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

INTRODUCTION

xxxiii

Europeans

likethese

machines,justastheylikegramophones,

pianolas,

oleographs, and other mechanical devices,

may be

taken

too seriously. The renaissance of

Indian culture, of

which

there are manyevidentsigns, is indirectly

the effect of

Britishadministration.

Itmightbecomeitsgreatest strength,

ifinstead

ofthepinchbeck Imperialism and spurious Nation-

alism

which are nowso rampant everywhere, awiser policy

informed by the sympathetic study of Indian history and

Indian traditions ruled the Councils of the Empire.

At

present both Anglo-India and Nationalist India are equally

out of touch with the spirit which has

ruled

India for five

thousandyears,and still remains unaffected bytwo centuries

of contactwithWestern materialism. If Anglo-Indiaorthe

Calcutta Universityhad awarded a prizefor literature, open

totheworld,neitherwould have discovereda Bengali

poet.

Lord Curzon

atthe

endofhisViceroyalty,in an

eloquent

speech, declared that the highest aim of the Government of

Indiawas and had been the interest ofthe Indian peasant.

Thatmust betaken to bemore amatter of intention thanof

achievement,otherwisethe

interestofthe Indianvillagewould

havebeen consideredbeforethe

interestofthe townandcity

;

the interest ofthe handicraftsman

beforethe interest of the

mill-owner; village

culture before town

culture

;

and

the

restorationofthe real

ConstitutionofIndia—the mostperfect

organisation of village life the

world hasknown—would have

been

consideredbeforethe grantof

Western formsofgovern-

ment

which neithersatisfy

Indian aspirations

norare

adapted

tothegeniusof

Aryan

civilisation.

TheAnglo-Indian

argument

againsttheextension ofself-

governing

powers to the

people of

India is the so-called

"illiteracy" of the

Indian

masses—another

of the fallacies

arising from the

misapplication of

Western standards to

•Eastern conditions.

A people

who have

for thousands of