• 1 The author would like to thank Alex Bremner and two anonymous readers, who commented extensively o (...)
• 2 The 1834 tour is documented in the published letters. Ibid., p. 178-184; and James Fergusson, “Let (...)

1James Fergusson (1808-1886) was one of the most significant architectural historians of the nineteenth century, whose books were widely read in Britain, America, India and Australia. He was born in the Scottish town of Ayr (fig. 1). His father, Dr. William Fergusson, served as an assistant surgeon in the British army, which involved spending time in remote locations, including the West Indies. This aspect of William’s career played a part in James’s appreciation of travel. However, he was educated in Britain not overseas. James enrolled as a student at the Royal High School in Edinburgh, to later shift to a private school in Hounslow, to the west of the centre of London. In 1829, family connections made it possible to travel to Bengal, where he met his elder brother, William, a partner in the Calcutta-based business of Fairlie, Fergusson, and Co. Having been employed for a short period of time in the firm, he moved from the highly Anglicized city of Calcutta to work as an indigo planter in the small town of Jessore, 100 kilometres to the northeast.1 Much of the next few years was spent securing his fortune. With this accomplished, Fergusson left the world of commerce to travel thorough India and study its monuments (fig. 2). Free of pressing commitments, he made extensive journeys throughout India, recording observations in letters to his sister and in a diary. Fergusson first toured beyond Bengal in 1834, making several more trips before taking a ship from Bombay in March 1839. Rather than return to Scotland, he lived in London, devoting the rest of his life to the study of architecture. Fergusson’s friend William White referred to a return visit to India in 1845.2

• 3 For a discussion of methodological issues associated with Scotland, England and the British empire (...)
• 4 For representations related to the trip, see Tapati Guha-Thakurta, Monuments, Objects, Histories.  (...)

2In contributing to scholarship on Fergusson, this essay considers the implications of his Scottish networks for an account of India’s architecture, where styles were defined as “pure,” “natural,” and “native.”3 He believed that builders used their common sense when constructing and adorning an edifice. Fergusson’s work between 1829 and 1839 encompassed drawing and documenting aspects of life in India. He was concerned with the people, as well as their ceremonies, agricultural practices, and methods of constructing buildings.4 Analysis of these will be based on Fergusson’s letters to his sister and an unpublished diary, written between 1834 and 1839. These documents, which have never been considered in detail in research on Fergusson before, introduced ideas that remained central to his later publications on architecture. His time spent in business, both within the Scottish firm in Calcutta and then his own in Jessore, involved growing crops for opium and indigo. While agriculture associated with export ensured Fergusson’s wealth, its dire implications for people in India were conceded, albeit indirectly, in his letters and a travel diary. These referred to the misuse of fertile land. He associated good agricultural practices with architecture. The two arts were deemed natural, because they belonged to their particular locations and were cultivated in a common-sensical manner. Fergusson was impressed by the way workers respected “natural” principles when constructing buildings. His connection to Scotland was germane to an understanding of India, particularly the notion that its buildings are “pure” and conform to a category later termed the “true styles.”

• 10 The most influential formulation of the category of the sublime was Edmund Burke, A Philosophical (...)

6The aesthetic category of the sublime, rather than the picturesque, was invoked in Fergusson’s account for an attraction to a disorienting and repellent ritual and space. Central to his stereotypical account of the East as Other is the assumed superiority of European civilization. His gaze is that of an enlightened Westerner, who momentarily delights in a strange, confused, and claustrophobic spatial experience, but ultimately remains in control.10

• 11 In a letter sent from Bindrabun, in 1838, Fergusson refers to the usefulness of this portable opti (...)
• 12 James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, London: John Murray, 1876. For an ove (...)

