Defence Architecture in Early North Karnataka c18.1

c18.1

(i) An examination of the plan and the mode of construction of the forts studied in the preceding chapters in relation to the standard silpa texts, dealing with In the preceding chapters the forts in the capital places are described and their architectural features as well as strategic significance are critically discussed. Now it would be worthwhile to examine what traditional knowledge had been at the root in planning these forts. Ofcourse, theoretical canons in general could not have been implicitly followed in the construction of the forts by their builders, for each region and period on the one hand and the existing political conditions as well as actual equipment and methods of war on the other would indirectly influence the planning of a matching fort. Obviously, therefore, there should be some innovations which do not find place in or subscribe to the descriptions in the canons. It is with this understanding, let us try to examine how far the forts studied conform to some important treatises on polity and architecture that deal with the construction of forts. And in such relative examination, it would be possible to trace the regional variations and possibly the reasons for such special devices. However, it should also be noted that the forts that have been discussed are not intact and have undergone substantial changes or inruins. Consequently, it is not possible always to find out the relative significance between the extant forts and the traditional texts.