Urbanisation in ancient India

Urban studies is 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 de sideratum.

Here, apart from theoretical con siderations, 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 affect urban ad ministration ?

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 mono graph on the whole reflects a recent perspective in enquiries of historians of ancient India.