7Fergusson’s third mode of interpreting architecture, namely discerning the “real” India, was introduced in the last sentence of his account of the temple in Benares, where he woke from a trance to “examine the place more in detail.” He was no longer concerned with sensations, such as the “creeping horror through the blood.” Comments based on cultural conventions and subjective aesthetic experiences, whether picturesque or sublime, were discarded in favour of the detached scientific observer. Orientalism now underpinned a terseness of language that conforms to a proclaimed neutrality. With an emphasis on straightforward, incisive descriptions, this mode of writing was complemented by accurate visual recordings of buildings. When travelling in the 1830s, precise drawings of monuments were made with the aid of his camera lucida.11 Fergusson’s research in London from the late 1850s continued with the aid of photographs sent from India. Valued as even more accurate in depicting a monument, photographs of buildings were essential to the classification of styles in the History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (1876).12 Fergusson’s letters and diary therefore allude to three interpretations of architecture. His memories of Edinburgh added to an appreciation of the picturesque beauty of India’s towns. The aesthetic category of the sublime was invoked to convey the unsettling effects of dark and confined architectural spaces. According it the third approach, buildings described in an accurate manner refer to the real India.

• 13 The “scientific gaze” and European travel reportage are addressed in Barbara Stafford, Voyage into (...)

8The works of English and Scottish scholars offer insight into Fergusson account of architecture in India, particularly its “pure” styles. According to his An Historical Inquiry into the True Principles of Beauty in Art, More Especially with Reference to Architecture from 1849, Francis Bacon (1561-1626) introduced an experimental and empirical approach to research, where an author presents accurately the substance of phenomena, stripped of subjective interpolations.13 Fergusson claimed to have endorsed this in his architectural writings. He also respected nineteenth-century orientalist scholarship, because scientific principles were applied to the investigation of languages and texts. A stimulus for his work was acknowledged in a lecture delivered in 1866 to the Royal Society of Arts, titled “On the Study of Indian Architecture.” Fergusson looked back on the years spent in India:

• 15 For a discussion of the work of other orientalists, such as William Jones, Nathaniel Halhed and Ch (...)

9While Prinsep (1799-1840) was born and died in England, he spent a major part of his life in India, working on ancient Brahmi and Kharosthi scripts. His knowledge of Sanskrit writings and Hindu religion was highly regarded. When residing in Calcutta during the 1830s, Prinsep became the founding editor of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. A prominent figure within the cultural life of the city, his work as an orientalist impressed Fergusson. Prinsep was an inspiration for an aspect of the younger man’s life in Bengal, namely the decision to shift from the world of business to that of scholarship.15 Fergusson began a new career, in which India’s architectural styles were to be analysed in a scientific manner.

• 16 Ian Duncan, “Hume and the Scottish Enlightenment in the Edinburgh History of Scottish Literature,” (...)
• 17 Jane Rendell, “Scottish Orientalism from Robertson to James Mill,” The Historical Journal, vol. 25 (...)
• 18 See Martha McLaren, British India and British Scotland, 1780-1830: career building, empire buildin (...)
• 19 Martha McLaren, British India and British Scotland, op. cit. (note 18), p. 11-12, 119-128.

10During the eighteenth century, Scottish authors like David Hume, Adam Smith, William Robertson, Adam Ferguson, John Millar and Thomas Reid were concerned with the nature of a human being.16 As noted by Jane Rendell, these Enlightenment thinkers recognized that the “history of the development of language was integrally related to the history of the human mind.”17 This underscored ideas about people at different times and in different places of the world. The doctrines of the Scottish Enlightenment remained vital to scholars in the early nineteenth century, who delivered lectures at the universities in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Teachers such as Dugald Stewart had an impact on students, some of whom subsequently left Scotland to find employment as administrators in India.18 The successful careers of Thomas Monroe and Mountstuart Elphinstone depended on their research into India’s languages and writings. Ideas set out in the Scottish Enlightenment were disseminated by these two men, as well as another Scotsman of equal renown, John Malcom.19 The orientalist studies of Monroe, Elphinstone and Malcom, as well as Prinsep, contribute to an understanding of Fergusson’s work. Yet while recognizing the significance of languages and texts, he believed that buildings are the most compelling and reliable as guides for fathoming India’s past and present.

• 20 On James Mill, see Thomas Metcalf, An Imperial Vision, op. cit. (note 15), p. 22, and Jane Rendell(...)
• 21 See Jane Rendell, “Scottish Orientalism: From Robertson to James Mill,” op. cit. (note 17), p. 45- (...)
• 22 Theodore Koditschek, Liberalism, Imperialism, and the Historical Imagination: Nineteenth-Century V (...)
• 23 Ibid., p. 87-88.

