Indus valley civillisation

Indus Valley Civillisation
Prof.Abhijeet B. Shinde
Pravara Rural College of Architecture
Loni

Introduction -
• The earliest civilization of South Asia is known as Indus Valley civilization
because a large number of sites were discovered in the Indus Valley.
• Some archaeologists have called it the Harappan civilization named
after Harappa, the first discovered site.
Prof.AbhijeetB. Shinde,PravaraRuralCollege ofArchitecture,Loni
Indus Valley Civilization
• Harappan Civilization
flourished during the
third – second
millennium BCE.
• It ranks amongst the
four widely known
civilizations of the
world and covers an
appreciably larger area
than the early dynastic
Egypt or Sumer.

• Excavation in the 1920s had revealed
ancient cities which have the vast
proportions, with unique artifacts and a
level of architectural planning that was
unparalleled in the ancient world.
• The Harappan sites provided evidence of a
systematic town planning, fortifications,
elaborate drainage system, granaries, etc.
which throw light on the surplus economy,
standardization of brick size, weight and
measures, geometric instruments, linear
scales and plumb- bobs.
• Major cities – 1.Harappa
2. Mohenjo – Daro
3. Lothal
4. Dholavira
Introduction -

Harappa
Visualizationof ancient Harappaas it may have appearedin late Period 3B/early Period
3C, drawn by J. Mark Kenoyer. The granary and working platforms of MoundF are in the
northwestern corner of the city (upper left).

• Harappa is one of the main metropolitan
cities of The Harappan civilization.
• The citadel - where the governmental
authority lived, at Harappa was fortified
with 14m thick mud-brick peripheral wall .
• In the western arm of fortification wall
baked bricks were used as a further
precaution against flood.
• The work men’s quarters - are to the north
of citadel along the both sides of east-west
lane.
• Each unit was separated from the other by
a narrow gap and each unit consisted of
two parts, a courtyard in the front and a
room at the back.
Harappa:Citadel and fortification wall
Harappa

• The entrance of the unit was not straight but oblique so as to ensure
privacy.
• These quarters were enclosed by a compound wall for safety and to
provide a separate entity to the complex.
• The Lower Town - is situated to the south east of the citadel.
• The Lower Town probably had its own walls and separate gates that
faced on the exterior with baked bricks; it was gently tapering to the top.
Harappa
• The houses were constructed on
the raised platforms.
• The Harappan set up their
settlements in different periods.
• There was uniformity in the
construction of house, bricks,
pottery, etc. Buildingremnants on MoundAB, Harappa in
the morning.

Mohenjo-daro
• Mohenjo-daro is also known as city of the dead
• It is an archeological site in the province of Sindh, Pakistan. Built
around 2600 BCE,
• Mohenjo-daro has a planned layout based on a street grid of
rectilinear buildings.
• Main Streets running North-South direction
• The city is divided into two parts, the Citadel and the Lower City.
• Most of the houses or group
houses had at least 1 private
well and along the streets
there were public wells for
travelers and general public.

Mohenjo-Daro Town Planning

Granary
Great Bath
AssemblyHall
Stupa(from later age)
College
Fortification
Site Plan Of Citadel/ Upper Town
Mohenjo-Daro Town Planning
Site Plan Of Citadel& Lower town

• The city had a central marketplace, with a
large central well.
• Individual households or groups of
households obtained their water from smaller
wells.
• Waste water was channeled to covered drains
that lined the major streets.
• Some houses, presumably those of wealthier
inhabitants, include rooms that appear to
have been set aside for bathing,
• Most houses had inner courtyards, with doors
that opened onto side- lanes.
• Some buildings had two stories.
Mohenjo-daro – Town Planning

Architectural Style
• Private House
• Housing Complex
• Public Buildings

• Doorways & Windows opened into
Side lanes
• View of house blocked by walls to
maintain privacy of inhabitants
• Door with Wooden frames and Brick
Socket set in threshold served as door
pivot.
Private House
• Rooms are arranged around
Central Courtyard which
offers privacy from public
outside
• Many houses are at least 2
storey high
• Walls 70cm thick, Ceiling
over 3m High

Private House
• Some Door Frames Carved & Painted
with ornamentation
• Hole at base of Wooden frame for
Locking
• Windows on both First & Second Floor
had Shutters with Lattice Work, Grills
above & below Shutters for
penetration of Light without
sacrificing Privacy
perforated lattices were
known and employed in the
Indus valley in the
prehistoric period

Private House - Bath
• This bathing platform is located next to the street, and is made with
bricks laid flat.
• A small drain running along one side of the bathing floor channels dirty
water out to the street.
• A brick on edge with a
notch was placed
across the drain hole
to keep objects from
flowing out with the
bath water.
• It is possible that such
bathing floors were
also used to wash
clothes that may have
washed out with the
rinse water.

