Harappan Civilization

The Indus Valley Civilization was a cultural and political entity which
flourished in the northern region of the Indian Subcontinent between. It
stretched from near the present-day Iran-Pakistan border on the Arabian Sea in
the west to near Delhi in the east. It s modern name derives from its location in
the valley of the Indus River, but it is also commonly referred to as the Indus-
Sarasvati Civilization and the Harappan Civilization. The greater Indus region
was home to the largest of the four ancient urban Civilizations of Egypt,
Mesopotamia, South Asia and China.the Indus Civilization was the most
widespread of the three early civilizations of the ancient world. It was not
discovered until the 1920 s. Most of its ruins, even its major cities, remain to be
excavated. One of the earliest attempts to define a city was made by V. Gordon
Childe. Childe described the city as the result and symbol of a revolution that
marked a new economic stage in the evolution of society. The Civilization
developed in three phases: Early Harappan Phase, c. 3200-2600 BCE; Mature
Harappan Phase, c. 2600-1900 BCE; and Late Harappan Phase, c. 1900-1300
BCE. The two best-known excavated cities of this culture are Harappa and
Mohenjodaro, both of which are thought to have once had populations of
between 40,000-50,000 people, which is stunning when one realises that most
ancient cities had on average 10,000 people living in them. Alternatively,
Harappa may have succeeded Mohenjo Daro. It was a literate Civilization; the
language has been tentatively identified as Dravidian. It is considered a Bronze
Age society, and inhabitants of the nice town Indus River Valley developed new
techniques in metallurgy- the science of working with copper, bronze, lead, and
tin. They lost performed intricate handicraft, especially using products made of
the semi-precious gemstone Carnelian, as well as seal carving- the cutting of
patterns into the bottom face of a seal used for stamping. The Indus cities are
noted for their urban planning, baked brick houses, elaborate drainage systems,
water supply systems, and clusters of large, non-residential buildings. Wheat and
Barley were grown, many animals (including cats, dogs, and cattle) were
domesticated, and cotton was cultivated. How and when the Civilization came
to an end is unclear; Mohenjodaro was attacked and destroyed in the mid-2nd
millennium BC, but in the south there was continuity between the Indus
Civilization and the Copper Age civilizations of central and western India.

The Architecture of the Harappan Civilization

The manifestation of towns and cities is an urban phenomenon and thus, the
first towns and cities were linked with the first urbanisation that took place in
the fertile valleys of the river Indus, Saraswati and their several tributaries and
even in the far off region dominated by the Harappan Civilization. However, on
the basis of excavation, in many of the Harappan sites, it has been confirmed
that these towns and cities grew out of earlier villages that existed in the same
locality prior to Pre/Early Harappan period. Before 2600 BC, sites like, Harappa,
Dholavira, Rakhigarhi, Banaswadi, Kalibangan, Rehman Dheri, Nausharo, Kot
Diji and many more existed in the form of rural Harappan settlements. Their
ideal locational setups were on the threshold, which led to urbanisation.
Beginning with quite a small population, they grew in size and density to
become larger settlements of the region along the major trade routes. Population
growth, strong agricultural base, developed trade and growth of specialised
skilled craftsmen favoured the growth of towns and cities in the entire Harappan
domain.
Before going into the minutiae of Harappan town planning and layout
of the settlements, fortification, gates, streets, drainage network, houses and
buildings and water reservoirs, it is relevant to know the nature of its settlement.
In the entire Harappan domain, five large ties have been identified as the major
urban centres or metropolis. Among these, Mohenjodaro being the largest of all
covers an area of more than 200 hectares. Second on the list is Harappa
covering an area of more than 150 hectares whereas; Dholavira covers an area
almost close to 100 hectares. Ganweiwala and Rakhigarhi measuring almost
equal in dimensions occupy an area of more than 80 hectares. The fifth,
Dholavira, is situated in on a small island called Khadir in the Greater Rann of
Kutch in Gujarat connecting Lothal situated further south east on one side and
Balakovo further on the north west on the other, located approximately 300 k
away on the either side. Quite a good deal of archaeological data, for proper
understanding of the Harappan town planning.
