Town Planning in Ancient India c3.7

c3.7

I have very keenly felt the want of illustrative plans of ancient Indian towns. The plans that have been prepared by the department of the Archæological Survey of India, may hardly be said to have been drawn up to indicate the methods of town-planning in ancient India. Only the map of Jaipur, to my knowledge, is fitted for this purpose. The Department of the Archæological Survey of India, as the only competent body, should undertake this task, following the example of similar bodies of the West, *e.g.*, of Germany. It is German excavations of the towns of the Græco-Roman world that have facilitated the study of their plans. Unless and until such plans of ancient Indian towns are forthcoming, any investigation into Indian town-planning will obviously remain more or less of a theoretical, even conjectural and hypothetical, character, bereft of that strength which illustrations of actual executions and achievements alone can impart and assure. I shall be highly obliged if any of the kind readers of these pages to whom the subject may appeal as one of interest and importance, supply me with such illustrative plans so that they may be utilised and incorporated in future editions of this volume. Needless to add, the writer shall only be too glad to acknowledge with gratitude his debt to him.