The Harappan Civilization flourished along the Indus River valley from 2500 BC to 1500 BC. At its peak, the civilization extended over 1.26 million square kilometers and had a population over 5 million. Notable features included well-planned cities built with standardized bricks, a sophisticated drainage system, and multi-story houses. The civilization developed new metallurgy techniques and traded resources like copper, bronze, lead, and tin. Architectural achievements included the Great Bath in Mohenjo-Daro, granaries, an assembly hall, massive city walls, and a grid-based street system with drains.

1. The Harappan
Civilization
2500 BC – 1500BC

2. • The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization located in the
western region, of South Asia, and spread over what are now Pakistan,
northwest India, and eastern Afghanistan.
• Flourishing in the Indus River basin, the civilization extended east into
the Ghaggar-Hakra River valley and the upper reaches Ganges-Yamuna
Doab; it extended west to the Makran coast of Balochistan and north to
northeastern Afghanistan.
• The civilization was spread over some 1,260,000 km², making it the largest
ancient civilization.
• At its peak, the Indus Civilization may have had a population of well over five
million.
• Inhabitants of the ancient Indus river valley developed new techniques in
metallurgy and handicraft, and produced copper, bronze, lead, and tin. The
civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and
multistoried houses.
• The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization, as the
first of its cities to be unearthed was located at Harappa, excavated in the
1920s in what was at the time the Punjab province of British India (now
in Pakistan).

3. ARCHITECTURE
The Great Bath
• The most impressive structure excavated at Mohenjo-Daro so far, is the
Great Bath.
• Constructed with kiln-burnt bricks, this Monumental Bath is a pool 12
metres long, 7 metres wide and 2.5 metres deep. Gypsum has been used
along with mortar to make the floor and sides of the pool water-tight.
• The pool is in the centre of a large open quadrangle with rooms and
galleries on all sides. A flight of steps at either end connects it to the
rooms.
• It may have been used by the people for changing their clothes. The pool
was fed by a well nearby and the dirty water was drained into the city's
sewage system through a large corbelled drain 1.83 metres high.

4. The Granary at Harappa
• The Granary at Harappa is made of burnt brick.
• Built close to the river Ravi to make transportation easy, it is comprised of
two blocks. Each block has six storage rooms 15 metres long and 6 metres
wide.
• The two blocks are separated by a passage. Air-ducts are provided under
the wooden floor.
• The row of triangular openings may have been for ventilation. The granary
complex measures 55 metres by 43 metres

5. The Assembly Hall
• The Assembly Hall covers an area of 750 square metres.
• Four rows of fine brick piers and pillars at the corners suggest that it was
used as an assembly hall.

6. City Walls
• Each city in the Indus Valley was surrounded by massive walls and
gateways.
• The walls were built to control trade and also to stop the city from being
flooded. Each part of the city was made up of walled sections. Each
section included different buildings such as: Public buildings, houses,
markets, and craft workshops.

7. Streets
• The Harappans were great city planners. They
based their city streets on a grid system. Streets
were oriented east to west.
• Each street had a well organized drain system.
If the drains were not cleaned, the water ran into
the houses and silt built up. Then the Harappans
would build another story on top of it. This raised
the level of the city over the years, and today
archaeologists call these high structures
"mounds".

8. Wells
• Although not every Harappan house had a well, they are quite common
and comprise one of the most recognizable features of Harappan
urbanism.
• Over the years, the level of streets and houses were raised owing to the
accumulation of debris which necessitated raising the height of the wells.
This is the reason why very tall wells are often seen at Harappa and in
surrounding areas.

9. Houses
• Houses and other buildings were made of sun-dried or kiln-fired mud
brick. These bricks were so strong, they have stood up to thousands of
years of wear.
• Each house had an indoor and outdoor kitchen. The outdoor kitchen
would be used when it was warmer (so that the oven wouldn’t heat up
the house), and the indoor kitchen for use when it was colder.