EARLY TOWN

-DHOLAVIRA
- SWARAWALI JOSHI
 HISTORY AND TIMELINE

• INDUS VALLEY CIVILISATION was a Bronze Age civilization flourished during the third - second millennium BCE.

• Like other old world civilizations, the Harappan Civilization seems to have grown out of the skilful exploitation of
the rivers valley resources in the north –western region of the Indo – Pakistan subcontinent.

• It further divided into 3 phases –

EARLY HARAPPAN ( 3300-2600 BCE) – era of Regionalisation i.e. permanent settlement , housing , trade
MATURE HARAPPAN ( 2600-1900BCE) - era of Integration i.e. development of art , technology
LATE HARAPPAN ( 1900-1300BCE) – era of Localisation i.e. agricultural settlements

• By 2600 BCE, the Early Harappan communities turned into large urban centres. Such urban centres
includes Harappa, Ganeriwala, Mohenjo-daro Dholavira, Kalibangan, Rakhigarhi, Rupar, and Lothal. This is
named as MATURE HARAPPAN PHASE.
 LOCATION AND LINKAGES

• Dholavira is an important city of the Harappan civilization .

• It is the largest site in Gujarat region. Located in the Little Rann
of Kutch.
• The 120 acres quadrangular city lay between two seasonal
streams, the Mansar in the north and Manhar in the south.
• It is located on Khadir bet island in the Kutch

In the 4th millennium BC, some people from the foothills of baluchistan, started moving into the river valley of indus and
saraswati. One group reached the costal region and setteled down at sites like balakot, and one group reached the punjab
and north west rajasthan and setteled down in cities like harappa and kuchanwala. Slowly and gradually these people
evolved a civilization called harappan civilisation.
 SOCIAL STRUCTURE
• The total geographical stretch of Harappan civilization is
about 1,250,000 sq. km which is more than 20 times of the area of
HIGHER CLASS Egyptian and more than 12 times of the combined area of Egyptian
and Mesopotamian civilizations.
• At its peak, the Indus Valley Civilization had a population of well over
MIDDLE CLASS five million .
• The Harappan society appears to have been divided into three
LOWER CLASS sections –
- An elite class associated with the Citadel;
- A well-to-do middle class; and
LABOUR CLASS - A relatively weaker section, occupying the lower town, which was
generally fortified.
- The Craftsmen and labours normally were resided outside the
fortified area

POLITICAL SITUATION

• It is difficult to ascertain that what kind of political setup was prevailed at the time of harappan civiliization.

• The entire area of Indus Empire was administered from one capital, with a few regional administrative
centers or provincial capitals. Bacause there are indications of complex decisions being taken and
implemented. For example , the majority of the cities were constructed in a highly uniform and well-planned
grid pattern, suggesting they were planned by a central authority.
There were several independent states or kingdoms, each with cities like Mohenjo Daro in
Sindh, Harappa in Punjab, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, and Lothal in Gujarat as their capitals.
 ECONOMIC BASE &
PRIMARY ROLE

• Intensive agricultural production and large-scale trade played significant roles in flourishing of the
Harappan civilization.
• Agriculture was generally practiced along the river banks most of which were flooded during the
summer and monsoons. The flood deposited every year fresh alluvial silt, which is highly productive
and for which no major furrowing and certainly no manures and irrigation were required.

• The elegant social structure and the standard of living must have been achieved by a highly developed
system of communication and a strong economy.

• The trade must have been internal in the beginning i.e. between one zone and another.
Agricultural produce, industrial raw materials (including copper ores,
stone, semi-precious shells, etc. were traded on a large scale.Besides the
raw material, they used to trade −
- Finished products of metals (pots and pans, weapon, etc.);
- Precious and semi-precious stones (beads, pendants, amulets, etc.); and
- Ornaments of gold and silver were also traded to various areas.

• Several Harappan settlements have been found along the higher points in the Kutch region
suggesting that the sites in Gujarat were used as trading outposts from which the Harappans traded
with West Asia. This is further reinforced by the nature of settlements, ports and industries found in
this area. Several of these are urban centres and there are, villages, craft centres, camp sites,
fortified places etc
 TOWN PLANNING

• The city of Dholavira was in the form of a

parallelogram guarded by a fortification.