 Town Planning
The Harappan Civilization was one of the oldest Civilization in the Indian sub-
continent known for its modern structures. The most noteworthy feature,
unheard elsewhere during the second half of third millennium BC, is the
remarkable town planning of the Harappan Civilization, with a probable margin
on either side. Dholavira being the exception with middle town as the extra
feature of the settlement, every other small cities and towns of the Harappan
Civilization consists of the basic layout of citadel and lower town. Recent
excavations have proved that Harappan town planning does not represent
uniform pattern. The evidence from Lothal, Surkotada, Dholavira and
Banaswadi has shown different settlement pattern than that of Mohenjodaro,
Harappa and Kalibangan. With the excavation of Mohenjodaro, Harappa and
Kalibangan, archaeologists earlier had the conception of twin mounds, higher
ones located on the west acted as the citadels and lower towns occupying
relatively less elevated area situated towards the east. In the absence of large
scale excavation at Rakhigarhi, covering entire site, precise plan of the
settlement is yet to be known. Based on the evidence of excavations, the
majority of the Harappan cities and towns are composed of a series of walled
mounds or sectors oriented in different directions. Harappa and Mohenjodaro
both have rectangular mound on the west and extensive mounds to the north,
south and east whereas the settlement of Kalibangan is confined to two separate
mounds with the citadel on the west, represented by a smaller mound and the
lower city towards the east, marked by a fairly extensive mound. Citadel was
situated over the remains of the preceding occupation to gain eminence over the
lower town, which was laid out on the natural plain towards the leaving the gap
of over 40 meter between the two. Mohenjodaro also appears to have a similar
layout, despite the fact that flood erosions have obscured the evidence. There is
no wall as such to separate the lower town from the acropolis; the latter is
situated in on the southeast, a unique location. The layout of the Lothal also
claims distinction because of a rectangular brick basin, interpreted as dockyard,
attached with a wharf along the eastern side of the settlement. The salient
components of the full-grown cityscape consisted of bipartile citadel, middle
town and lower town. These three sectors are set within gargantuan fortification
constructed entirely of mud bricks, running on all four sides. The lower town
though did not have its own fortification was set within the general
circumvallation running around the entire city. These three major built-up
divisions made together an L-shaped design: the citadel and the middle town
forming the shorter line from the north-south and the middle town and the
lower town forming the longer stroke along the east west axis. The citadel of
course, enjoyed pre-eminently vantage location within the town itself, not
located separately as at Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan and Dholavira. The
Harappan settlements is one of the distinctive features and the earliest advanced
urban civilizations of the world.
Streets
Streets are of the utmost importance in any of the civilization and the layout of
the streets can tell us about the nature of the settlement. During Harappan
period too, streets played vital role in the urban planning. The overall layout of
the Harappan settlements is distinguished by the orientation of streets according
to cardinal directions. The prime streets at best were laid out running north-
south and east-west cutting at right angles forming a grid pattern in such a
manner that it divided the settlements into square or rectangular blocks.
Though, in its stricter sense Mohen-jo- Daro does not have precise alignment
and the widest street measures 9.1 meter, running across the lower town, from
north to south. Excavations at Kalibangan have confirmed the existence of four
arterial thoroughfares, running north-south and three running east-west. To
prevent damage from vehicular traffic, fender posts were provided at some
street comers. Throughout the occupation, the width of these thoroughfares
appears to be maintained, the only encroachments of the structures into the
streets were rectangular platforms immediately outside some houses.
Archaeological evidences suggest that the streets were unmetalled, except in the
late phase. The layout of the city shows that the alignments of the streets were
at variance with that of fortification walls. In the same manner the streets of 4-6
meter wide and narrow lanes of 2-3 meter divided the principal living area of
Lothal with main-street running from north to south. Surkotada also furnishes
the evidence of
streets and lanes in between the house complexes. The citadel has,
notwithstanding its curvatural delineation, resolved itself in formal arrangement
of streets and lanes which ran straight almost along the citadel directions and
cut each other at right angles and thereby determined a fairly rectangular form
for individual housing sectors of which six units can be easily identified within
the excavated area. On the other hand, the lower town, having trapezoidal plan,
has exhibited a nucleated radial layout of the streets and lanes, which, in turn,
demarcated a series of triangulate of acutely trapezoidal residential sectors. In
this unconventional layout, there were seen certain focal points for streets, like
spokes of wheel, to converge on or radiate from. They therefore, made an acute
or obtuse angle at the point of bifurcation. In the lower town, one such focal
point was near the east gat, where five major streets- three coming from the
interior of the town and two running along the fortification wall- meet with the
passage of the gate on a broad piazza. No streets showed use of vehicular traffic.
The only exception was seen in the outer street near the northern apex of the
citadel wall.
Drainage Network
One of the most excellent features of the Harappan town planning is the well
laid out streets and side lanes geared up with drainage network. As a matter of
fact, discharge of polluted water and sewage was an important part of the
concerns of the Harappan, which is reflected not only in the cities but also in
smaller towns and villages having impressive drainage system. Baked bricks
were the important part for the construction of the drains. Bathing platforms
and latrines of the houses were connected to the medium sized drains in the
side streets. These medium sized drains flowed into larger sewers along with the
main streets, which were covered with bricks or dressed stone blocks. Corbelled
arches allowed the lager drains to cut beneath streets or buildings until they
finally exit under the city wall. One completely preserved drain found at
Harappa has a magnificent corbelled arch- 1.6 meter high, 60 centimetre wide
and extends from 6.5 meter beneath a major city street. Rectangular sump pits,
for collecting solid waste, were aided with main sewage, at regular intervals.
