History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c3: Preface to Second Edition

History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c3

Language: English

Preface to Second Edition

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THE late Mr. Fergusson's 'History of Indian and Eastern Architecture' has now been before the public for more than thirty years, and was reprinted (without his consent) in America, before his death in 1886, and the publishers issued a reprint in 1891. His method of treating the subject he has thus described:—"What I have attempted to do during the last forty years has been to apply to Indian Architecture the same principles of archæological science which are universally adopted not only in England, but in every country in Europe. Since the publication of Rickman's 'Attempt to discriminate the Styles of Architecture in England' in 1817, style has been allowed to supersede all other evidences for the age of any building, not only in Mediæval, but in Byzantine, Classical, and, in fact, all other true styles. Any accomplished antiquary, looking at any archway or any moulding, can say at once, this is Norman, or Early English, or Decorated, or Tudor; and if familiar with the style, tell the date within a few years, whether it belongs to a cathedral or a parish church, a dwelling house or a grange, . . . is not of the smallest consequence, nor whether it belongs to the marvellously elaborate quasi-Byzantine style of the age of the Conqueror, or to the prosaic tameness of that of the age of Elizabeth. Owing to its perfect originality and freedom from all foreign admixture or influence, I believe these principles, so universally adopted in this country, are even more applicable to the Indian styles than to the European."

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The successful application of these principles to Indian architecture was entirely his own: no one had dreamed of it before. It was a stroke of genius to trace out logically the historical sequences of the Hindû monuments and make them tell their own story by means of those guiding principles which he was the first to apply to them, and to elucidate their applicability in a manner that has been borne out since without exception wherever they have been intelligently applied. Though descriptions of Indian monuments may be written in various ways, no one could pretend to take up the systematic study of Indian Architecture without the aid of this work, and no history of the architecture can be scientifically written without appropriating the principles Mr. Fergusson showed how to apply.

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My close intimacy with Mr. Fergusson for twenty years, and knowledge of his opinions, may have suggested that I might undertake the revisal of his work; but, when it was first proposed, I was engaged on the preparation of certain volumes of the Archæological Reports of the Indian Survey that had been entrusted to me and I could not then undertake it. On the appointment of a new director for the Surveys, at the close of 1901, the materials were taken out of my hands and my engagement terminated. I was then at liberty to undertake the revision of the work, and in doing so I naturally depended on the like help that had been afforded to Mr. Fergusson himself in 1875, when the resources of the Surveys were at his disposal. But obstruction was raised where it ought hardly to have been expected, and it was due to the good offices of the Right Honourable Lord Morley, Secretary of State for India, that this was largely overcome. The materials in the India Office were at once liberally placed at my disposal, and the Government of India requested to favour the work. This, however, caused delay, and subsequent severe illness has protracted the preparation of the work.

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It would have been easy to expand this history, but, if it was to answer its purpose as a handbook, it must obviously be restricted within moderate dimensions. My aim has been to condense where practicable and, whilst revising, to make only such additions from the accessible materials accumulated since 1876, as seemed requisite. The Archæological Surveys have collected vast stores of drawings only a fraction of which has yet been published. Travellers too, influenced partly perhaps by the interest that Mr. Fergusson's volume had created, have published works that have added to our information.

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The great advances made in Indian Epigraphy and Palæography during the same period have further enabled us to revise and fix more accurately the dates in the earlier chronology of India; but this has not materially affected the author's chronometric scale of arrangement of the monuments, for where the dates have been somewhat altered, the relative places of the monuments have not required to be changed,—only they have been better adjusted; and in many cases Mr. Fergusson, in his later years, had accepted these corrections.

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For much valued aid and information my thanks are due to Mr. Henry Cousens, Superintendent of the Western India Archæological Circle; and to Mr. Alexander Rea of the Madras Circle, from both of whom I have received ungrudging assistance, relative to the districts under their charge.

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For Ceylon I am greatly indebted to Lord Stanmore and the Colonial Office, whilst Mr. J. G. Smither, late Government architect, and Mr. H. C. P. Bell, C.C.S., Archæological Commissioner, very kindly have read the proofs and supplied important advice and material for the chapter on the architecture of the Island.

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I owe thanks also for valued help to Babû Monmohan Chakravarti, M.A., relative to Orissa; and among others to Mr. R. F. Chisholm, F.R.I.B.A.; Mr. H. C. Fanshawe, C.S.I.; Dr. J. F. Fleet, C.I.E.; Professor Dr. H. Kern, Utrecht; the Right Honble. Ameer 'Ali; Mr. G. F. Williams, State Engineer, Udaypur; Lieut. Fred. M. Bailey, Indian Army; Mr. F. H. Andrews; Dr. L. D. Barnett, and the Rev. Dr. Wm. Millar, C.I.E. To Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co., I am indebted for the use of a number of woodcuts.

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The history of Indian Architecture has been extended from The chapters on Further India, Java and China have been edited and partly rewritten by Mr. R. Phené Spiers, the editor of Mr. Fergusson's larger work, the 'History of Ancient and Medieval Architecture,' published in 1893. Mr. Spiers has recast these chapters, adding much fresh and important information to each, whilst he has also added a new chapter on the Architecture of Japan. For Burma, Mr. Spiers has had to depend largely upon the few works published during the last thirty years describing the buildings there found, on the photographs in the India Office and on the somewhat meagre notes contained in the 'Progress Reports' of the Archæological Survey.

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For Cambodia, Siam and Java, on the other hand, were available the excellent publications of the French Archæological Surveys carried out at first under the supervision of the École Française d’Extrême Orient, and now under the skilled direction of the Archæological Commission of Indo-China, and of the Java Surveys under the direction of the Dutch Government Archæological Commission.