Town Planning in Ancient India c11.42

c11.42

A third method akin to the above was to reclaim a belt of land round the city and to enclose this anew by another set of walls and ditches so as to fortify the new acquisition. The low caste people were made to settle in this area making room for the high castes and the big officers within the fold of the ancient limits. But the old walls and ditches impeded the free circulation of traffic from the centre, the most important part of the ancient cities, to the limits of the reconstituted city. Only a large number of gates in the old walls and the planting of an adequate number of arteries of communication in the extensions in alignment with these gates could obviate the difficulties. This method had this advantage over its predecessor that it augmented defensive strength and involved less financial strain and hardship on the people and consequently less dissatisfaction. It is perhaps illustrated in the town of Bharatpur where traces of one ditch after another, all encircling the primeval city can still be observed, the rank and position of the settlers diminishing as we walk further and further away from the centre of the city quite in keeping with the traditional rule of ancient India regarding allocation and distribution of urban population. The present city of Delhi, called old Delhi as distinguished from new Delhi under construction, possibly furnishes us with one more example of this method of town-extension. Therein we meet with traces of a ditch about a mile from the wall of the extant city, of which fragmentary portions only remain here and there.