2. Literature review
2.3 Settlement planning in Vedic period
2.3.6 Origin of Indian cities: types of settlement
Binode B. Dutt grouped the ancient Indian cities as consciously and unconsciously evolved (Dutt, 1925). He argued that, some cities had grown as due to deliberate efforts to improve or expand and some had developed rather organically over the course of time. A city could either be laid out by a certain king or it could be grown from a single patriarchal family. The family grew into a village; the village, being developed into a market-center, evolved into a city (Dutt, 1925). Different literary sources provide different classifications of settlements.
According to the Sailendranath Sen, the literary sources from Vedic period mentions the following categories of settlements in ascending order (Sen, 1999):
1. Griha (গৃহ) or house was the unit of settlement 2. Grama (গ্রাম) consisted of a group of houses 3. Palli (পল্লী), a settlement of wild tribes
4. Kheta (বেত), a place fortified by a mud wall or by river or hill surrounding it 5. Kharvata (খরেট), a poor town surrounded by a low wall, while according to
Kautilya, it was the center of a union of 200 villages
6. Dronamukha (বরাণমুখ), a town with a harbor like Bhrigukachcha or Tamralipti, Kautilya describes it as the center of a union of 400 villages
7. Pattana (পট্টনা), a large town or a center of trade while according to another version, a mart for precious metals or a mining center.
28 8. Matamba (মাতম্ব), an open town associated with a cluster of 10,000 villages;
according to another interpretation, it was a fortified place in which the product from the field was deposited for safe custody
9. Nagara (নগর), a town exempted from paying any of the 18 taxes levied on a village.
10. Rajadhani (রাজধানী), capital of a kingdom 11. Nigama (ননগম), settlement of merchants and 12. Samvatta-kotta, a fortified place for refuge.
The Mānasāra and Mayamata are contextually located in southern India and describe seven types of town as follows (Sachdev, 2011):
1. Kevala Nagar (ব েল-নগর): literally meaning ‘ordinary town’, this has four gates located at cardinal point; it is heavily populated, being full of merchants and markets, dwellings for all classes and temples for all Gods.
2. Rajadhaniya Nagar (রাজধানী নগর) or a royal capital: keeping royal palace at the center, the city is inhabited by numerous wealthy people. It is in the center of the kingdom and is preferably located on the banks of a river; it has lofty gateways, temples, gardens, and contains people of all classes.
3. Pura (পুর) is a town frequented by buyers and sellers, busy with trading activity.
It is like a capital city (above) but is located in forested country. It has temples of seven gods and is inhabited by people of all classes.
4. Kheta (বেত), meaning ‘field’ is an agricultural town situated next to a river or in close proximity to mountain, with dwellings of the lowest class.
5. Kharvata (খরেট) is a town surrounded by mountains and pastures and inhabited by people of all classes.
6. Kubjaka ( ুব্জ ) is a town situated between a kheta and a kharvata (as described above). It has a large and mixed population without a surrounding rampart.
7. Pattana (পট্টনা) is a coastal trading town. Its stretches along the coast and is protected by a rampart. It has dwellings of various castes with a strong mercantile community conducting import and export of goods such as jewels, silk cloth, camphor, and precious stones. Products of other countries are found here.
29 The plan of an Indo-Aryan town can be considered as a grand scale representation of the plan of an Indo-Aryan village (Grama, গ্রাম). According to the rules depicted in Mānasāra and Mayamata, we find two central cross-roads and a peripheral pathway surrounding the village or a city. Both treaties poses the same methodology for dividing the wards and distributing them among the inhabitants based on their social class, caste and profession. There are same rules for placing the communal temple, gathering spaces, tanks or wells, gateways and towers at cardinal points and bounding conditions.
This similarity in the plan facilitated the process of developing and extending a village into a town. In other words, an Indo-Aryan town is a congregation of multiple villages (Dutt, 1925).
In order to ensure administrative efficiency, the fortress was placed in the midst of villages, which were grouped under their jurisdiction and supervision. A Sthaniya (স্থানীয়; a fortress) was supposed to be placed in the middle of eight hundred villages, a Dronamukha in the center of four hundred villages, a Kharvatika in the center of two hundred villages and a Sangrahana (সংগ্রহণ) in the middle of ten villages. The Shilpa Shastras emphasized that every new ruling dynasty should layout its own capital. King Bhoja said that residing in a city founded by enemy or even another ruler could be suicidal for a king (Dutt, 1925).
Samarangana Sutradhara suggests the relative sizes of settlements in terms of the organization of the population. A Rajdhani is surrounded by several Shakha Nagar (োখা-নগর) or satellite towns. Karvat is a sub-category of such a satellite town. A ‘lesser’
Karvat is termed as a Nigam.
Rajavallabha (রাজেল্লভ), a fifteenth century text from western India categorize the settlements according to their relative sizes: ½ Nagara (town) = a Grama (village), ½ Grama = a Kheta (as above); ½ Kheta = a Kuta ( ূট ; similar to a Kubjaka, as above);
½ Kuta = a Kharvata. A large nation (Rashtra, রাষ্ট্র or state) has 9,090 or 9,064 Grama or villages, a medium sized nation has 5,384 and a small nation has 1,548 villages. All nations must contain the seven types of cities (Sachdev, 2011).
30 Again, the references from the texts are mere guidelines. They can neither be perceived as strict acts or rules, nor do they describe the actual scenario. The relation between theory and practice can be described as interactive (Sachdev, 2011).
The cities were mostly located at the crossings of the great highways, which were used as trade-routes. River sites, sea coasts and the mouth of rivers were among the critical site forces. River was a means of communication within and out of the area under jurisdiction as well as a natural resource for water and sanitation. The first Indo-Aryan colonies were located along the plains of Indus and Ganges as the rivers provided them the best routes for their advancement. Besides, a coast belt or, a river side along with a mountain valley can provide natural means of defense against invasion. Therefore, we find the reference of a great many Indo-Aryan settlements in the shape of riparian towns. Many orthodox treaties have made it customary to establish the city on the right bank of the river (Dutt, 1925).
As for example, the ancient renowned town of Saptagrama (সপ্তগ্রাম), which today is modern day Chittagong, was a famous emporium. The towns of Bagerhat (োটগরহাট) in Khulna (খুলনা) and Rampurhat (রামপুরহাট) in Birbhum (েীরভূম), according to Mr. Dutt are expansion of local markets, known as hats. There were academic cities, famous among them are University towns of Nalanda (নালন্দা) and Taxila (তেনেলা). Navadip (নেিীপ) of Bengal was a well-known center for learning Sanskrit. Some cities were famous for crafts and local industries which evolved as a result of local geology and climate. Dacca was famous for Muslin, Krishnanagar ( ৃষ্ণনগর) for clay modelling, Murshidabad (মুনেযদাোদ) for silk clothings and Golkunda (বগালট ান্দ) for diamonds. The name of cities Cuttack ( ট , Kataka), Sealkot (নেয়ালট াট), Nagarkot (নগরট াট) and Mangalkot (মঙ্গলট াট) came from the term ‘Katak’ or ‘Kot’, which means a fort. Some cities originated around a single temple. Etymological references thus, provides in some cases the nature and character of some cities (Dutt, 1925).