The ancient Indus Valley civilization developed along the Indus River valley from 3300-1300 BCE. Two major sites were the large, well-planned cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, which had populations of up to 30,000-40,000. The cities featured grid-like street patterns, well-engineered water and drainage systems, and large communal baths. Residential areas contained well-built, uniform houses with rooms arranged around a central courtyard. Despite their achievements, the Indus civilization mysteriously declined around 1500 BCE. The site of Dholavira in modern-day Gujarat provides insight into another well-planned Indus city featuring advanced water management through reservoirs and channels.

1. Impacts on historical cities- Ancient civilizations- Indus Valley
URBAN PLANNING

2. INTRODUCTION
● Period: Bronze Age South Asia
● Dates: 3300 – 1300 BCE
● Major sites: Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira,
and Rakhigarhi
● Geographical range: Basins of the Indus River,
Pakistan and the seasonal Ghaggar-Hakra
river, northwest India and eastern Pakistan
● Alternative names: Harappan civilisation

3. ● A vast ancient civilization developed along the
valley of the river indus in what is now modern day
India and pakistan.
● For a while, in about 2500 BC, it was one of the
greatest civilization of the world. It covered more
than 10,00,000 km2, which is is a bigger area than
the civilizations of ancient egypt and
mesopotamia combined.
● The people of the Indus valley were successfully
farmers who grew crops in the fertile soil beside
the river.
● They also used mud from the river to make bricks
for their buildings, and they constructed the
world's first planned towns and cities.
● Indus society was very organized and rich in arts
and crafts.
● Despite these achievements, the indus valley
civilization died out mysteriously in about 1500 BC.
THE GREAT
BATH
HIMALAYAN
MOUNTAINS
GRANARY,
HARAPPA
ARABIAN
SEA
INDO
ARYAN
INVASION
HINDHUKUSH
MOUNTAINS
COTTON
CULTIVATION
TRADE ROUTE
TO SUMER
AGRICULTURE
INDUS
RIVER
THE GREAT
BATH
THAR
DESERT
INTRODUCTION

4. ● Agriculture started at around 7000 BC at Mehrgarh
which is located west of Indus Valley.
● Possibly these people shifted and settled down in the
Indus valley for it was a better & suitable location
● At around 3200 BC the First Urban Settlement
appeared in Harappa
● Mohenjo daro came up as most sophisticated city in
the valley at around 2600 BC
● Advantages in the valley
➔ Dependable supply of water
➔ Ideal land for cultivation- with rich fertile alluvial soil.
➔ Dense Forests around- – Source of timber – Source
of fuel for cooking – Source of food
ORIGIN & EVOLUTION

5. ● Built around 2600 BC, it is the largest city under Indus Valley Civilization
● The name ‘Mohenjo Daro’ means ‘Mound of the dead’ in Sindhi.
● Mohenjo daro has a planned layout based on street grids which are at
right angles to each other.- Grid Iron Pattern
● The streets are aligned in the cardinal directions
● The city was divided into two parts
● The upper city was at an elevation of 15m higher than the Lower city
● Mohenjodaro was rebuilt again and again over its ruins forming mounds
● The city had defensive fortification walls around the city
● The city had well planned drainage and water supply system based on
gravity.
● The drainage lines ran along the streets
MOHENJO-DARO
➔ The Upper city or the Citadel
➔ The Lower city

6. THE CITADEL-UPPER TOWN
● The upper town was located on the western side on
high mound
● It consisted of important public buildings like
– The great bath
– The Granary
– The Great Hall
CITADEL
CITY

7. ● The most striking feature in Mohenjodaro is
the Great Bath. It consists of a large
quadrangle.
● In the centre, there is a huge swimming pool
(approximately 39 ft long, 23 ft wide and 8ft
deep) with the remains of galleries and rooms
on all four sides.
● It has a flight of steps at either end and is fed
by a well, situated in one of the adjoining
rooms.
● The water was discharged by a huge drain
with corbelled roof more than 6 ft in depth.
● The Great bath had 8 ft thick outer walls. This
solid construction has successfully withstood
the natural ravages for 5000 years. There were
arrangements for hot water bath in some
rooms.
THE GREAT BATH

8. ● The largest building in Mohenjodaro is
granary which is 45.71m long and
15.23mwide- The Great Granary.
● In Harappa there are a series of brick
platforms which formed the base for two
rows of 6 granaries each.
● In the Southern part of Kalibangan brick
platforms have also been found.
● These granaries safely stored the grains,
which were probably collected as
revenue or store houses to be used in
emergencies.
GRANARIES

9. ● Mohenjodaro had well planned residential quarters
● The houses had well defined spaces for each
activities-kitchen, bathroom, bedroom etc.
● All houses had similar plans with entrance
opening to a central courtyard.
● Entry to all other rooms were through courtyard.
● The houses had internal drainage systems there
were then connected to the sewer line running
along the streets outside
● The houses were constructed out of burnt bricks.
● Brick tiles were laid over timber rafters to create
flat roofs
RESIDENTIAL UNITS
SEWAGES
BRICK
WORK
MULTIPLE
STORIES
ROADS