• The area measuring 771 meters in length and

616.80 meters in which enclosed several principal
divisions, i.e. the citadel, the middle town, the
lower town, the ceremonial ground and a series of
water reservations all-round the city.

• Area of upper town meant for high class and the

other, the lower town meant for the common men.
Within the ‘Lower Town’ there were many sectors
for specialized crafts, for shops and bazaars for
social gatherings etc.

• The citadel stood majestically on the south,

consisting of two fortified divisions, the castle,
in the east and bailey, in the west. The middle
town, also fortified, lied to the north and is
separated from the citadel by a long and wide
ceremonial ground. The lower town was laid
out within the general fortification to the east of
the middle town. In the citadel area, a network of
drains, both small and the large was discovered

• It is close to a port from where extensive trading

is believed to have taken place.
 TOWN PLANNING

•The orientation of streets and buildings, according

to the cardinal directions east-west, and north-south
was the distinguishing factor of the Harappan cities.

•Harappan cities were having large gateways at

various entry points of the city. These gateways are
seen even in the inner fortification areas also.

•The city divisions were provided with a large

number of housing sectors and spaces

• Another significant feature is the arterial street that ran across axially from west to east dividing all
the units and sub-units into two equal halves, and a north-south street, perhaps somewhat staggered,
further subdivided each unit.

• The lower town, too, was resolved into several units. Each unit seems to be having likewise
projections and recesses and in turn demarcating an opens space, of course.

• The arterial street of the middle town passed through a gate in eastern fortification wall and then went
on running across the lower town albeit with a few turns, each at the end of a residential sector. The
street however remained uninterrupted.

• Other major and minor streets and lanes shot off from the axial street for making a defined network of
housing sectors.

• Seventeen gates, all built in the fortification walls with equally interesting add-on components.
 EAST GATE

NORTH GATE
PLAN SHOWING COMPOUND WALLS AND ROADS
WATER HARVESTING SYSTEM

• The most significant feature of Dholavira , is the giant reservoirs holding 2500000 cu.m of water.
Dholavirans knew the art to conserve water . When it rains , the water tends to flow away in swift
surface strems.
• The dholavirans built check dams and collected the water in reservoirs. Enough water was collected to
meet the city’s water requirements.
• These reservoirs were connected to wells, which in turn , filled cisterns foR drinking and bathing.
• The largest rock cut reservoir measuring 80.4 x 12 x 7.5 m
 NATURE AND POSITION
OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
THE BAILEY

• In the Bailey region of the city is a structure with

a plan-form that is markedly different from all of
the other structures in the city and from
Harappan plan-forms in general.

• It consists of the plinth and the foundations of

what was probably a 13-room rectangular
structure, which included two circular rooms.

• It is located west of the ‘citadel’ WHERE

Quarters for important officials are located and is
near the edge of the terrace forming the Bailey,
which drops off to the west.

• It is a walled subdivision added during Stage III

of the Harappan civilization.

• The bailey’s length and breadth is 120 meters

respectively. This residential complex is fortified
and unique in design from the lower and middle
town.
 NATURE AND POSITION OF
SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

HEMISPHERICAL STRUCTURES

• Seven hemispherical constructions were found at

Dholavira,
• Two of which were constructed over large rock cut
chambers.
• circular plan, big hemispherical elevated mud brick
constructions.
• One of the excavated structures was designed in
the form of a spoked wheel. The other was also
designed in same fashion, but as a wheel without
spokes
ROCK CUT CHAMBERS

AMPHITHEATRE

• A public place measuring 283 x 48 m found in the

heart of the city. Between the citadel and middle
town is an open field.

• It shows sitting arrangement for spectators in its

tiered structures. It could be stadium, a
coronation ground , a market or an amphitheatre.

SPECIAL PURPOSE BUILDING

 IMPLIED WORLD VIEW

In this culture , aesthetics of a building did not mean much. The quality of the building materials employed , their
construction technique and stability of the construction as a whole is however astonishing.
The archeological research suggest that this civilisation , predominantly urban in character , was inhabited by
down to earth people with pragmatic outlook. They were traders and businessmen , very efficient and successful
in their professional dealings. It is quite possible that such people did not have a flair for designing and building
the structures and environmental of high aesthetic