Urban Development in Ancient India

In this book, the author traces the genesis and growth of urbanization in India over a vast time span–from Indus civilization to 1250 A.D. It studies the different phases of urban development, their characteristics and intricacies and forcefully argues against the theory of an urban decay in post-Gupta India on the basis of critical examination of a wide range of sources. Starting with a meticulous introduction to the different literary sources, both indigenous and foreign, and the evidences of archaeological explorations, excavations, epigraphy and numismatics, the work outlines in detail the first and second urbanization in ancient India. It chronicles the changing pattern of urbanity from A.D. 300 to 600, the resurgence of the phenomenon from A.D. 600 to 1000, and its efflorescence from A.D. 1000 to 1250 A.D. There is an incisive analysis of the factors that led to the growth of cities and towns, a comprehensive survey of the concept and classification of urban centres in Indian theoretical texts, and the network of trade and commerce, including the various ports and emporia, both coastal and interior. Apart from exhaustive notes and bibliography, it has interesting appendices like ‘unidentified cities and towns mentioned only by Ptolemy’ and ‘a note on feudalism in India’.