[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) › c8.6 # Town Planning in Ancient India c8.6 Town Planning in Ancient India c8.6 - **Language:** English ### [c8.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c8.6) But the parapets and the trenches were not the only kinds of fortifications of an ancient town. Thus does Kauṭilya enumerate their different classes in his famous Arthaśāstra: "In all the quarters of the boundaries of the kingdom, defensive fortifications against any emergency of war shall be raised on the grounds rendered inapproachable by nature (daivakṛta)¹; water-fort (audaka) such as one of an island in the midst of a river (antar-dvīpa) or of a plain surrounded by low ground or morass in which water is stagnated (sthala); a mountain-fort (pārvata) such as one surrounded by a rocky tract (prāstara)² or a fort in a valley in the midst of an encircling range of hillocks (guhā)¹; a desert-fort (dhānvana) such as a fort in the centre of a wild tract devoid of water and even thickets² or of a soil sterilized by desert-salt (iriṇa)³; a forest-fort (vanadurga) such as a fort encompassed by many bogs and fens interspersed with trees and bushes (khāmjana)⁴ or one girt round by thickly set tall trees and underwoods.”⁵ - [Previous: c8.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c8.5) - [Next: c8.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c8.7) - [Up: c8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c8) ## Linked texts (1) - [Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.artha.kautilya) — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c8.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.dutt-1925.c8.6) · Pramāṇa