Urban studies are comparatively a recent field of discipline, though cities and towns have been in existence for centuries. Very few scholars in India have shown interest in the study of the complex process of urbanisation in ancient India. The present study is primarily aimed at removing this desideratum. Here, apart from theoretical considerations, an attempt has been made to highlight the manifold manifestations of urbanisation in the past-a totally new field of ancient Indian studies. Answers have been sought for such questions as: What was the class structure of urbanism? What was the cultural milieu of different urban social groups? How did the emerging patterns of successive periods affects urban administration? The origin as well as the decline of towns has been fully discussed. The phase of de-urbanisation in the Gupta and post-Gupta times points to the emerging feudal formation. The monograph on the whole reflects a recent perspective in enquiries of historians of ancient India.
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