The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c26.139

v1.c26.139

We may see something of the aspect of the country, as Megasthenes travelled through it, from his description of the towns built high above the level floods. 'All their towns which are down beside the rivers or the sea are made of wood; for towns built of brick' (i.e. sun-dried mud bricks) 'would never hold out for any length of time with the rains on the one hand, and, on the other, the rivers which rise above their banks and spread a sheet of water over the plains. But the towns which are built on elevated places out of reach, these are made of brick and clay³.' Of Pāṭaliputra itself Megasthenes left a summary description. Built at the confluence of the Ganges and the Son, it formed an oblong, 80 stades by 15 stades (9⅙ miles by 1 m. 1270 yds.) surrounded by a wooden palisade, with loop-holes for the archers to shoot through, and outside the palisade a ditch, 30 cubits (about 60 feet) deep by 6 plethra (200 yards) wide, which served both for defence and as a public sewer. Along the palisade were towers at intervals, 570 in all, and 64 gates⁴. He also described the palace of the great Indian king, no less sumptuous and magnificent than the palaces of Susa and Ecbatana. Attached to it was a goodly park,