The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c7.7

c7.7

But it is a great mistake of Anglo-Indian writers to assume that Indian building under the Mauryan dynasty was wholly, or even to a large extent, an importation of "styles" borrowed from Persepolis. Chandragupta and Asoka might set Persepolitan fashions in their palaces, just as Indian princes of to-day try to imitate the fashions of London and Paris; but Indo-Aryan culture had already for many centuries planted itself deep in Indian soil, and Indo-Aryan building had acquired an Indian character as distinctive as that of Indo-Aryan philosophy and religious teaching. Just as at the present day one must look for all that is truly typical of Indian life and character in the village rather than in the town, in the same way the essential derivations of Indian architecture, in construction and in decoration, will be found not in imperial palaces, but in the life of the village folk.