Town Planning in Ancient India c12.18

c12.18

rather hamlets inhabited by Brāhmaṇs ranging in number from 320 to 12.”¹ The above simple villages populated by the same class of men correspond to the pallīs or wards of a modern composite village and these wards have originated through several generations of persons living side by side who derive their descent from the same ancestor. This is manifest from the meaning of the word ‘ekabhoga’. This is defined to be a village in miniature inhabited by a single patriarch with his large retinue and menial staff.² Similarly a village of learned Brāhmaṇs is called Maṅgala (lit. auspicious), while that of noble Brāhmaṇs (viprendra) is also termed Agrahāram.³ With the progress of civilisation and communalism, such simple villages grew, however, rare until they were replaced by composite villages where all classes of people differentiated by birth and profession peacefully led a corporate life. It is in the most backward part of the country to-day that we come across traces of those antiquated simple villages.