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

THE

INDIAN VILLAGE

5

hardly

ascoreof

townsofany

considerablesizeas existing

in

the

whole vast

territory, from

Kandahar nearly

to Calcutta,

and from

the HimMayas

southwards to the

Run of Kutch>

Buddhism

didnotsucceed

anymorethan

Christianityhasdone

in

effacingsocial and

racial distinctions.

The fourvarnas, or

colours,

representingsomanyranksofsocial

precedence,were

recognised

distinctionsinearlyBuddhist

villagecommunities,^

though'

the rigid barriers of the

caste system did not

exist.

In spite of the colour bar,

however, India's melting-pot

long

beforethethirdcentury

b.c hadprofoundly

altered thesocial

and politicalconditions

whichprevailed

whentheAryanswere

disputing

with Dravidians, Kolarians,

and with wild abori-

ginalsclassedas Rakshasas,

or demons, forpossession of

the

soil. The former had

adapted themselves perfectly to their

Indian environment,

and had intermarried tosuch an extent

withthecivilised

tribeswhichhadprecededtheir

immigrations

or invasions,

that it only needed the moving

of a common

spiritualimpulse to make India a nation.

And this impulse

camefromAsoka'spropaganda

oftheteachingofBuddha.

We must, however, guard ourselves from the error

of

supposingthat

"

Buddhistart,"asWesternerscallit,was

purely

sectarian,oranythingelsethanIndianart

duringtheascendancy

ofBuddhism. Fergusson'sclassification

ofBuddhist,

Jain,

and

Hindutemplesasrepresentingdifferentepochsofartordifferent

schoolsofartisticexpressionisentirelyfallacious.

Inavillage

ortownwhereBuddhistswereinthemajority,

Buddhistshrines

would naturally bethe mostnumerous. In otherlocalities, at

the sametime,

Jains

or followers of other sectswould build

similarshrines dedicatedtotheirspecial divinities.
Whatever

school ofreligiousdoctrine thebuildings mightrepresent, the

craftsmanshipandprincipleofconstructionremained
the

same,

and even the symbolism was a commonvernacular language

*

"

BuddhistIndia,"

p.50,

*

Ibid.chap.v.

I*