11The Scottish Enlightenment was invoked in nineteenth-century conceptions of India, including those of James Mill, Vans Kennedy, and Fergusson. These three scholars were born and grew up in Scotland. Only Mill did not spend time in India. Having left Scotland to live in London, he worked on The History of British India, which was published in 1817.20 For him, a society is characterised by connections between the economy, government, culture and the life of the people.21 He also focussed on a hierarchy of societies. With Mill arguing that despotism permeates all facets of India, it was placed near the bottom of this ladder. Britain was situated well above. By contrasting Indian’s decline with Britain’s progress, he justified the supreme rule of the Raj. Indeed, British administrators in India need not interact with indigenous people.22 This account of India provoked critical responses from Scottish orientalists who, unlike Mill, lived in India and studied its languages and writings. Kennedy, for instance, delivered a talk at the Bombay Literary Society on the 29th of February I820, titled “Remarks on the sixth and seventh chapters of Mill’s The History of British India, respecting the religion and manners of the Hindus.”23 According to Kennedy, Mill’s book had errors of judgement, which stemmed from his claim that a lack of comprehension of India’s languages assisted in writing an objective history. Mill’s definition of Hindu society as debased was rejected by Kennedy, who stressed its existence over a long period of time, as well as admirable customs and literature. Moreover, Kennedy believed that a scholarly work could foster connections, not differences, between India and Britain. Mill’s ideas were addressed directly by Kennedy and indirectly by Fergusson. Like Mill, Fergusson was born in Scotland but lived most of his life in London. Indebted to Scottish Enlightenment writers, they both viewed a society as a totality, which has a place within a hierarchy of civilizations. As will be shown, Mill’s distinction between India and Britain was endorsed by Fergusson, who stressed the impoverished nature of Hindu religion and art. Mill’s disapproval of all aspects of India’s society, however, was questioned by Kennedy and Fergusson, with the latter admiring architecture. Scottish Enlightenment moral philosophers, such as Thomas Reid, were invoked by Fergusson when stressing that common sense was, and remains, an attribute of people in India, who construct and then embellish their buildings. The resulting styles of architecture are esteemed as “pure.”

• 24 James Fergusson, Diary, op. cit. (note 2), p. 73a-b (8 February 1839).
• 25 Ibid., p. 27b (8 December 1838).
• 26 Fergusson appears to have formulated a theory of race in the late 1840s; and refined it in the fol (...)

13The notion that India is inferior to the West was relevant to Mill’s book, as well as Fergusson’s letters and diary, written when travelling through the country and scrutinizing the occupants. His diary contains several physiognomic portraits, one of which involved observing his bearers and guides. Some had “dark features,” while others, “the hill people,” had a fairer complexion, with noses that are “sharp and pointed.” There were also “two very fine specimens—easily distinguished by their handsome European caste of features.”24 The superiority of a Western physiognomy was emphasized in a note concerning handsome women who were “fair—the features almost Grecian.”25 An ideal of Western physical beauty contributed to his assessment of Indians. The inferiority of the “natives” was explained “scientifically” in Fergusson’s books from the late 1840s and 50s, which introduced his theory of races. Indians were categorized as primarily Turanian, a racial group that lacked the capacity to progress.26 Hence, in his view, the decayed state of Indian society.

• 27 James Fergusson, Diary, op. cit. (note 2), p. 9b, 10b and 11a (24 June 1837).

14The ideas of Enlightenment authors in France, including Montesquieu, were endorsed by Mill and Fergusson, who stressed India’s lack of civilization and despotism. While on tour to Orissa in 1837, he viewed a religious ceremony near Puri. Having keenly described “the Spectacle,” Fergusson stressed the “absurdity and childishness” of fanning the sculptures of the Gods to keep them cool. This whole event was a “serious folly” that “reminded me of [a] pantomime.”27 He discussed secular rituals by alluding to the social order, which was represented by dress codes and processions. Writing in October 1838, Fergusson noted that at Lucknow there was a

• 31 See Edward Said, Orientalism, op. cit. (note 10), p. 28.
• 32 See James Fergusson, “Letters,” op. cit. (note 2), p. 310 (25 October 1838).

