History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v4.c62.401.2

v4.c62.401.2

3 and 4) deals at length with the construction of durgas and the laying out of the capital in one of them. He says that in the four quarters of the boundaries of the kingdom forts should be built for offering resistance (to the enemy) on ground naturally fitted for the purpose. He speaks of four kinds of forts viz. '*audaka*' (water-protected, which is on an island surrounded by water or on a plain surrounded by low ground), *pārvata* (mountain one, such as a rocky hill or a cave), *dhānvana* (desert fort, on a waterless tract full of thickets or waste land), a forest fort full of wagtails and water and thickets of reed. He says that the first two are suited for the protection of populous places and the last two for the protection of foresters. Vāyu 8. 108 refers to four kinds of durgas. Manu VII. 70, Śānti 56. 35 and 86. 4-5, Viṣṇudharmasūtra III. 6, Matsya 217. 6-7, Agnipurāṇa 222. 4-5, Viṣṇudharmottara II. 26. 6-9, III. 323. 16-21, Śukra IV. 6 speak of six kinds of forts viz.