Town Planning in Ancient India c9.51

c9.51

This peculiarity in the situation of the Indian towns had another remarkable bearing upon Indian town-planning. As already observed, the two middle northerly and easterly streets formed the principal channels through which the main currents of importing and exporting commerce passed. India at that time had an extensive foreign trade with Arabia, Turkey, and Persia and through them with Europe. The trade routes lay through the famous passes of the North Western Frontier Provinces. Hence in normal times, the Mahākālapatha running from north to south formed the chief commercial route; it was also the road along which the foreign invasions came. The Brahmavīthī was generally the road for inland military expeditions and inland trade. But in northern and eastern parts of India the streets exchanged their purposes. Thus we are informed that the Brahmavīthī of Chandragupta’s empire was that which passed through Pāṭaliputra and right up to north-western povinces.