17Fergusson’s work contributed to the body of knowledge known as orientalism, which contrasts stasis or decline in the East with progress in the West.31 This informed his view that India was the still-living embodiment of the society that prevailed during the European Middle Ages. The Lucknow parade prompted his reflection: “But who does not love to read of the gay pageants of our forefathers, when in the same state of advancement as these people are?”32 He applied the social and historical sentiments expressed here to architecture, arguing that current building practices in India revealed the working methods employed by Gothic masons. Before exploring these ideas, however, attention is devoted to the analogy between the arts of agriculture and architecture.

• 33 James Fergusson, Diary, op. cit. (note 2), p. 42b (5 January 1839). For similar comments, see Ibid(...)
• 34 Ibid., p. 81a (10 February 1839). Travelling near Agra in January 1839, Fergusson implicated the B (...)
• 35 Ibid., p. 31b (23 December 1838).
• 36 Ibid., p. 109a (14 March 1839). Fergusson was travelling from Neemula to Bombay, where the state o (...)
• 37 James Fergusson, “Our Indian Architecture,” Quarterly Review, vol. 103, no. 205, 1858, p. 253-278.

18Agriculture adds to an understanding of Fergusson’s work, particularly because the practices that established his wealth in Bengal were questioned when referring to an ideal, which pertained to the well-being of people in India. Scottish business networks underpinned his role in the Calcutta firm of Fairlie, Fergusson, and Co., as well as the ability to set out alone in Jessore. Fergusson was aware that trade in opium and indigo disrupted the lives of local agricultural workers, adding to their poverty and servitude. Problems faced by the peasants led to their major revolt in Jessore during the late 1850s. Having left the world of commerce, he chose not to refer to an involvement in foreign trade. This is evident in the letters and diary. As a traveller, Fergusson’s recently acquired knowledge of agriculture was invoked in discussions of a way of cultivating the soil. He referred to India’s misguided or corrupt forms of government. In a typical statement from the diary, Fergusson noted in 1839 that “[t]he government of these states must be miserable indeed to leave desolate such noble plains as I have passed.”33 The British were occasionally criticized. Journeying from Agra to Bombay in early 1839, he explained that “a few years of steady government might bring all the plain under the plough—but is I fear not to be hoped for—I once thought the Mahamatton the worst government in India but I fear the rightful Lords are just as bad. They all take all they can squeeze.”34 However, Fergusson never questioned Britain’s potential to rule wisely; and was confident improvements would be implemented. The capacity to change, after all, was a defining attribute of the West: “We certainly have ground the people to a fearful state—but we are a civilized people and may improve our Government of this country.”35 Reforms must come from the British. Fergusson believed the “native princes” could still be protected, so long as a more integrated rule was fashioned. A stabilizing and productive class had to fill the present void “between the Prince and his greedy sycophants and the oppressed slave.”36 These ideas were reiterated in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny (or Great Sepoy Revolt), when he called upon the British middle-class to take on this mediating role.37

• 38 William Cobbett, Rural Rides, [1rst published in 1830], Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1967. For a study (...)

19Like William Cobbett’s Rural Rides, written when travelling in the south of England during the 1820s, Fergusson’s letters and diary from the 1830s note the impoverishment of the countryside.38 Both authors associated unproductive land with the political interests of individuals removed from the places of production. Reflecting on the devastation wrought by poor management in India, Fergusson envisaged an alternative, where good government promoted traditions of cultivating crops. These would be sustained not undermined.

• 39 Fergusson developed these ideas, outlining the relationship between the different arts. See James (...)

20Fergusson’s appraisals of agriculture coincided with his earliest statements about “pure” architecture. For him, agriculture provides nourishment, while architecture creates shelter. These two arts are essential to the survival of a human being. Moreover, they belong to a region, defined in terms of its local materials, as well as labour skills developed over time.39 This theory of architecture informed his discussions of building practices in past and present India. During the 1834 visit to Benares, he wrote a letter that identified two styles of architecture: one, like good agriculture, belonged to its setting; the other, copied alien Italian forms:

• 42 Ibid., p. 312. (Letters from Bindrabun, 10 November 1838 and 6 June 1839).

