[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Architecture and art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art) › [Town Planning in Ancient India](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925) › c16.6 # Town Planning in Ancient India c16.6 Town Planning in Ancient India c16.6 - **Language:** English ### [c16.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c16.6) In very ancient times the king was nothing but a redoubtable warrior-chief at the head of a large following, a band of soldiers, leading them by dint of his transcendent military prowess. In those times of disturbance and insecurity, when everybody had to depend for safety and self-protection upon the artful manipulation of his sword, it was the fighting capacity which measured the worth of men. Hence anybody who excelled in the art of fighting and surpassed all in bravery and fortitude, was willingly obeyed and followed by all. The leader of the combatants was the king and his martial ability struck awe and reverence into his followers. In the absence of any administrative machinery in those unsettled times, the military, the executive, the judicial, nay all the important functions of the State combined and centred in him. Later on when peace and tranquillity prevailed in some measure in the territory and a sort of constitution was elaborated, still the old notion of the supremacy of the chief in all matters of importance and responsibility, did not undergo any material change. Facts sometimes change faster than ideas. The king still remained the State in miniature, the fountain-head of all justice, the head of the executive, \*parens parenti\*, Lord Paramount, the commander-in-chief of his valiant warriors. Hence it is that we find that the court, the treasury, the soldiers' barracks, the council-house and the minister's house were grouped round the royal castle, and formed part and parcel of it. Again in case of emergency the citadel was utilised as a fort, the ultimate resort.¹ - [Previous: c16.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c16.5) - [Next: c16.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c16.7) - [Up: c16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c16) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c16.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c16.6) · Pramāṇa