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

XXX INTRODUCTION

"

the loveforandpracticeof noble

and beautiful

architecture

seems
to

havediedout of Indiaprevious

tothe

advent of the

English."

1

Officialexpertssaidhewasa

figmentofmy

imagina-

tion. Andsoheremained

officially,untillast

yearthe

Report

of special investigations into

theconditionsof

modern

Indian

architecture, undertakenatmy

suggestionbefore

the question

ofthebuildingofthenewDelhi

cameintothearena,

waspub-

lished. Theinquiry,thoughadmittedly

onlyavery

superficial

one, hadproved that,sofarfrom

exaggeratingthefacts,

I had

understated thecapacityofthemodern

Indian

master-builder

;

forbesides a quantityof fine building

workin many

different

parts of thenorth of India, theReport revealed

the fact

that,

underfavourableconditions, Indian

master-builderscan

build

aswellas, and betterthan,theirforefathers

didin the daysof

Shah

Jahan.

For in the verydistrict which

was Sir Lepel

Griffin's fieldofobservation,amosque

largerthan thefamous

Jimi'

Masjid of Delhi, and, sofar as it is

completed, afiner

work of art, is now in progress, designed

and carried out

entirelybyIndian craftsmen.

Departmentalism, more suo,

of

course

will belittle the

importanceofthe revelation,

as itdid in thecaseof thehand-

weavingindustry;but

theliving Indianmaster-builderisnow

ontheofficial file, thoughonlyas a

"controversial subject"—

for

departmentalism is still incompetent

to

weigh artistic

evidence, howeverconvincingitmay beto thosewho are able

todoso.

Just

as anAct of Parliament, however bad it maybe, is

lawtoall goodcitizens untilitis amendedor repealed,

so

the

Indian Public Works system of building, based only upon

inefficiency, ruinous to Indian craftsmanship and

otherwise

economicallyvicious—equallybadin artand science

—will be

defendedby

officials,

asgoodofficials, until theorder

is

given

^

Prefaceto

"

FamousMonumentsofCentral

India."