23Fergusson documented Italian influences in India’s recent and current buildings, suggesting that a transformation in architectural practice was unfortunately beginning. When at Bindrabun (Vrindavan) in November 1838, he described a “temple built within the last twenty or thirty years by a Calcutta banker.” It comprised “very pretty” parts like the sikra in a “pure Hindoo style” as well as an arcade exhibiting the “sad symptoms of degeneration into that debased style of corrupt Italian architecture prevalent in Calcutta.”42 Fergusson endorsed a principle, where the cultivation of a plant applies to the arts of agriculture and architecture. The latter involved constructing a building that is not “exotic” but “pure” because based on common sense.

• 43 This argument would form the core of his theory as stated in James Fergusson, An Historical Inquir (...)
• 44 James Fergusson, “Letters,” op. cit. (note 2), p. 310 (Letter from Lucknow, 25 October1838).
• 45 Fergusson’s more detailed account of the disruption to Indian styles through copying of European f (...)

24Fergusson’s account of modern India as a living expression of medieval Europe led to consideration of the architectural problem of copyism. The present in India reminded him of an historical crisis in the West, when the prevailing “true style” of the Gothic was undermined by Italian Renaissance architects, who instituted the principle of imitating classical buildings.43 Renaissance monuments were flawed because they were “exotic.” India’s “pure” architecture was similarly threatened. Writing from Lucknow in October 1838, he identified the “debased” style of a new building for the present King. According to Fergusson, the builders “have not yet ventured to introduce Italian pillars or entablatures into it, but the forms are approaching to it, just as the Gothic in England did in the early part of Elizabeth’s reign.”44 He admired India’s current “natural” traditions and the West’s medieval architecture.45

• 46 The same argument could be applied to the jarring presence of Western clothing in the East, in thi (...)

25Fergusson’s dismay with the expressions of the colonial society in India, to which he belonged, underscored his attack on copyism in architecture.46 Having succeeded in businesses that depended on connections with Scotland, he could travel in India. The letters and diary ignored his recent work in Calcutta and Jessore, to focus on agricultural practices that benefitted, rather than diminished, the lives of workers. This was accompanied by the perception of architecture’s “pure” styles. When documenting India’s buildings, he praised traditional “specimens.” A letter from Agra, sent to his sister in July 1834, noted that:

• 48 See Peter Kohane, “James Fergusson’s Theory of Architecture: Construction and Ornament,” in Anurad (...)

27According to Fergusson, Indian monuments from all periods of history were constructed according to a common-sensical process, whereby the structure was completed and then enriched by ornaments, including sculptures. This was identified when travelling in the country between 1834 and 1839. Fergusson’s letters and diary refer to workers, who were constructing buildings in a “natural” manner. He endorsed their strategy in books, including the True Principles of Architecture of 1849 and the History of Indian and Eastern Architecture from 1876.48 According to these publications, Indian buildings belonged to the category of the “true styles.”

• 49 James Fergusson, An Historical Inquiry into the True Principles of Beauty in Art, op. cit. (note 1 (...)

28At the beginning of the True Principles of Architecture, Fergusson stressed that a valuable compositional strategy was “elaborated from a study of Indian, Mahomedan, and Gothic architecture.”49 He fathomed an architectural logic, which was vital to contemporary buildings in the East and medieval ones in the West. The Gothic was Europe’s last “true style.” Referring to ensuing developments in Britain, he noted that

• 51 For Fergusson’s theory of progress, see Ibid., p. 1-174. His analysis of the negative impact of th (...)
• 52 James Fergusson, “On the Study of Indian Architecture,” op. cit. (note 14), p. 71.
• 53 For a discussion of the relationship between the buildings of India and the modern West, see Matth (...)

