Studies in Ancient Hindu Polity (Based on the Arthashastra of Kautilya), Vol. I c10.s1.42

c10.s1.42

There were various regulations to protect person and property from fire. The danger from fire seems to have been very common, considering the material of which the buildings of the period were mostly constructed, viz. wood instead of stone.² Megasthenes informs us that “ such cities as were situated on the banks of rivers or on the sea-coast were built of wood instead of brick, being meant to last only for a time, so destructive were the heavy rains which poured down; and the rivers also, when they overflowed their banks, inundated the plains; while those cities which stood on commanding situations and lofty eminences were built of brick and mud.”³ It is also known, on the authority of the same Greek ambassador, that Pâṭaliputra, the capital, was surrounded by "a wooden wall pierced with loopholes for the discharge of arrows."¹ Wood seems to have been very extensively used in those days for building and other purposes, and therefore several precautions were taken and several rules laid down governing the use of fire.