Housing Complex
• Large Houses Surrounded by Smaller units
• Complex Passage ways gave access to Interior Rooms
• Numerous rebuilding phases indicates repeated re-
organization of spaces
• Outer Units may be of Relatives or Service Groups
attached to Parent house
• Generally Entrances form to premises from
Lanes only
• Windows at Considerable height from Road or
Floor, Sometimes with jali protection
• Wooden Stair
• Most Houses with Courtyards but very few
with Wells
• Drinking Water came from nearby River

Housing Complex
• In one of the House on its ground
floor are four fair-sized courts, ten
smaller rooms, three staircases, a
porter's lodge, and a well-chamber.
• The front is towards First Street, and
here there are three entrances side
by side, the principal one of which is
plainly the middle,
• since this is the only one provided
with a porter's lodge entering the
house by the main door one finds
oneself in a small vestibule (Room
68), with a porter's lodge to the
right and a second doorway directly
opposite leading to the open Court
67.
(Marshall, Mohenjo-daro Vol. I, pp. 20, 219)

• Large Public structures with many access routes or connection from
one area to another
• Markets or Public Meeting held in Large Open Courtyards
• Other Buildings may have specific administrative or Religious Function
• Group of Houses or Public Buildings closed together with shared walls
which formed larger blocks bordered by wide streets
• Upper Stories constructed in Light Materials like Timber, Compacted
earth on flat planks resting on Timber beams
Public Buildings
• Openings Spanned by
wooden lintels
• Few Examples of
Corbelling
• Well Integrated system
of Water supply and
Sanitation

Public Buildings
• A large open space or courtyard (10 meters square) is surrounded by
a wall that had 13 openings, possibly for windows. This unique
structure is situated in the northern part of an extremely large
building complex containing around 78 rooms and passageways, but
no well. The building lies to the east of the Great Bathand was
thought to be a "college" or residence of priests.

The "great bath" is without doubt the earliest public water tank in the ancient world.
Great Bath

• 12m Long, 7m wide, 2.4m deep
• Floor of bath is made in burnt
bricks.
• Well in a room near great bath
probably source of water to fill
bath
• Rainwater also may have been
collected for this purposes, but
no inlet drains have been found.
• this tank would have been used
for special religious functions
• Small rooms with verandah
supposed be the changing rooms
& bathrooms
Great Bath
Well
Entrance
Pool
Drain outlet
Rooms

• Stairs provided at both ends up to
the bottom of bath
• At the foot of the stairs is a small
ledge with a brick edging that
extends the entire width of the pool.
People coming down the stairs could
move along this ledge without
actually stepping into the pool itself.
• Small sockets at the edges of the
stairs could have held wooden
planks or treads.
Great Bath

• Located at western edge of mound & south west corner of Great
bath
• Appears to be constructed before great bath
• Drain of great bath cut across north east corner of foundation of
granary
• Built on top of tapered brick platform
Granary

• Foundation extended 49m in east west direction & 27m in north south
direction
• Foundation was divided into 27 square and rectangular block by narrow
passageways 2 running E-W and 8 along N-S
Granary
• Some of the blocks
had square Sockets for
holding wooden
beams or pillars
indicating that total
superstructure was in
timber
• 6 food stores of size
15.2 X 6.10 each found
at hadappa

Building Material
• Uniformity in selection of material &
Construction Technique
• Mud Bricks, Burnt Bricks, wood, reeds
• Mud Bricks –
(1:2:4) 7X14X28 cm for House
10X20X40 cm for City Walls
• Foundation Wall – Mud Brick, Baked
Brick, Stone
• Door Windows – Wood
• Flooring – Rammed Earth, sometimes
Terracotta Cake
• Bathing area and drain – Baked Bricks
• Roof – Wooden Beams covered with
reed and compacted clay

• Well Integrated system of Water supply and
Sanitation ; Public baths & Latrines ; Streets
& Drainage system
• Private Bathrooms provided in individual
Houses
• Most Efficient drainage system of the time
• Drains provided at both sides of streets
• All drains of various lanes & streets
connected to main drains
• Lime Gypsum mortar to bind baked bricks
for drain
• Drains covered with bricks
• Intersected at Properly designed junction
with deeper pit for Periodic Removal of
deposited solid waste
Water Supply & Sanitaion

Lothal -
• It is one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley
civilization, located in the Bhāl region of the modern state of Gujarāt
and dating from 3700 BCE
• Lothal's dock is the world's earliest known dock
• It connected the city to
an ancient course of the
Sabarmati river on the
trade route between
Harappan cities in Sindh
and the peninsula of
Saurashtra when the
surrounding Kutch
desert of today was a
part of the Arabian Sea. The ancient Indus portof Lothal as envisaged by the
ArchaeologicalSurvey of India.

