Chandragupta Maurya and His Times c15.178

c15.178

Megasthenes makes the following general statement on the cities of Maurya India: "Of their cities, it is said that the number is so great that it cannot be stated with precision, but that such cities as are situated on the banks of rivers or on the sea-coast are built of wood, for where they are built of brick they would not last long—so destructive are the rains, and also the rivers when they overflow their banks and inundate the plains. Those cities, however, which stand on commanding situations and lofty eminences are built of brick and mud" [McCrindle's *Megasthenes and Arrian*, p. 209].