Town Planning in Ancient India c8.81

c8.81

खोच्चाथार्धमूलीवा प्राकारः सममूलकः । २३७ द्वतीयांशकमूलो वा छुक्यायार्धविस्तरः । उच्छ्रितस्तु तथा कार्यो द्युभिनर्विलङ्घते ॥ २३८ with towers (aṭṭālaka). Towers square throughout and with moveable staircase or ladder equal to its height shall also be constructed.”¹ The wall moreover is to be provided with ‘śataghnīs’ (lit., hundred-killers) and ‘nalikāstras’ (lit., barrelled missiles), i.e., guns, as well as other deadly weapons. In Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa we find that the city of Ayodhyā was protected by hundreds of such śataghnīs. In the ancient town of Vanchi or Karura, the capital of the Chera kingdom, now a deserted village known as Tiru Karur, on the battlements were mounted various engines to throw missiles on those who attacked the fort.² “The walls were always guarded by sentinels protected behind the notches (gulma).³ Śukrāchārryya adds that they are to have a system of well-fitted windows, (corresponding to mediæval crenelles or embrasures in an embattled parapet), through which the approach of brigands or belligerents may be descried. He also insists upon a supplementary wall (pratiprākāra) lower than the main one in case of absence of any hill in the vicinity.⁴