History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s1: Introductory.

History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s1

Language: English

Introductory.

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THE styles of architecture described in the preceding chapters of this work practically exhaust the enumeration of all those which were practised in India Proper, with its adjacent island of Ceylon, from the earliest dawn of our knowledge till the present day. It might, therefore, be possible to treat their description as a work complete in itself, and to conclude without reference to other styles practised in neighbouring countries. It will add, however, immensely, not only to the interest but to the completeness of the work, if the history is continued through the architectural forms of those countries which adopted religions originating in India, and borrowed with them architectural forms which expressed, with more or less distinctness, how far their religious beliefs differed from, or agreed with, those of the country from which they were derived.

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The first of these countries to which we naturally turn is Burma, which adopted the religion of Sâkyamuni at a very early period, and borrowed also many of the Indian forms of architecture, but with differences we are now at a loss to account for. It may be, that, as we know nothing practically of the architectural forms of the Lower Bengal provinces before the beginning of the 6th century, these forms may have been taken to Prome and Pegu before that time; or it may be that a northern or Tibetan element crept into Burma across the northern mountains by some route we cannot now follow. These are interesting problems we shall not be able to solve till we have a more critical knowledge than we now possess of Burmese buildings. Thanks to the zeal and intelligence of some English travellers, we do know a great deal about Burmese art. The works of Symes,¹ Crawfurd,² and, above all, of Colonel Yule,³ are replete with information; but what they did was done in the intervals they were able to snatch from pressing public duties. What is really wanted is, that some qualified person should take up the subject specially, and travel through the country with no other object than to investigate its antiquities.

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¹ ‘Embassy to Ava in 1795.’ London, 1800. 4to., 27 plates.

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² ‘Journal of Embassy to Court of Ava,’ 1827. 4to., plates.

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³ ‘Mission to Court of Ava, in 1855.’ 4to., numerous illustrations.

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This was attempted between 1884-1888, when Professor Forchammer⁴ was sent on a mission to study the temples in West Burma, but he unfortunately died before he could complete his task, and although his descriptions and plans of buildings at Mrohaung in Arakan and Kyaukku in Pagân are of great value, the former are not always quite intelligible owing to his want of acquaintance with architectural features.

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⁴ Arakan: I. Mahâmuni Pagoda, II. Mrohaung: III. Akyab: Sandoway and the Kyaukku Temple, Pagân, 1891.

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This was not the case with Mr. Oertel,⁵ an engineer and architect in the Government service, who visited Burma with a similar object, but his permit was limited to about two months, so that he was only able to see some of the architectural centres. His report, however, contains much useful information, and the photographs which he took are of some value.

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⁵ ‘Notes on a Tour in Burma in 1902,’ by Fred. O. Oertel, F.R.I.B.A.

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In Mr. Nisbet’s work,⁶ published in 1901, is a chapter on Burmese architecture which shows careful research, and he is perhaps the first writer on the subject who has drawn up a list of the oldest buildings in Pagân, giving the dates of their erection and the names of the kings by whom they were built. Many other works have appeared since the British Annexation of Burma, in some cases containing illustrations from photographs which add to our knowledge. Among these should be mentioned General de Beylié’s work,⁷ in which nearly one hundred pages are devoted to Burma, where he carried out some researches in the early part of 1907. The most important source of information at present, however, is given in the annual reports published by the Government of Burma,⁸ giving details of the work required from year to year in order to preserve the existing monuments from further decay. These reports are supplemented in the India Office Library by a large number of photographs of the principal buildings with descriptive notes, giving in many cases the dates of their erection; it is to be hoped, therefore, that the subject will be taken up by some expert, and that the measured drawings of plans and sections, lists of which appear in the reports, may be published with reproductions of a selection of the fine series of photographs, some of which have been utilised in this work.