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.
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
Hindu (906)
Agriculture (121)
Ancient (1084)
Archaeology (768)
Architecture (551)
Art & Culture (907)
Biography (704)
Buddhist (522)
Cookery (169)
Emperor & Queen (534)
Islam (221)
Jainism (309)
Literary (842)
Mahatma Gandhi (371)
Send as free online greeting card
Email a Friend
Statutory Information
Visual Search
Manage Wishlist