29The split between architecture and society in the West occurred in Italy during the fifteenth century, when designers copied ancient classical forms to create the first of the “false styles.”51 Buildings constructed during and since the Renaissance were nothing but copies of past works; irrelevant to, and unworthy of, their dynamic and progressive societies. Fergusson demanded an architectural style in the present that conformed with progressive achievements of the nineteenth century. His lecture to the Royal Society of Arts in 1866 outlined the way to proceed: the “true principles” of India’s buildings have a “bearing on our own architectural development.”52 India was pivotal to his theory because it remained committed to a common-sensical way of building. Yet for him, the “true principles” could also be discerned in European medieval architecture. Indian and Gothic buildings must not be copied; but assist in re-establishing universally valid principles in the West.53

• 56 James Fergusson, “Letters,” op. cit. (note 2), p. 311. (Letter from Deeg, 9 November 1838). On the (...)
• 57 James Fergusson, “Letters,” op. cit. (note 2), p. 311.

33Although specific design strategies were not addressed, Fergusson identified a distinction between the construction of an edifice and its embellishment. The compositional theme was addressed more thoroughly in a letter of November 1838 to his sister, which considered an eighteenth-century edifice at Deeg. The building was left in an incomplete state. He noted that “I know of no modern building in India so completely satisfactory, altogether in such good taste, as the palace at Deeg.”56 This exemplary “specimen” was based on two themes. The first one was addressed in a comment about the function of forms, particularly the sloping shape of the lower of the building’s two cornices: “At first its appearance is rather disagreeable to a European eye, but one soon becomes accustomed to it, after observing its use in throwing off the rain and in covering the upper end of the purdahs” (fig. 4).57 Secondly, Fergusson found confirmation for his view that Indian buildings were always constructed in a simple and direct manner, with ornaments added at a later stage.

• 60 James Fergusson, An Historical Inquiry into the True Principles of Beauty in Art, op. cit. (note 1 (...)

37In the History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, Fergusson recalled spending time scrutinizing buildings in India “until I could read in the chisel marks […] the ideas that guided the artist in his designs, till I could put myself by his side and identify myself with him through his work.”60 He explained that buildings in the East played a part in fathoming the flawed nature of architecture in the West:

• 62 James Fergusson, Illustrations of the Rock-cut Temples of India, London: Weale, 1845; and James Fe (...)
• 63 James Fergusson, “On the Study of Indian Architecture,” op. cit. (note 14), p. 71.
• 64 For a discussion of Fergusson’s concern to write general books, especially those that identify con (...)

41The home incorporated an impressive library, where Fergusson wrote his essays and books, including several devoted to Indian architecture. Two early monographs were titled Illustrations of Rock Cut Temples of India (1845) and Picturesque Illustrations of Ancient Architecture in Hindostan (1848).62 He conceded that these failed in commercial terms: “the public were not then prepared for such works, and, like most authors in a similar predicament, I tired of publishing expensive books which nobody bought, or read […].”63 Fergusson then directed his energies to monographs on general themes, including The Illustrated Handbook of Architecture (1855) and A History of the Modern Styles of Architecture (1862).64

• 65 James Fergusson, “Our Indian Architecture,” op. cit. (note 37) p. 253-278. The British Government’ (...)
• 66 Ibid., p. 254.
• 67 John Ruskin, The Two Paths (1859), in John Ruskin, Works, Edward Tyas Cook and Alexander Wedderbur (...)
• 68 James Fergusson, “Our Indian Architecture,” op. cit. (note 37), p. 271.

42The Indian Mutiny (or Great Sepoy Revolt) of May 1857 prompted Fergusson to focus intently on India. He addressed the “mighty and unexpected revolution” in an essay, which appeared in the January 1858 issue of the Quarterly Review. Although ostensibly on the subject of “Our Indian Architecture” [italics added], emphasis was placed on social and political issues.65 Fergusson explained that “India is now the country towards which all eyes are turned; and Indian questions […] are everywhere of the most engrossing interest.”66 He linked the Revolt to misguided decisions by government, rather than the racial inferiority of the citizens, as writers like John Ruskin would do.67 Fergusson suggested changes. English “peaceful settlers” should live in contact with the “natives” and thereby replace the “soldiers or all-powerful civilians, backed, as they are, by the whole power of a despotic Government.”68 Moreover, the British at home and abroad must learn about India to rule effectively.

• 70 James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, op. cit. (note 12). For discussions o (...)

