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

22 ANCIENT BRICK AND

STONE

HOUSES

The progressive European,

rather than learn anything

from the Hindu builder, endures patiently the

leaky roofs

which
the British

engineerputs overhis head in theplains of

Bengal. It isenough for

himthat theyare British,oras near

Britishas the ignorantHindu

can makethem.^

Thederivation ofthe vaultedroofsofthe

great Buddhist

chapter-houses,
the stone

vaults of Akbar's Rajput master-

builders,and

thoseofthe

mosques atGaur,fromthese Indian

villageprototypes
is

quiteeasy tofollow.^

Ithink,however,itisagreat

error

to

supposethatthatched

orwoodenroofs

wereuniversal

in the India of Asoka'stime,

merely

becausethesculptures ofBharhut,Sinchi,

andAmar^-

vatigiveno indication

of anyother.

Professor Rhys Davids

tellsus thattheold

Paliwritings

describe

great

houses witha

flat roof called

the upart-pdsddatala,

"

where the owner sat,

usuallyunderapavilion,

whichansweredthepurposeatonceof

adrawing-room,anoffice,and

a

dining-hall."

^

Suchhouses

—

withtheentrancethrough

a

large

gateway,totherightandleft

of which were storehouses leading into an

inner courtyard

surroundedby living-apartments

—correspondexactlywiththe

terraced-roofmansionsofmodernRajputana;

andthereisevery

reasonto

believethatinlocalitieswherewood

wasscarce,brick

andstone

housesofthistypewerebuiltin

Asoka'stimeasthey

areto-day.

1

Itwouldbeinterestingtoknow

howmuchis spent

annuallybythePublicWorks

Department and by municipalities

in Bengal in

repairing roofs of official buildings

"

designed

"

after theregulation

departmentalpatterns

whichthe Bengali

builderhas

tocopy

;

andtheannualaverage

rainfallinsidetheroofs

ofthesebuildings

would be the

mostcuriousofmeteorologicalrecords,

asIhavehad

occasiontoobserve.

^

See below,

p.91. Compare thesketchofthe

interiorof

afive-rafteredBengaH

thatchedroof(PI.II)with

thevaultingoftheBona

Masjid,Gaur

("IndianArchitecture,"

PlateXLIII,a)

;

andthe

planoftheseven-raftered

roof, fig.

8,

with

thatofthe

stone-

vaultedroofoftheBuland

Darwiza,Fatehpur-Sfkri

("Indian

Architecture,"

p.166,fig.

39),

or

with

theroofofIbrahim's

tombatBijipflr,

Hid.PI.

LXXXVII.

'

"BuddhistIndia,"

pp.

68-9.