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

VILLAGE

DEFENCES

27

"

Go

and

build villages on the line

of

march

!

" When the

Bosat,his minister,

had finished his preparations hesaid to

the

Raja,

"'

Great King!wait not a momentontheroad, but

advance immediately. I have already built villages for you

at intervals of seven

yodunas,

established halting-places, and

filled thehundreds

ofvillagesthatareonthewaywith

clothes

and

ornament, foodanddrink. I havekept

elephants, horses

and vehicles ready for you in thosevillages. When yougo

from one village to another leave behind in each successive

villagethe unserviceable beasts andvehicles and take others

in placeofthem.'

"

'

The shrines and otherreligious buildings of the ancient

Indian

villagewillbe

dealtwith in

subsequent chapters. The

wall or stockadewhich enclosed thevillage must

nowbe de-

scribed. According to the importance of the

villageand the

localitytowhich itbelonged we mayconsider

ittohave been

builtofclay,

wood, bricks,orstone, oracombinationofthese

materials. Outside

it was defended by a thicket of

thorny

shrubs and one or

more moats, filled with water or sand

;

inside

a broad pathwaskept,

both fordefensive purposes in

case of

hostile attacks, and, like the

procession path of the

Buddhist temple

or sttipa, for the

circumambulatory rite of

the

villagers—laymenas

well aspriests.

Of

stone-builtwalls, such

as an ancient

Indian fortified

villageortown

possessed,there

isanextantexampleolder

than

the

sixthcenturyB.C.

inthehill-fortress

ofGiribbaja,nearthe

modern

Rajgir, saidto

havebeenplanned

bya master-builder

called Maha

Govinda.'

Those represented in

ancient Indian

sculpture are sometimes

of brick,

but more

usuallyofwood.

The

latterdescription are

known by

archaeologistsas

"Buddh-

ist's rails"—the

label

given to them by

Fergusson which

'"

UmmaggaJataka,"

translated

byYatawara,

p.

187.

2

Rhys

Davids,

"BuddhistIndia,"p.

37.