44Fergusson’s work on India may have begun with letters and a diary, written when travelling, but his statements were too fragmentary to serve as a foundation for classifying the country’s inhabitants and buildings. Additional study in London was recalled in the talk from 1866, which referred to India in terms of “well-defined local provinces” and “ethnological divisions of the people.” Yet ten more years of research were required to complete the History of Indian and Eastern Architecture. This was published in 1876, the year that Queen Victoria became Empress of India.70

• 71 James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, op. cit. (note 12), p. 4. In the same (...)
• 72 See James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, op. cit. (note 12) p. 34. While F (...)
• 73 These were dated to the first century AD. See Benjamin Rowland, The Art and Architecture of India, (...)
• 74 Fergusson noted that these were constructed in the fourth and fifth centuries AD. They are now dat (...)
• 75 Fergusson’s account of Buddhist sculpture is considered by Partha Mitter, Much Maligned Monsters, (...)
• 76 James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, op. cit. (note 12) p. 34-35.

45Mill’s monograph on India was invoked in Fergusson’s History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, particularly the latter’s statement that “It cannot of course be for one moment contended that India ever reached the intellectual supremacy of Greece, or the moral greatness of Rome.”71 The religions and races of India determined its low place in a hierarchy of societies. According to Fergusson’s book on India, religion played a part in the quality of sculptures adorning an edifice. He was impressed by Buddhist monuments. An early example, located at Bharhut, was esteemed for sculptures with remarkable naturalistic characteristics.72 A loss of precision was identified in the carvings of the later gateways at Sañci.73 The ensuing sculptures of Amaravati did not fit into the theme of deterioration. Such works of art were later in date, yet acclaimed by Western-trained observers.74 Fergusson’s explanation took into consideration the notion that the decline of Indian art can be arrested by the influence of a superior society, namely the Indo-Greek colonies in Bactria.75 With a Greek “parent” style, the Amaravati sculptures “may probably be considered as the culminating point attained by the art in India.”76 The country’s highest achievement in sculpture was a Buddhist monument, inspired, albeit indirectly, by Greece. As the Greek influence dwindled, India’s artistic flowering came to an end. Fergusson’s History of Indian and Eastern Architecture argued that decline characterised religions and art. For him, Buddhism succumbed to the corrupt and superstitious faith of Hinduism, which is evident in its overly ornate and decadent sculptures and buildings. His studies of Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic styles led to the view that

• 79 James Fergusson, History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, op. cit. (note 12), p. 324.
• 80 See Thomas Metcalf, An Imperial Vision, op. cit. (note 15), p. 242-243.

48This invoked a theme of the Scottish Enlightenment, which involved the relationship between language and the mind of a human being. Fergusson also recalled the later work of orientalists in India, whose deciphering of texts was critical to understanding people in locations and past periods. Inspired by the achievements of Prinsep, Fergusson stressed that the “natural” and “pure” architectural styles of India also offered insight into societies and links between them. A building was important because it stays in a place and may not change over time. Moreover, by the 1840s, he stressed the connection between a monument and the race of the people who built it. However, this theory was inconclusive, as evident in the History of Indian and Eastern Architecture. One problem pertained to Fergusson’s account of the people of Northern India, who were a mix of Aryan invaders from the North and indigenous Turanians. When defining these two races in terms of fixed, unchanging attributes, he claimed that the Aryans are intellectual and literary, while the inferior Turanians are enthusiastic builders. He could only demonstrate that all Indian styles, even the admired Buddhist, were constructed by the native Turanian races.79 The Aryan presence in India, however, established a link between Britain and India. Yet at the same time, the Turanian races were associated with the impoverished state of Indian society. For him, racial differences explained contemporary Britain’s progressive nature and justified its rule of a declining India.80

• 81 Fergusson’s account of India’s past architecture contributed to the design of buildings that were (...)

49With photographs sent from India to London between the late 1850s and the 1870s, Fergusson completed the History of Indian and Eastern Architecture. Religions and races were taken into consideration when proving to his own satisfaction that decline is the characteristic of India. Fergusson acquired and organized a body of knowledge about India that was useful to the West. The comprehensive survey and classification of architecture conformed to Britain’s imperial ambitions; and he was recognized by contemporaries as the foremost authority on India’s architecture.81