History of Indian and Eastern Architecture

Born in Scotland, James Fergusson (1808–86) spent ten years as an indigo planter in India before embarking upon a second career as an architectural historian. Although he had no formal training, he became one of the most respected researchers in the field and an expert on India's cave temples. His History of Indian and Eastern Architecture was first published in 1876 and became a standard work. It was revised in this two-volume edition of 1910 by James Burgess (1832–1916), former Director of the Archaeological Survey of India, and Richard Spiers (1838–1916), a noted architect and historian of architecture. Volume 2 covers Jain and Indo-Aryan architecture, Islamic architecture in India, and the buildings of Burma, Cambodia, Thailand and Java. The final chapter looks at Chinese and Japanese temples. Illustrated with nearly 300 maps, plans and drawings, this work of impressive scope remains relevant to students of Indian and Asian architecture and history.