

natives ofIndia

produce,"will easilyunder-standhowsuccess

maybeachieved

;.

while thosewho observewhat failures the best

educatedand

most

talentedarchitects

in Europe frequently

perpetrate, may

byastudyof Indian models easily see

why this must

inevit-

ablybethe result. It is onlyin India

that the two

systems

canbeseen practisedside byside—the

educated andintellec-

tual

European

failing because his principles

are wrong, the

feebleand uneducatednativeas

invariablysucceeding

because

hisprinciplesare right."

Fergusson

did notalwaysrise

aboveprejudices

whichare

asstrongnowas

in

his

ownday,andthe

keynoteofhis

writings

on Indianartwas that

"

it

cannot,ofcourse,

beforone

moment

contended

that

India ever reached

the

intellectual supremacy

of Greece or the

moral greatness

of Rome."

But, making

allowancesforthis,the

statementquoted

aboveisas

profoundly

truein

every

respectnowas

when itwas

writtenoverfifty

years

ago. IfFergusson's

followers had

taken itfor

theirstarting-

point,
they

mighthaveadded

muchto

ourknowledge

ofoneof

themostimportant

chapters

oftheworld's

history.

Butwith

ablindness characteristic

ofimitators

they have

quietlyburied

withhisbonesthe

onevital

truthwhich

illumines

Fergusson's

pages, and

have only

taken for

theirtexts

the fallacies

which