Town Planning in Ancient India c15.36

c15.36

(9) Droṇamukha :—It is a market town frequented by traders, lying on a river bank or sea shore, generally at their confluence, known also as Droṇimukha. It is a harbour where many ships sail in and lie at anchor and also traders from distant islands fare to the place for traffic.¹ In other accounts, it is a small centre of traffic in the midst of four hundred villages. Local productions are offered to the market here. It may be that a police outpost is stationed here for the sake of administrative efficiency. There are five measures of its breadth varying from 400 to 496 daṇḍas with a common difference of 24 daṇḍas, the ratios of the lengths to the breadths being the same as before. If the Droṇamukha be a populous place in the midst of villages, it is also termed Viḍamba. It is mainly inhabited by peasantry. Its measurements vary from 200 to 500 daṇḍas, the common difference being 50 daṇḍas. From the measurements it appears that these cannot be properly designated as towns; they are only prominent village markets.