Town Planning in Ancient India c5.27

c5.27

‘The primitive use of this word ‘grāma’ which occurs frequently from the Rig Veda onwards, appears to have been ‘village’. The Vedic Indians must have dwelt in villages which were scattered over the country, some close together, some far apart, and were connected by roads. The village is regularly contrasted with the forest (araṇya) and its animals and plants with those that lived or grew wild in the woods. The villages contained cattle, horses and other domestic animals as well as men. Grain was also stored in them. In the evening the cattle regularly returned thither from the forest. The villages were probably open, though perhaps a fort (pur) might on occasion be built inside. Presumably they consisted of detached houses with enclosures, but no details are to be found in Vedic literature. Large villages (mahāgrāma) were known. The ‘grāma’ may be regarded as an aggregate of several families, not necessarily forming a clan but only part of a clan (viś), as is often the case at the present day.”