Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c40.s4: Johi, Sehwan, and Kohistan
Mānasāra Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Mānasāra-Śilpaśāstra; III. Mānasāra on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Mānasāra: Translation; V. Architecture of Mānasāra: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c40.s4
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Johi, Sehwan, and Kohistan
v6.c40.s4.1
Hill-dwellings have been traced at Johi, Sehwan, and Kohistan. At the Johi tract, the mounds, now known as Ali Murad, have uncovered the remains of an ancient fortress or fortified palace. There are traces of many walls and a rampart. The walls are stated to represent the basement of the various chambers and apartments into which the buildings were divided.² But these scanty remains would not disclose the plan and other details.
v6.c40.s4.2
² *Ibid*, pp. 89-90, Plate VIII, B, C.
v6.c40.s4.3
The fort at Sehwan (Sindimana of Cunningham), once thought to be of the time of Alexander the Great, is now declared to be of Muslim origin. But the site itself might yet contain certain ancient buildings of early Hindu period upon which the present Muslim town has been built.³ The remains of an ancient fortress have been clearly found at Kohtras Buthi. But there are only traces of two long stone-walls.⁴
v6.c40.s4.4
³ *Ibid*, p. 46.
v6.c40.s4.5
⁴ *Ibid*, pp. 132-134.
v6.c40.s4.6
In the Kohistan tract the excavation at Damb Barthi has uncovered scanty remains of ancient burial places, which in general may resemble similar structural remains at Nal in Baluchistan. These consist of the outline walls of five chambers wherein human bones have been found.¹ Pottery and such other remains have also been found at Bandhni, Dhal, Maliri Landi, Pokhran Landi and Karchat.²
v6.c40.s4.7
¹ *Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of India*, pp. 115–116, Plate IX, C.
v6.c40.s4.8
² *Ibid*, pp. 120–131.
v6.c40.s4.9
Summarizing the finds, Mr. Majumdar declares that the sites discovered fall under two categories, namely, the places where the people actually inhabited and those where they carried on the flint-knapping industry. The walls of the buildings at the hill sites are stated to have been made of stone at the base, up to a height of 2 to 3 feet, the stone blocks being rough hewn and often laid with mud mortar. ‘The superstructure must have been built of mud and such perishable materials as reed and wood.’ Though no definite information is available, yet it is stated that the roof of these houses might have been made of reed and matting overlaid with mud. The dwellings in and around lake Manchhar were of different types. ‘The lake sites have yielded neither stones nor bricks.’ From this Mr. Majumdar concludes that ‘here the people lived in pile-dwellings, like the lake-dwellers of Europe, in the midst of the lake or close to the edge of water.’³
v6.c40.s4.10
³ *Ibid*, pp. 147, 148.