A Text-Book of the History of Architecture / Seventh Edition, revised

by A. D. F. Hamlin

Books Recommended: Cole, Monographs of Ancient Monuments of India. Conder, Notes on Japanese Architecture (in Transactions of R.I.B.A., for 1886). Cunningham, Archæological Survey of India. Fergusson, Indian and Eastern Architecture; Picturesque Illustrations of Indian Architecture. Le Bon, Les Monuments de l’Inde. Morse, Japanese Houses. Stirling, Asiatic Researches. Consult also the Journal and the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. The architecture of the non-Moslem countries and races of Asia has been reserved for this closing chapter, in order not to interrupt the continuity of the history of European styles, with which it has no affinity and scarcely even a point of contact. Among them all, India alone has produced monuments of great architectural importance. The buildings of China and Japan, although interesting for their style, methods, and detail, and so deserving at least of brief mention, are for the most part of moderate size and of perishable materials. Outside of these three countries there is little to interest the general student of architecture.

INDIA: PERIODS. It is difficult to classify the non-Mohammedan styles of India, owing to their frequently overlapping, both geographically and artistically; while the lack of precise dates in Indian literature makes the chronology of many of the monuments more or less doubtful. The divisions given below are a modification of those first established by Fergusson, and are primarily based on the three great religions, with geographical subdivisions, as follows:

THE BUDDHIST STYLE, from the reign of Asoka, cir. 250 B.C., to the 7th century A.D. Its monuments occupy mainly a broad band running northeast and southwest, between the Indian Desert and the Dekkan. Offshoots of the style are found as far north as Gandhara, and as far south as Ceylon.

THE JAINA STYLE, akin to the preceding if not derived from it, covering the same territory as well as southern India; from 1000 A.D. to the present time.

THE BRAHMAN or HINDU STYLES, extending over the whole peninsula. They are sub-divided geographically into the NORTHERN BRAHMAN, the CHALUKYAN in the Dekkan, and the DRAVIDIAN in the south; this last style being coterminous with the populations speaking the Tamil and cognate languages. The monuments of these styles are mainly subsequent to the 10th century, though a few date as far back as the 7th.

The great majority of Indian monuments are religious—temples, shrines, and monasteries. Secular buildings do not appear until after the Moslem conquests, and most of them are quite modern.

GENERAL CHARACTER. All these styles possess certain traits in common. While stone and brick are both used, sandstone predominating, the details are in large measure derived from wooden prototypes. Structural lines are not followed in the exterior treatment, purely decorative considerations prevailing. Ornament is equally lavished on all parts of the building, and is bewildering in its amount and complexity. Realistic and grotesque sculpture is freely used, forming multiplied horizontal bands of extraordinary richness and minuteness of execution. Spacious and lofty interiors are rarely attempted, but wonderful effects are produced by seemingly endless repetition of columns in halls, and corridors, and by external emphasis of important parts of the plan by lofty tower-like piles of masonry.

The source of the various Indian styles, the origin of the forms used, the history of their development, are all wrapped in obscurity. All the monuments show a fully developed style and great command of technical resources from the outset. When, where, and how these were attained is as yet an unsolved mystery. In all its phases previous to the Moslem conquest Indian architecture appears like an indigenous art, borrowing little from foreign styles, and having no affinities with the arts of Occidental nations.

BUDDHIST STYLE. Although Buddhism originated in the sixth century B.C., the earliest architectural remains of the style date from its wide promulgation in India under Asoka (272–236 B.C.). Buddhist monuments comprise three chief classes of structures: the stupas or topes, which are mounds more or less domical in shape, enclosing relic-shrines of Buddha, or built to mark some sacred spot; chaityas, or temple halls, cut in the rock; and viharas, or monasteries. The style of the detail varies considerably in these three classes, but is in general simpler and more massive than in the other styles of India.