The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c7.314

v1.c7.314

[17] The last argument applies equally to the Egyptians. The characteristics of Indian architecture of the first three centuries before the Christian era as preserved in the pillars of Aśoka, the caves of Khaṇḍagiri and Behar, and the bas-reliefs of Sāñci, bear no evidence whatever of their being of Egyptian origin. The pilasters, doorways, cornices, brackets, and mouldings of the time were totally different, and cannot by any stretch of imagination be approximated to the land of the Pharaohs. Professor W. H. Hoskings, the author of the article on architecture in the *Encyclopaedia Britannica*, is of opinion that "in its leading forms and more obvious features, Hindu architecture strongly resembles Egyptian, and may be considered as of the same family with it". (III. p. 434). But the authority of Mr. Fergusson on this subject is of far greater importance, and it is decidedly against the supposition. No one, who has seen drawings of ancient Indian buildings, and has placed them beside the magnificient illustrations of the *Description de l' Egypte* will for a moment entertain the smallest suspicion on the subject.¹⁵