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) v7.c47.7034

v7.c47.7034

(4) ‘Again, Mr. Fergusson, writing on this subject, complains bitterly of the Bhilsa, and the Sarnath, and the Sanchi ‘’Topes.’’ To make the confusion worse he laments—‘’Tope is also the common Anglo-Indian word for a clump of trees.’’ Very true, but that hardly justifies the following—‘’In neither sense is the word ever used by natives, who associate ‘tope’ with something very different, that is, with cannon or artillery. That the natives do use the word freely in designating such monuments, I will now endeavour to show. While they called all lower mounds in this neighbourhood dehiri, the peasantry denied the existence of a Thūpi, Thūpa, Thūva, or even the common dīh; and in my inquiries being compelled to paraphrase the word for their comprehension, after trying buland-tila and other expression in vain, I accidentally mentioned the much abused 'tope,' and was much surprised to find that they understood my meaning instantly, and helped me to a minute description of the monument and its surroundings. They did not call it thūpa nor thūpi, but simply 'tope' or, more correctly, 'top.' " Now, it would appear from the above that the word is no mere '`adoption of ours," and that it is used by the natives of India (unless we allow the breadth of the Indus to make a fine distinction), moreover, by the commonest of those natives far and wide.'—(Cunningham, *Arch. Surv. Reports*, Vol. xix, pp. 134, 135.)