Indus Valley Civilization (Town Planning) Notes PDF All Exam

Indus Valley Civilization - Town Planning Salient Features For All Competitive Exams #Blog-10

Nov 29, 2021 By Careericons

This article will provide you some important and interesting facts about Indus valley civilisation, that will helpful for all competitive exams like UPSC Prelims (Ancient History) Mains (GS I and optional), SSC, IBPS, Railway Exams.

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BASIC FEATURES OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Town Planning of IVC Society

The most striking feature of the Harappan civilisation is its town planning and sanitation.
Harappan cities such as Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Kalibangan, Dholavira & Surkotada, were divided into two parts - a fortified settlement on the high mounds called ‘citadels’ and the main residential areas called ‘lower town’. ‘Citadel’ was smaller in area than the ‘lower town’ and located to the west of the cities.
Houses were built of Kiln-burnt bricks. At Lothal and Kalinga residential houses were made of sun-dried bricks.
Most of the houses had wells within them and a drainage system carried the wastewater to the main underground drain of the street. The covered drains had soak pits and manholes for clearing.
Some of the houses were double storeyed. Wooden beams were used in making the roofs. The roofs were made of reed matting covered with thick coating mud. A few staircases have been discovered. A wooden staircase with high narrow steps (38 cm highs, 13 cm wide) was used in general. The roofs were flat and enclosed by a parapet.
The buildings (dwelling houses, larger buildings and public baths, granaries, etc.) were mostly plain without plasters. At Kalibanga, ornamental bricks were used on the floor of a house. The ground floor of a small house measured 8 × 9 metres and the large one was double its size.

An average house had besides kitchen and bath, four to six living rooms. Some large houses had about thirty rooms. The kitchen was small and fuel was placed on a high platform.
Every house had its bathroom on the side of the street.
The drains, wells, bathing platforms were made of Kilnburnt bricks.
The arrangements for street lighting were available for the people. The main streets ran from North to South varied from 9 ft to 34 ft in width.
The streets ran in straight lines crossing one another at right angles. Houses stood on both sides of the streets. The street and lanes were not paved but a famous street called ‘The first street’ of Mohenjodaro was surfaced with broken bricks and potsherds.
Municipal authority controlled the development of the city.
Harappa and Mohenjodaro were built entirely of burnt bricks. All the bricks were well-proportioned measuring 26 × 12.5 × 5.5 cm. Large bricks (51 cm) were used to cover drains. The bricks were made of Alluvial soil. Wedge-shaped bricks were used in the lining of wells. Small bricks were used for making the bathroom pavements watertight. L-shaped bricks were preferred for corners.
Gutters of pottery (found at Chahundaro) were made for draining the rainwater. The entrance to the house was made from the street side.
The open court was the basic feature of house planning. The courtyard (paved with bricks) was laid flat and surrounded by chambers. Doors and windows opened into it. Doors were placed at the ends of the walls, not in the middle and outer walls from the roadside had no windows.
Perforated lattices were used as windows or ventilators. Houses had stairways made of solid masonry. In some buildings, the stairways led to the upper storeys which contained the bath and the living and sleeping apartments.
Cooking was done in the courtyards in the open. Sometimes an aperture in the wall was made between the kitchen and the larger room for making a ‘serving hatch'. The wastewater ran into the earth through a pottery vessel with a hole sunken in the kitchen.
The latrine was found between the bathroom and the street. The bathroom had brick pavement sloping towards one corner. Pottery rasps were used to remove the thickened cuticles.
From Mohenjodaro large khans (inns), stone houses and watchtowers have been unearthed. This is an extensive building on the West of the stupa measuring 69 × 23.5 metres. It was a priestly corporation containing the Great Bath. A whole complex is a single unit which is named the ‘Collegiate Building’. At that time bathing was a ritual and the Great Bath (12 × 7 metres) made of burnt brick, was used only on ceremonial occasions. It has staircases on both sides. Below the staircase is a broad platform (01 m wide, 41 cm high). It was a safe bathing place for children. There are eight bathrooms on the North of the Great Bath. This building was for priests.
There was a large oval well that supplied water. A hall (8 metres square) has been discovered on the South of the stupa. It was used for some religious assemblies. John Marshall compares it with a Buddhist rock-cut temple while Mackay calls it a large market hall with lines of permanent stalls along the aisles. There are four well-paved aisles that are separated by rows of pillars. At Harappa, a building has been discovered measuring 50 × 40 metres with a central passage of 07 metres wide. It was a storehouse for grain.
Near the ‘First street’ there was a palatial building with two spacious courtyards, servant quarters and storerooms. It was either a temple or the residence of the Governor.
The entire city was protected by a ‘city wall’. A small fort has been laid bare in most of the important cities.
Like Babylonia and Egypt, Harappans did not use any foundation deposits. For this nothing is known about the ceremonies associated with the lying of foundation that can help the excavator to know about the history of the building.
The Harappan fortifications were not meant to defend the township from strong attacks by enemies. It was constructed for the protection against floods, robbers and cattle raiders. It was also a hallmark of social authority over the area they commanded.
The Harappan towns were encompassed by walls with gateways, the simple entry points to the town. Some of the gateways had attached guardrooms.

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