The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c7.6

c7.6

Recent German excavations on the site of Babylon show that the science of building in Vedic times had advanced much farther than has hitherto been suspected. The Babylonians had apparently perfected the construction of radiating arches centuries before Rome was founded, and it is probable that both Roman and Indian builders derived their knowledge of it from the same source in Western Asia. When the seat of imperial power was transferred from Persia to Eastern India in the fourth century B.C., it must have been as natural an inclination for Chandragupta Maurya to supplement local architectural talent at Pâtaliputra by bringing experts from Persepolis as it is for Anglo-Indian rulers in the present day to supersede it by experts from London—for Western Asia was the great culture-centre of the Indo-Aryan race.