The author reveals that this is the first modern monograph to draw together all the strands of India's architectural history from the Vedic and native traditions of early India, through Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic and secular architecture, to the eclecticism of the British Raj. An understanding of Indian history and religion is the basis for the understanding of the complex pattern of relationships in the evolution of its architecture. Therefore, the background material covers major invasions, migrations, dynastic conflicts and cultural and commercial connections, the main religious developments and their significance and repercussions, and external architectural precedents. While avoiding the usual misleading division of the subject into "Buddhist and Hindu" and "Islamic" parts the importance of religion, symbolism and myth to the development of characteristic Indian architectural forms is fully explained. This book, for the first time instead of looking at Indian architecture from the point of view of dynasties, periods or religions, examines the various functions of Indian architecture and traces the various developments in the field beginning with the Indus Valley Civilization under the heads of settlement patterns, houses, residences, palaces, funerary monuments, and religious structures. Within settlement patterns, the author looks at rural and urban patterns and the linkages between the two. He explains regional and period-specific phenomena, while also quoting from ancient accounts of towns.Hundreds of photographs, engravings, and plans and elevations produced to a set of uniform scales are closely integrated with the text, resulting in a book which expresses the richness and complexity of Indian architecture. The present volume is the outcome of a life-long fascination with India.
James Fergusson FRS (1808 – 1886) was a Scottish-born architectural historian, mainly remembered for his interest in Indian historical architecture and antiquities. He was an important figure in the 19th century rediscovery of ancient India. He was originally a businessman, and though not formally trained as an architect, designed some buildings and decorative schemes.He received the gold medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1871. Among his works, besides those already mentioned, are: Palaces of Nineveh and Persepolis restored (1851), Mausoleum at Halicarnassus restored (1862), Tree and Serpent Worship (1868), Rude Stone Monuments in all Countries (1872), and The Temples of the Jews and the other Buildings in the Haram Area at Jerusalem (1878). The sessional papers of the Institute of British Architects include papers by him on The History of the Pointed Arch, Architecture of Southern India, Architectural Splendour of the City of Beejapore, on the Erechtheum and on the Temple of Diana at Ephesus.
