Fergusson, James: A history of architecture in all countries, from the earliest times to the present day: in five volumes (Band 3) (London, 1899)

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BOOK VIII.

FURTHER INDIA.

CHAPTEE L

BURMA II.
CONTEXTS.

Introductory—Ruins of Thatun, Prome, anj Fagan—Circular Dagobas—
Monasteries.

Introductory.

The styles of architecture described in the preceding chapters of
this volume practically exhaust the enumeration of all those which
were practised in India Proper, with its adjacent island of Ceylon,
from the earliest dawn of our knowledge till the present day. It
might, therefore, be possible to treat their description as a work
complete in itself, and to conclude without reference to other styles
practised in neighbouring countries. It will add, however, immensely
not only to the interest but to the completeness of the work, if the
history is continued through the architectural forms of those countries
which adopted religions originating in India, and borrowed with
them architectural forms which expressed, with more or less distinct-
ness, how far their religious beliefs differed from, or agreed with,
those of the country from which they were derived.

The first of these countries to which we naturally turn is Burmah,
which adopted the religion of Sakya Muni at a very early period, and
borrowed also many of the Indian forms of architecture, but with
differences we are now at a loss to account for. It may be, that, as
we know nothing practically of the architectural forms of the Lower
Bengal provinces before the beginning of the 6th century, these
forms may have been taken to Prome and Pegu before that time;
or it may be that a northern or Thibetan element crept into Burmah
across the northern mountains by some route we cannot now follow.
These are interesting problems we shall not be able to solve till

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