[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) › c18.2 # Town Planning in Ancient India c18.2 Town Planning in Ancient India c18.2 - **Language:** English ### [c18.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c18.2) In a previous chapter I have traced the origin of the most famous Indian cities to the camp-life of the Aryans. It was round the royal seats that the important cities of India were planned and laid out. Now these royal capitals, in ages of hoary antiquity, nay even down to the Pathan period, were nothing but, and could not be but, imperial encampments, inasmuch the then state of the country was one of constant belligerency and consequently the boundaries of the dominions were bound to be singularly precarious and indefinite. Not unfrequently the warrior chief,—(for the king in ancient times was nothing more than a commander at the head of an army swaying his suzereinty over an area controlled by the over-awing might of his arms,)—had to move from place to place at the advance of a more puissant foe. Naturally therefore with the change of his kingdom his capital also changed and followed him to his temporary residence. The Samskrit synonym for the word camp is ‘śivira’: The Savdakalpadruma notes the following various imports of it:—(1) nibeśa i.e., settlement or encampment; (2) āgantuka-sainyā- bāsa, i.e., the temporary residence of an advancing or newly arrived army; (3) kaṭaka, i.e., a capital or a town, a fort, an army, a belt; (4) nṛpasya mulasthānam, i.e., the principal seat of the king. According to the Uṇādikosha, śivira means an encampment or military quarters in times of war. The foregoing synonyms imply a native affinity between a royal seat, a capital, and a camp. They refer to a period of history when all of them were more or less identified. The origin of the name of Cuttuck (written as Kaṭaka in Indian vernaculars) of the town of the same title also corroborates this. The Turkish word ‘urdu’ means a camp and the language Urdu originated in the camp-life of the first Muhammedan invaders of India when they had to make intercourse with the Indian kings who also lived in camp-like capitals. It is significant that Urdu was the court language of the time. Every Indologist who has ever cared to bestow any thought upon the the origin of the Indian towns supports the above theory. For example, Sir Henry S. Maine says in his “Village Communities” that “the most famous of all towns grew out of camps.” Mr. Havell also subscribes to this view. - [Previous: c17.s5.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c17.s5.7) - [Next: c18.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c18.3) - [Up: c18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c18) ## Linked texts (1) - [Śabdakalpadruma](https://indike.org/pramana/in.art.kosa.sabdakalpadruma) — Rājā Sir Rādhākānta Deb, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c18.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c18.2) · Pramāṇa