Part 11 - Enclosure of the Settlement of Vārāṇasī

Coming to the more specific issues of urban signs and symbols the clay rampart around the settlement has given rise to much debate regarding its nature and purpose. Wall around a settlement was a criterion of early Indian urbanisation. The Mānasāra prescribes that around every settlement there should be a wall.^[1] At Vārāṇasī however this wall was not consistent. A clay rampart of a maximum height of 10 m. ran in the south. It was probably erected as a protection against flood. In the north a diversion channel connected the Gaṅgā and the Varuṇā. It was also a flood protective measure. It has been approved by the Arthaśāstra that speaks about a similar flood protective device. It prescribes that three moats to be dug round the outside wall of the settlement at an equal distance of one danḍa from each other. They should have an access to a natural water either underground or something else.

The earth obtained from cutting the ditch can be used to make a clay rampart. The rest can be used for filling up the irregularities of the residential area.^[2] These two devices in the north and the south aimed at protecting the settlement from flood. Some wooden planks of a thickness from 3 to 5 km were found in the south to a length of 34 m has already been mentioned. Initially they were thought be method to prevent the settlement from inundating. But they were too fragile for that purpose. Between these wooden planks below and the clay embankment above a 25 cm thick layer of ash, charcoal and potsherds can be seen. Because of the rise in the water level of the Gaṅgāit became urgent to look for some strong and durable device. Therefore, the massive embankment was erected. Those wooden planks probably had nothing to do with flood prevention. These probably served as stairs and ramps or were platforms to load and unload goods in the river bound trade. The clay embankment was built in two phases. In the first phase it was directly built over earth where the wooden planks were absent. In this phase it was made of well rammed, compact, hard and brownish clay, very difficult to dig.

Later in the second phase its height and breadth were further increased. Because this clay structure was found only in places threatened maximum by flood and the outer side of the structure much eroded have substantiated the view that it was an embankment. In the third phase the structure was further heightened by putting mud filling. A kaccha drain passing close to a soak pit also belongs to this phase. Later the drain was filled up and it fell into disuse. As against this view that it was an embankment it has been proposed that even during the devastating flood in 1978, no area in the mound I of Vārāṇasī seemed to be threatened by the flood. Again, instead of being restricted to the river side this structure could be found around the whole settlement and thus strengthening the view that it was not solely an embankment. It safeguarded the settlement from outside attacks, raids of robbers and wild animals and even prevented the flood water to enter into the locality. Literary sources and particularly the Jātakas support that it was a fortification wall. Kauṭilya prescribes that enclosure of the city should have as many as twelve gates.^[3]

The Jātakas tell us that old city of Vārāṇasī had four gates and each gate had an almonry.^[4] Fortified cities and settlement were not uncommon in the contemporary Ganga valley. Ahichatra, Kauśāmbī, Śrāvastī, Vaiśālī, Rājagṛha, Eran, Taxila everywhere similar fortification wall was noted. In most cases the settlement had a mud wall initially which was later heightened, thickened, repaired and supplemented with additional reinforcements. So it appears unlikely that Vārāṇasī will miss it. Considering all these aspects it will be unjust to call it simply authority of the state that could regulate the entry and exit of people or entities to the site. From the depression of on the north and a consequent excavation points to existence of some moats. The mound I of Rajghat was encircled by the moat, but on the north, south and west. The river Varuṇā flanked the other sides and needed no defence mechanism. In the first phase it was dug up. Later it was made wider and deeper and extended up to the mound III and even connected the river Varuṇā and the Gaṅgā.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Prasanna Kumar Acharya, The architecture of Mānasāra, series IV, The village, IX. 107-109, Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, New Delhi, 1980, p.68.

[2]:

The Kauṭilya Arthaśāstra, op.cit, Construction of forts,2.3.4 and 5, p.62.

[3]:

The Kauṭilya Arthaśāstra, op.cit. Lay out of the fortified city, 2.4.2, pp.67,68.

[4]:

Mahāsīlava Jātaka, Translated by Robert Chalmers, in E. B. Cowell ed. Jātaka or the Stories of the Buddha’s Former Births, no.51, Motilal Banarasidass Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, 1990, p. 129.