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

20 ANCIENT

VILLAGE DWELLINGS

in|the gates of temples. A

vedikd^orraisedseat,should be

constructed

on each sideofthedoor."

The

quaint representations of

buildings given in the

BharhutandSanchi

sculptureswillgivesomeideaoftheaspect

of Indianvillagesand towns

in thethirdcenturyB.C.

;

butone

mustnotsupposethatthesculpturesoftwo

sttipasinplacesnot

veryfarapartexhaustedall thetypes of buildingthencurrent

in India. At the same time Asoka'svigorous propagandaof

Buddhism, havingPitaliputra as its centre, certainlyhad the

effectofspreadingtheculture

of the Magadha

countryovera

greatpart

of

India,and the Buddhist

Emperor's

extraordinary

buildingactivitymusthave

createdagreat demandfor Bengali

master-builders,andthushaveestablishedthereputationwhich

theyhadeveninAkbar'stime.^ Thereisunmistakableevidence

oftheirhandiworkin manyparts ofancient India.

The

commonest type of village dwelling shown in the

Bharhut Sculptures

(PI. I) is, like thoseofthe present day,a

verysimple

structure and apparentlybuilt of sun-baked clay.

Wecan gatherfromthe

descriptions in the Ramayana of

the

hutbuiltforRama in his forest

exile that the typical Indian

cottagewasthen divided into

fourrooms, likethe

quartersof

the whole village. The entrance,

with double doors

in the

middle,asshowninPI. I,

a,openedintothequadrangle

formed

by ablockof threeorfoursingle

cottages, owned

by different

members

of one family, in which the

cattle which

was their

joint property
took shelter bynight.
When there
were only

threecottages,

the fourthsideofthe

quadrangle

was closedby

awall

withadooror gateway in it. In

the illustration

(a) a

womanstandsinthe

quadrangleholding

a basket

intowhicha

1

Vedikameant,originally,ground

preparedfor

Vedicsacrificeswith

thesacredkusha

grass,orthealtarofsacrificeitself.
Henceaseatfor
thegodsorfor
honoured
guest.s.

2

TheAln-i-Akbari,describing

Akbar'sbuildings

atAgra,

refersto

"

the

beautiful

designsofBengalandGujerat."