Indian Plumbing Yesterday - In 2600 B.C.

-Chintan Daiya

I have always had a wander-bug. My wander-bug has taken me many places nationally
and internationally. This time around my trip lead me to my motherland, my native
place, Kutch. All my life, I had heard about it, but never seen it, but this was the time it
really called up on me and I couldn’t resist the call.

Kutch is the largest district in the

culture-rich state of Gujarat, covering
a total area of 45,612 sq.km. Kutch
gets its name from the Guajarati or
Kutchhi word, Kacchbo or Kutchbo
meaning tortoise. Probably the reason
being that it is surrounded by water
and housing some of the most exotic
and rare marine life.

Being a seasoned traveler, I always

prefer to do my homework well before
traveling to any location like booking
tickets and accommodation online, getting maps off the internet and information about
places to see, etc. While doing this, I stumbled upon a website which informed me
about an almost forgotten place known as Dholavira. It said, Dholavira houses one of
the best preserved ruins maintained by the Archeological Survey of India dating back
about 5000 years. Done, it struck a bell in my mind; I had to visit this place.

Dholavira – even as of date, is situated

140 kms away from the nearest
inhabitation, in spite of all the quakes, it
stands witness to the achievement of
man 5000 years back. Dholavira is
located on an island of 200 acres, an
island not surrounded by water, by
abundance of highly saline marshes in

the Great Rann of Kutch, a place where no man

would ever conceive the idea of inhabitation.
Where every drop of fresh water is considered
at the price of gold and as far as your sight can
see all you will get is bright dazzling salty
mudflats as white as snow.

So who were the people who lived here?

And why, of all the places, here?
No points for guessing, these were The Harrappans. Yes,
our own Indus valley civilization well preserved in India.
You can now skip the hassle of visiting our friendly
neighbors. The architecture, planning and archeological
carbon analysis dates back to the Harappan period. In
other words, it resembles Mohenjodaro and Harappa – it
has a citadel middle and lower town, all extremely well
preserved through being built in stone, Harappa and
Mohenjo Daro being built in more vulnerable brick, which
have pretty much crumbled.

The city probably could have been a stop-over for trade or

even a fort protecting sea trade with Oman, Mesopotamia
(a river civilization like the Indus Valley civilization, in
present day Iraq), and the Persian Gulf and other far-off
lands. Salt, of course could have been the commodity
which they traded in, as informed by Mr. R.S.Bisht, the
chief archeologist of this site.

All that’s known is that these people worshipped the forces of nature like fire, wind,
trees, etc. They had proper entertainment facilities like playgrounds. And were ruled and
organized by a ruler for whom the Citadel was built, and who enjoyed royalty stature.

But how did they flourish in such formidable conditions for over a millennium?

The answer is “Water Management”.

What kind of water management?

The city was built in a semi-arid

region averaging only about 260 mm
rainfall annually.

Two storm water channels, known as

Manhar and Mansar bordered the
city. The city was laid out on about a
13 m gradient in the east-west
direction, and of course a perfect
planning for reservoirs. They made a
series of around 16-18 reservoirs
between the inner and outer walls of
the city to collect the monsoon runoff
from the channels.

The town planning itself would put a

modern township to shame. Segregated areas included the citadel of the ruler, the
upper town for the loyal workers of the ruler, middle town and lower town, the occupants
depending on their social and economic status. A huge playground arena for performing
arts or sports, etc. A detailed image shows the planning.

Water supplied to Citadel

and overflowing back out

Citadel Upper Town

Lower Town
Arena

Middle Town

Water would flow thru these

huge tanks from which it
Rivulet (probably of Saraswati) which
would be supplied to the city
would be best during monsoon
Filling public baths, recharging
wells, and other resources.

Citadel
Upper Town

M iddle
Town
Here, we can see one of the reservoirs built for water storage. As one can see, this
reservoir itself is pretty big enough to suffice a town. It is about 23 feet deep. The
reservoir has 32 equal steps made of stone leading down to the bottom on both the
sides. Many reservoirs like
this one also had a well
integrated within them, thus
recharging the water table
below the ground and
assuring water supply
round the year. In many
cases reservoirs would
recharge wells in the town.
One quite intriguing fact is
that the well is still filled with
fresh water even after the
passage of five millennia,
especially in any area
where salinity is in
abundance.
We as professionals in water industry have to agree to one
fact that collection of water is not as important as the
distribution. Needless to mention, that in the year 2600 BC
no piping material was known, probably, the only known
metal was copper, which was not used to make pipes.
Numerous and huge rain water drains have been unearthed
at the site of Dholavira since 1989. And on the contrary to
what was initially believed by the Archeological Survey of
India, these drains
were not used for
draining utilities
but for supplying
and transporting
water from one
utility to another. The design of these drains
was so unpretentious, that one could even
easily walk into these drains using steps to
clean or maintain them. The images below
show some of such drains.

These drain ultimately connected to

tenements / public baths where they would
supply water for daily use.
Considering the geographic location of
Dholavira, summers would be scorching and
would definitely bring in scarcity of water.
Smaller reservoirs were also built within the
township which were connected to these
drains and would be supplied water. Also as
mentioned many of the reservoirs had wells
integrated into them which would be
recharged and be readily available for use in
the summer months.
These wells and tanks
were connected such to
the supply drains that
water could be easily
diverted from these to
the drains and the
supply network would
start functioning. In the
adjoining image you can
see the drain connected
to the well.

The ruler of Dholavira also enjoyed benefits of the water supply system, but at a more
luxurious level. What is supposed to be a swimming pool has been unearthed as well in
the citadel region. Though what is seen presently looks like a new swimming pool
superimposed over an old one. But who doesn’t like to play with water?
Of all the rain that was collected in the
reservoirs further surface rainwater was
collected and diverted to the collection
reservoirs and tanks, another striking
example of efficient rainwater harvesting.
The adjoining image shows a collection pit
and connection to a drain, worth noticing is
how the area is sloped to achieve maximum
catchment.

Thus advanced were the Dholavirans, in

what we call the stone age or dark ages. So
what happened to them?

By the end of 1750 BC there was nothing left of Dholavira except the ruins that are seen
today. Three possibilities have come to light as to the sudden fall of this once
prosperous town.

 By the end of 1750 B.C. Mesopotamia was war-torn and there was hardly any
trade possible with the countries with which Dholavira once had trade relations.
Hence, a once flourishing and self-sufficient city got poor and moved away from
harsh conditions
 It is believed that the Aryans, who had migrated somewhere from Germany led a
massive invasion and parasited over Dholavira till nothing was left, though no
evidence of any war or ambush have yet been found.
 The whole area was damaged and devastated by a massive earthquake, like the
one which rocked Kutch few years ago. Further to which it is believed that the
course of the River Saraswati changed and that it went underground and still
flows underground, leaving our Dholavirans parched and dry in the middle of the
Rann (Desert).

Indeed it is a matter of pride for us, that we Indians were experts in water distribution
and management even in the ages when the western world was probably living savage
lives.