Fortified Cities in Ancient India

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About the Book The present book is a study of those cities of ancient India which were fortified. Many cities emerged in the past in Genetic valley and Otter parts of the country as the Aryans passed through various stages of development.

These cities emerged against rural setting and all were not fortified at the beginning. But as threats to their existence began, they were fortified and equipped with one or two ramparts, ditch and citadel. In remotest time the threat was. local in nature which prompted the, rulers to strengthen the defense of their newly emerged cities.

The book contains stories of several ancient cities and describes various aspects of them together with their present condition. The description is presented in simple language remaining aloof from the controversy as to the factors which gave rise to the emergence of these cities. It is hoped that the reader' and the students will stand benefited in catching a glimpse of their past heritage and culture.

About the Author The author Dr. Ratanlal Mishra is a prolific writer having more than fifty books to his credit. His main subjects of study are history, archaeology, arts and culture After retiring from Government Service as Deputy Director; he has devoted all his time to writing. He has authored four volumes of inscriptions of Rajasthan which contain nearly one thousand inscriptions text and commentary Some of his recently published books are mentioned below.

Preface The urbanization in India has two distinct phases. The first phase consisted of the Harappa cities and the other phase began 1000 years after the collapse of Harappa cities. The Harappa civilization flourished during the middle of the third millennium B.C. It left no surviving urban centers because that civilization had a weak technological base. The second phase was more durable, as it emerged on account of new socio-economic atmosphere. During this period there was wide-spread use of iron technology. which extended to the field of production? This new phase had solid technological background hence it lasted for greater time'.

There are two main sources of our knowledge about the ancient cities. The one is literary and the other is excavation.

There were variant factors which were responsible for transforming the rural economy into urban one. According to the literary sources cities and towns were only founded by the Rajas and the great men. These sources ignore the various factors which gave support to the emergence of new economy. There were several causative factors which influenced urban growth such as increase in food supply, increase in population, craft specialization and marketing and trade, social stratification, religion, secular tourism, education, landlords, defense, warfare irrigation and geography etc.

All the cities and towns which emerged in ancient India had some kind of fortification for defense. Some cities had these fortifications soon after their foundation while others had to wait for some time before they were equipped with such defense.

There is great controversy among the scholars about the various factors which were responsible for the emergence of cities and towns. As the present book is meant for general reader, we need not entangle ourselves in this controversy. Our main aim is to provide the glimpse of ancient cities and towns to the reader.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages