1871.] Proceedings of the Asiatie Society. 17 
be effectively made use of by combined action, and of this at pre- 
sent it could hardly be said that there was any. 
_ The following papers were brought before the meeting. 
1. Notes on the district of Dera Ismail Khan, by T. W. H. 
Tolbort, Esq., C. 8. 
This paper contains notes on the history, archeology, and 
natural productions of the district; it will shortly appear in the 
Journal of the Society. 
2. On the antiquity of Indian Architecture, by Babu Rajendra- 
lala Mitra. (<Adstract.) 
The oldest remains that have come to light are the pillars of 
As’oka, and they are not of a greater age than the middle of the 
third century before Christ. Hence an opinion is gaining ground 
that the ancient Aryans were not proficient in the art of building 
substantial edifices with stones and bricks, and that the primitive 
Hindus were dwellers in thatched huts and mud houses. Mr, 
Fergusson, who has adopted this opinion, adds that the Hindus 
learnt the art of building from the Grecians who came to India 
with Alexander, and that the oldest specimens of architecture in the 
country appear to be in the first stage of transition from wood to 
stone. The author combats-these opinions by a number of quota- 
tions from the Rig Veda—a work generally believed to be of the 
same age with the Mosaic chronicles—in which allusions are made to 
fortified towns, large palaces, three-storied dwellings, bricks, pillars 
and other objects which could not have existed without masonry 
works of some kind or other. Quotations are also given from 
Panini, the Rimayana and the Mahibharatha to prove the existence 
of masonry houses at a very early period of Indian history. It is 
denied that the Buddhist religion—a mere reformation of the old 
Hindu faith—could have any influence in originating architecture, 
and the invasion of Alexander, is compared to the recent British 
expedition to Abyssinia, in which very little impression was produced 
on the domestic arts of the Abyssinians. It is difficult to believe 
that Alexander brought any large number of quarriers, masons, and 
architects to leave some behind for the education of the people of 
