History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s1.2

v2.c33.s1.2

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.