Urban Planning and Town of Indus Civilization

The Harappan civilization was an example of a high-quality urban-centered civilization. The well-planned outline of the cities of Harappan civilization, from the planned construction of houses to the maintenance of roads, sewage systems, the restoration of the city destroyed by the floods of the Indus River, etc., are not possible without a specific and advanced administrative infrastructure.

Urban Life of Harappan People:

• The town construction planning of Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Kalibangan, etc. indicates that the Harappan people were advanced in the science of architecture.
• The signs of advanced urban civilization such as well-organized roads, underground sewers, planned houses, etc., indicate that Harappans were modern people of their time.
• The most important feature of this civilization was that people were intensely conservatism.
• Excavations in different regions have found that the Harappan people had almost the same way of life, city planning, weight or measurement system, etc.
• The scripts found from various places within this region were the same.
• The people of this civilization did not adopt the progressiveness of Mesopotamia.
• Since there are no signs of heavy weapons or swords, it is believed that religious beliefs or thoughts were given more importance in urban life.

Info: Urban planning in the Harappa Civilization was advanced for its time.

Characteristics of the City

• The primary characteristic of the urban planning of the Harappan civilization is that the cities were divided into two distinct levels or blocks. Two walls surrounded the cities.
• The cities were generally divided into a Citadel (high area) and a lower city.
• A large settlement was built on an artificially constructed mound-like elevated area within the city walls. Archaeologists call such settlements ‘citadels‘ or defensive forts because of their fortress-like shape.
• Citadels were mostly rectangular and were residences of important people in the city.
• Many houses in the city were two-storeyed, even three-storeyed.
• While maintaining the security and privacy of the citadels, the lower areas were residences of ordinary people.
• Here, ordinary people, farmers, or laborers lived in small one- or two-roomed houses.
• The traces of a 250-foot-long building in the citadel of Mohenjo-daro suggest that it was probably a royal palace.
• A large square room measuring 40 feet × 40 feet has also been found there.

Info: The town planning and structure of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa were similar. For this reason, many have called these two cities ‘Twin Cities’.

Citadel

• In the Harappa civilization, a citadel was a high area located to the west of the city.
• The citadel was located on a high, man-made mound.
• It was surrounded by a big wall and was rectangular.
• The probable reason for building a citadel was that the administrator lived here.
• It was built to protect from floods and attacks by external enemies.
• It was usually located to the west or northwest of the city.
• The exception was the citadel of Lothal, which was located to the southeast.
• Only the citadel of Kalibangan was divided into two parts.

Info: Citadel was mainly used for administrative work.

Houses Type

1. One-, two- or three-story houses were built on both sides of the road.
2. Houses were built with mud bricks of equal size.
3. Bricks were dried by sunlight or burned using fire.
4. Walls surrounded the houses.
5. The houses had no doors or windows facing the road.
6. The rectangular houses on the higher ground were probably inhabited by influential people.
7. The houses on the lower ground were inhabited by common people.

Info: Rectangular buildings were constructed in a grid pattern at Mohenjo-daro.

Streets Pattern

• All the streets of the cities were straight and wide.
• Numerous small streets at right angles divided the cities into rectangular areas.
• Some of the streets in the city were from 9 to 34 feet wide.
• The plans of the houses of equal size, equidistant on both sides of the streets, seem to have been built in accordance with municipal laws.

Info: Streets were planned in the grid layout and expanded east to west and north to south.

Water management

• Harappans had managed water resources.
• People constructed many dams, wells, baths, fountains, and water tanks for irrigation and drinking water.
• A large water reservoir was found at Dholavira.

Great Bath

• Among the most notable features of the urban life of the Harappa civilization is the ‘Great Bath‘ built for public use at Mohenjo-daro.
• The area of ​​this bath was 180 feet × 108 feet.
• Among the various facilities in the bath, a modern-day swimming pool measuring 39 feet long, 23 feet wide and 8 feet deep can be seen.
• This reservoir also has a modern-day system of cold and hot water circulation.

The Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro is known as the “earliest public water tank of the ancient world”:

Grannies

• One of the best evidence of the agricultural prosperity and advanced urban planning of the Indus Valley Civilization is the large granary located in the twin cities of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.
• The granary at Mohenjo-daro was approximately 1,000 square feet in size.
• The granary at Harappa was approximately 3,000 square feet.
• The Harappa granary, located near the bank of the Ravi River, has two rows of platforms inside.
• Each row has six additional platforms for storing grain.
• This large granary of the Harappan civilization was mainly associated with agriculture.
• The granary was used to store surplus crops for emergencies.
• The two granaries of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa served the needs of modern state cooperative organizations.
• The existence of slum-like houses for the workers to live next to the granary is seen.

Drainage System

• Wells, bathrooms and toilets have been found in almost every house in Mohenjo-daro and Harappa.
• ‘Dustbin’-like containers have been found on every street for throwing household waste.
• Like in modern times, the Public Works Department also had two important tasks – proper management of the drainage system and the construction of roads.
• In the large cities, there was a system to connect the small drains coming out of the houses with the sewerage system beside the big streets.
• This system shows the advanced quality of municipal service in terms of removing dirty water from the house or during the monsoon.
• The existence of covered sewers or underground sewerage systems can be seen on both sides of every highway.

Info: Almost every sewer had a modern-day soak-pit system.

Info: They used bricks for the drainage channels.

Industrial centers/cities

1. Lothal-stone industry (stone tool factory), metal industry
2. Balakot-jewelry industry (jewelry and other ornaments made from mudstone)
3. Chanhudaro-jewelry industry (jewelry made from stones such as gems, pearls, etc.)
4. Daimabad-bronze industry