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.c41.s13.15

v6.c41.s13.15

The derivation of the term 'Insulindia' is not clear. Nor is there any general agreement about its geographical limits. Writers from time to time have used the term to imply various regions. Here it is used, for the sake of convenience, to indicate the mainland and islands to the east of the Indian continent, which, though now peopled by non-Indian races, professed Indian culture, both religious and secular, from time to time. The geographical boundaries and local names of the territories constituting the peninsular and insular regions have naturally changed with the change of governing authorities, and the monumental remains of the Hindu-Buddhist period have also suffered both from neglected indifference and deliberate destruction. Whatever traces, with inevitable modifications, of Hindu architecture have survived in some parts of the peninsula and the islands will show not only their Indian connexion, but also may supplement what have become extinct in India itself and what can only be recognized by a reference to the *Śilpa-śāstras* and literary sources of information.