Lothal -
The warehouse of Lothal
and valuable ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and
Africa
• The techniques and tools they pioneered for bead-making and in
metallurgy have stood the test of time for over 4000 years
• A flood destroyed village foundations and settlements (c. 2350 BCE)
• Lothal planners engaged themselves to protect the area from
consistent floods.
• The town was divided into blocks of 1–2-metre-high (3–6 ft) platforms
of sun-dried bricks, each serving 20–30 houses of thick mud and brick
walls.
• It was a vital
and thriving
trade center in
ancient times,
with its trade
of beads, gems

Lothal - Town Planning
• The city was divided into a
citadel, or acropolis and a
lower town.
• The rulers of the town lived in
the acropolis, which featured
paved baths, underground
and surface drains (built of
kiln-fired bricks) and a potable
water well.
• The lower town was
subdivided into two sectors.
• A north-south arterial street was the main commercial area.
• It was flanked by shops of rich and ordinary merchants and
craftsmen.
• The residential area was located to either side of the marketplace.

Lothal - Acropolis & Lower Town
• Lothal's acropolis was the town
center, its political and
commercial heart, measuring
127.4m (418ft) east – to -west
by 60.9m (200ft) north-to-south.
• The baths were primarily located
in the acropolis mostly two-
roomed houses with open
courtyards.
• The bricks used for paving baths were polished to prevent seepage.
• The remains of rulers house give evidence to a sophisticated
drainage system.
• The Lower town marketplace was on the main north-south street
6–8 metres (20–26 ft) wide. Built in straight rows on either side of
the street are residences and workshops
The bathroom-toilet structureof houses in Lothal

Lothal – B Block Citadel Area
(Curtsey: Archeology Survey of India)
Lothal - Acropolis & Lower Town
• The street maintained a uniform width and did not undergo
encroachment during the reconstructive periods after deluges.
• There are multiple two-roomed shops and workplaces of
coppersmiths and blacksmiths
• The pavements were lime-
plastered and edges were
wainscoted

Photos by Raveesh Vyas
Lothal - Sanitation
• Lothal's sophisticated sanitary and drainage system was a hallmark of
ancient Indus cities.
• All of Lothal's drainage channels met at right angles, engineered with
several steps to separate solid and liquid wastes, which the river
Sabarmati carried into the sea.

Lothal - Dockyard & Warehouse
• Lothal engineers accorded
high priority to the creation of
a dockyard and a warehouse
to serve the purposes of naval
trade.
• this basin may have been an
irrigation tank and canal
• The dock was built on the
eastern flank of the town
• It was located away from the main current of the river to avoid
silting, but provided access to ships in high tide as well.
• The warehouse was built close to the acropolis on a 3.5-metre-high
(10.5 ft) podium of mud bricks.
• The rulers could thus supervise the activity on the dock and
warehouse simultaneously.
The dock, with a canal opening to allow water to flow into
the river, thereby maintaining a stable water level.

• It is 1 of the five largest Harappa sites and most prominent
archaeological sites in India belonging to the Indus Valley
Civilization
• It is also considered as grandest of cities of its time
• The site was occupied from 2650 BCE, declining slowly after
about 2100 BCE. It was briefly abandoned and reoccupied until
1450 BCE
• discovered in 1967- 8 by J. P. Joshi and is the fifth largest of
eight major Harappan sites
• the city of Dholavira has a rectangular shape and organization,
and is spread over 22 ha (54 acres)
• The area measures 771.1 m (2,530 ft) in length, and 616.85 m
2,023.8 ft) in width.
Dholavira -

Dholavira -
Dholavira:A artist's reconstruction
(courtesy: ArchaeologicalSurvey of India)

Dholavira -
Dholavira:Layout of the settlement
(courtesy: ArchaeologicalSurvey of India)

A. Castle
B. Balley
C. MiddleTown
D. Lower Town
E. CeremonialGround
F. Reservoir
G. North Gate
F
F
D
B
A
G
E
C

• Unlike Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, the city is composed to a pre-
existing geometrical plan
• Of three division – The citadel, Middle town and Lower town
• The citadel and Middle town has its own defense system, gateways,
street system, wells and large open spaces
• The towering "castle" stands in fair insulation and defended by
double ramparts
• Next to this stands a place called “Bailey” Where important officials
lived
• The Lower Town did not have it s own fortification wall ,but it lies
within the common fortification wall of the city.
• The most striking feature of the city is that all of its buildings, at least
in their present state of preservation, are built out of stone, whereas
most other Harappan sites, including Harappa itself and Mohenjo-
daro, are almost exclusively built out of brick
Dholavira – Town Planning

• One of the Unique feature of
Dholavira is the Sophisticated
water conservation system of
channels and reservoirs earliest
found anywhere in the world
• Completely built of stone of
which 3 are exposed
• Dholavira had massive
reservoirs
• They were used for storing
fresh water brought by rains
• A seasonal stream which runs
in north- south direction of the
site was dammed at several
points to collect water.
Dholavira - Reservoirs
some of the water reservoirs, with
steps, at Dholavira

• www.harappa.com
• www.wikipedia.com
• Archeological Survey of India
• “Harappan Architecture: A Study” – Thesis by Dharmbir Singh, Kurukshetra
University
References :
Thanks!

Indus valley civillisation

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Indus valley civillisation

Similar to Indus valley civillisation (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Indus valley civillisation