10. ● The streets were straight and cut each other at right angles.
They were 13 to 34 feet wide and were well lined.
● The streets and roads divided the city into rectangular
blocks.
● Archaeologists have discovered the lamp posts at intervals.
● This suggests the existence of street lights. Dustbins were
also provided on the streets.
● These prove the presence of good municipal administration
THE STREETS

11. ● One of the most remarkable features of the Indus
valley civilization is that the city was provided with
an excellent closed drainage system.
● Each house had its own drainage and soak pit which
was connected to the public drainage. Brick laid
channels flowed through every street.
● They were covered and had manholes at intervals
for cleaning and clearing purposes.
● Large brick culverts with corbelled roofs were
constructed on the outskirts of the city to carry
excess water.
● Thus Indus people had a perfect underground
drainage system.
● No other contemporary civilization gave so much
attention to cleanliness.
DRAINAGE SYSTEM

12. ● The people seem to have been primarily artisans,
farmers, and merchants.
● There is no evidence of a standing army, no
palaces, and no temples.
● The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro is believed to
have been used for ritual purification rites related
to religious belief but this is conjecture; it could as
easily have been a public pool for recreation.
● Each city seems to have had its own governor but,
it is speculated, there must have been some form
of centralized government in order to achieve the
uniformity of the cities.
ASPECTS OF CULTURE

13. ● Dholavira archaeological site is located on a
small island called Khadir Bet Island in Kutch.
Interestingly, Khadir is just a monsoon island.
● This land gets surrounded by sea in the
monsoons and later only white sand remains
for the rest of the year.
● According to the archaeological records,
Dholavira was known for excellent water
storage system and town planning.
● Hence, the big water reservoirs are a big
attraction. In one of the recent excavations, a
5000- year water reservoir was excavated
here.
● This is said to be the biggest water tank when
compared with baths of all Harappan Cities.
DHOLAVIRA

14. Triple acropolis:
Unlike the Harappan city which was based on
duality acropolis, Dholavira’s plan is based on triple
acropolis. On the basis of the relative location,
planning and architecture, the city can be divided
into :
A Citadel (fort)– the highest platform which has a
height of about 16m high or equivalent to a 5
storeyed building.
A “bailey” or the middle town which is about 8-9m
above ground level.
A lower part of the city, which also includes
reservoirs. It is due to the presence of reservoirs
that Dholavira is also called the “Lake city” of Indus
Civilisation. When cut through vertically, each
reservoir is about 7.5m in height.
DHOLAVIRA

15. ● The city was configured like a large parallelogram.
Builders of Dholavira had used fired bricks for the
foundations, and the un-fired ones for the walls, with
each wall of citadel being about 15-18m thick.
● The people living in Dholavira had their own system of
units–dhanus and angulas, and they gave a lot of
importance to proportion.
● At myriads of places, the margin of error was as less as
0.2%. The perfect rectangular layouts, lavish wide open
spaces, careful aesthetic and practical planning of
divisions does tell us a lot about the builders of this
civilisation.
● The city also had a ceremonial ground which had a
dimension of 300m X 50m, and a seating capacity of
10,000, a stadium equivalent to it in the present times
would be Madhav Rao Scindia stadium in Rajkot that
can seat 15,000 people.
DHOLAVIRA

16. Holy ratios:
● Another point that stands out in case of
Dholavira is– while most of the other
cities of SSC had largely been
constructed on a 2:1 ratio (like
Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan and Surkotada),
the prime ratio of Dholavira is surprisingly
5:4 or 1.25.
● The city’s length to its width, the castle’s
proportion, the ceremonial ground, follow
this master ratio.
● A millennium later in Vaastu-Shastra the
same ratio is prescribed for construction.
DHOLAVIRA- SPECIALITIES

17. Water Management Systems:
● Dholavirians impressed it’s visitors
with their knowledge of hydraulic
engineering.
● The sophisticated water conservation
system of channels and reservoirs,
were the earliest found anywhere in
the world.
● There were about 16 or more
reservoirs, which were created on the
south, west and north of the built-up
divisions, rectangular in shape.
● These pits were dug up to the
rockbed, which puzzled the
archaeologists initially.
● These were the rock cut wells, which
date as one of the oldest examples
across the subcontinent, and the most
impressive one is located in the
citadel.
DHOLAVIRA- SPECIALITIES

18. Water Management Systems:
DHOLAVIRA- SPECIALITIES

19. Water Management Systems:

20. Water Management Systems:

21. Water Management Systems:
The water management system
at Dholavira is based on highly
advanced hydraulic engineering,
which is preferred and employed
by even modern day technicians.
Also, development of water
resources and its conservation in
this town was not only the
responsibility of the higher
authority but also the duty of the
local community.

22. Water Management Systems:
The purpose— Reservoir’s acted as an obstacle to reduce the speed and ferocity of the approaching
flood water , that kept the structures in the city safe. The reservoirs took advantage of the slope of the
ground to fill up water during flood. A drop of 13 m from north-east to north-west meant that the
reservoirs on North-West filled up first as the flood water approached the city, and slowly filled up
other reservoirs towards the North-East. This is exactly how you fill the ice-cube containers in your

23. THANK YOU!
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