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Indus Valley Civilization

This document discusses the architecture and town planning of the Indus Valley Civilization based on excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Key points include: 1) Houses were made of baked bricks arranged in 1-2 story buildings along streets laid out in a grid pattern. 2) Sophisticated water and drainage systems were developed, including wells in houses and covered sewers. 3) Large public structures like granaries and the Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro demonstrated advanced planning. 4) Towns were divided into upper citadels and lower residential areas and surrounded by defensive walls.

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230 views

Indus Valley Civilization

This document discusses the architecture and town planning of the Indus Valley Civilization based on excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Key points include: 1) Houses were made of baked bricks arranged in 1-2 story buildings along streets laid out in a grid pattern. 2) Sophisticated water and drainage systems were developed, including wells in houses and covered sewers. 3) Large public structures like granaries and the Great Bath at Mohenjo-Daro demonstrated advanced planning. 4) Towns were divided into upper citadels and lower residential areas and surrounded by defensive walls.

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Trance
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ASSIGNMENT # 1

Name: Arslan Mushtaq

Roll No: 18-10486

Sec : A

Course Code : HIST 255

Submitted to : Dr. Farzand Masih


The architecture and town planning in Indus Valley Civilization

Introduction

Background of Indus Civilization

Harappa was a large village currently known as Punjab. It is the major city in the

history of Indus civilization which is widely known for its pattern of construction. The site of

Harappa is proof and is the foundation of Indus valley civilization. It is also widely known for

succeeding cultures in architecture and well equipped construction. The civilization consisted of

two cities one is Harappa and the other is Mohenjodaro. The two cities have outstanding

magnitude which suggests political centralization. The city of Mohenjodaro was shattered by

heavy floods. Harappa succeeded the Mohenjodaro.

Emergence of Architecture and Town Planning in Indus Valley

Civilization

The first visit too Harappa was done by Lewis James British archeologist. He stated

that there was a brick castle in front of the tent. On one side of the castle there was a mound

brick and on the other side were irregular rocky remains of buildings. Towers and walls of castle

were remarkably high. This was the description of the devastated city after huge floods. British

archeologist had described the city in beautiful words. Now it is called The Indus Valley

Civilization. The most remarkable characteristic of Harappa is its town planning according to

which town is divided into upper and lower parts. The two cities Mohenjodaro and Harappa are

used by the brick workers. The bricks collected from the site are used for artifacts for building

tombs. People of Harappa and Mohenjodaro were very motivated in living a good lavish life.
Architecture and town planning Indus Valley civilization

The remarkable concept in Indus civilization is the planned architecture from the

remains and it is known that it is fully flourished as urban architecture. This sophisticated

planning includes well developed roads and smaller lanes with right angles. Houses were made

of bricks with several stories. There were large network of wells for providing water and also

equipped drainage systems. Another important feature of Indus valley civilization was their town

planning. They were so motivated to live a proper and luxurious life that they built proper

buildings, furnished houses, well-equipped water sanitation system indicated their high levels of

concern for cleanliness. Furthermore, there were proper boundaries in form of huge walls built

all around the cities of civilization to keep safe from dangers and natural disasters.

Characteristics of Architecture of Indus valley civilization

 The city was divided into two parts one is built with artificial mound which is known as

the acropolis. The other is built on ground level.

 The acropolis of the city contained important buildings such as assembly hall, granaries

and the religious structures. Also it included the great bath in case of Mohenjodaro.

 The lower section of the city consisted of housing settlement for the individuals.

Houses and streets

Houses of all sizes were made in Indus civilization. The houses in rural areas were solely

built with bricks but in urban areas along with baked bricks other good materials of construction

were also used in the house development. Houses consisted of 1-2 stories with fully ventilated

rooms along with proper water sanitation system.


The most prominent feature of Indus Civilization architecture was the construction of

streets. Streets were straight and were 15 to 34 feet wide. The streets purpose was to divide city

into rectangular blocks. Archeologist had also discovered lamp posts at intervals. They had an

excellent municipal system they also placed dustbins in street for proper disposal of garbage.

Building material

The main building materials were sun-dried and burnt bricks. Wood was also easily

available for burning purposes in the cities of Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Mud mortar, plaster

and gypsum cement were also used in constructions of building. These materials were easily

available along with baked bricks. Wooden frames were used for making doors and

windowpanes.

Buildings and city walls

The residential houses in the architecture were made of baked bricks. The houses

consisted of rooms and a terrace; also the bricks used in construction are measured in their length

and width. All the brick are of same length and width. All cities in Indus valley are surrounded

by walls and gateways. Huge walls were built in order to save the buildings from flooding or any

kind of disaster. Each section of city is with separate walls.

Well and sanitation system

In-house well is an important feature in Indus Civilization construction, almost each and

every house had an inbuilt house well in the building of their house. Each house in Indus

Civilization had its own well developed drainage system. Well-developed drainage system

indicates highly sophisticated life. Sanitation system showed that they were the people who had a
lot concern about cleanliness so they had an excellent type of drainage system in every house.

Drainage pipes were also regularly cleaned in order to avoid blockages.

Granaries and Great Bath

Granaries were the largest building inMohenjodaro. It was fully ventilated building. It

was further divided into 27 apartments along with 3 rows. The largest granary indicated higher

levels of agricultural civilization. The granaries had large numbers of grains kept safe in them.

The great bath was developed in Mohenjodaro its purpose was to be used for religious and ritual

practices. It was quadrangle form of building with a swimming pool in the center of the

quadrangle. Also the building of Great bath consisted of several rooms surrounded by balconies.

The Indus valley civilization people were the first group of people who were really

devoted to build well-furnished house for proper living. They built fully equipped houses with

proper sanitation system along with rooms and facility of terrace. Also they were the first ones to

introduce dustbins in the streets. But still work needs to be done in order to protect and preserve

the heritage appropriately. They had the concept of high living so they did work hard for that and

developed their high classy status of living also they were really concerned about the cleanliness

which is very important for proper living.

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