Harappans seems to be through with the art of management of waste water
inside the houses. As evident from excavations, there were provisions of
intramural drains, vertical drain pipes in the walls, chutes through walls to the
streets and drains from bathing floors into the street drains. The Great Bath at
Mohen-jo-Daro was provided with that largest of all the Harappan culverts.
Water from inside houses was sometime led directly into a street drain, but
there are other facilities, which were used as well, like brick-lined cesspits and
pottery jars along the streets.
On the other hand, Dholavira presents excellent evidence
of rainwater drains. The citadel has yielded an efficient system of water
harvesting through network of drains to a reservoir carved out in open space
provided in the bailey. The large drains are high and broad enough to allow a
person to walk through, resembling the drain to flush out wastewater from the
Great Bath at MohenjoDaro. Small apertures at short intervals on the roofing
stone slabs, which might have acted like ducts to let air escape and instigate the
easy flow of storm water, are one of the interesting features of these drains at
Dholavira.
Houses and Buildings
Groups of residential houses and public buildings were constructed close
together and formed larger blocks that were bordered by lanes and wide streets.
Most of the houses opened on the narrower streets and lanes and rarely on the
Main Street. An average house centered around an open courtyard from which
access was provided to the various rooms to meet basic requirements as
modules seen in traditional houses even today. Apart from bathroom, latrine,
and drains for sewage is almost in every houses having their own well. Floors of
the houses were either made up of rammed earth or moulded mud bricks. Quite
a few houses have provided evidence of staircases, which suggests the
possibility of upper storey; though it is quite likely that in most of the cases
these might be the openings for the roof. On an average, houses walls were 70
centimetre thick and ceilings were probably three meter high. Clay models of
houses show that some of the doorframes were painted and possibly carved with
simple decoration and also suggest a kind of locking device. Windows were
reported to have normally formed by lattice brickwork. Besides the common
types of houses, Barack like quarters, arranged in two parallel back to back
north-south rows, separated by a narrow passage were evident from the HR area
of Mohenjodaro. Here, each quarter had two rooms, one at the back and the
other in the front. These barracks are reminiscent of more or less similar
quarters at Harappa. There were also large houses surrounded by smaller units
served as a single residential complex. The other outer units may have been the
houses of relatives or service groups attached to the main house. While large
public buildings may have been associated with specific administrative or
religious functions. The structures identified as the Great Bath, the so called
granary, the College, and the Ware-house etc. may be included in this category.
 Great Bath
The Great Bath, an example of the Harappans engineering skill, measures
about 14.5x7m, with a maximum depth of 2.4m. A wide staircase leads down
into the tank from the north and south. The floor and walls of the tank were
made water-tight by finely fitted bricks laid edge to edge with gypsum mortar. A
thick layer of bitumen was laid along the sides of the tank and probably also
below the floor, making this one of the earliest examples of waterproofing in the
world. The floors slopes towards the south-west corner, where a small outlet
leads to a large corbelled brick drain, which would have taken the water out to
the edge of the mound. Remains of brick colonnades were discovered on the
eastern, northern, and southern sides of the bath and a similar colonnade must
have existed on the western side as well. Two large doors lead into the complex
from the south and there were also entrances from the north and east. There are
a series of rooms along the eastern edge of the building. One of them has a well
that may have supplied water to tank. Immediately to the north of the Great
Bath is a large building consisting of eight small rooms with common bathing
platforms.
Across the street from the Great Bath are the remains of a large,
imposing building (69x23.4m) consisting of several rooms, a 10m square
courtyard, and three verandahs. Two staircases led either to the roof or an
upper storey. Because of its size and proximity to the Great Bath, it was
tentatively identified as the house of the chief priest or several priests, and was
labelled the college of priests . The significance of the structure is unknown, but
it is generally thought to be linked with some sort of ritual bathing.

Great Granary
The Harappan Civilization was capable of generating sufficient crops for its rural
and urban population as well, is proved by the granaries at Mohenjodaro and
Harappa. Both the granaries were located in the upper town or citadel of the
two cities. It is a brick structure that was built on a massive brick foundation
over 45 meters north south and 45 meters east-west. Two rows of six rooms that
appear to be foundations are arranged along a central passageway that is about
7 meters wide and partly paved with baked bricks. Each room measures 15.2 by
6.1 meters and has three sleeper walls with air space between them. A wooden
superstructure supported in some places by large columns would have been
built on top of the brick foundations, with stairs leading up from the central
page area. Small triangular opening may have served as air ducts to allow the
flow of fresh air beneath the hollow floors.
To the south of the granary at
Harappa stood a large platform with circular pits. Wheeler reported the
discovery of hay, husk, wheat and barley grains from within these circular pits,
which he interpreted as pits for threshing grains; the platform was therefore
identified as a grain-pounding platform. To the immediate south of the pounding
platform can be seen two rows of tenements. These are one-room or two-room
dwellings, meant for the residence of people who are poorer than the residents
of larger structure in the city. Wheeler identified these houses as coolie
barracks, earmarked for workers employed for pounding grains close to the
granary. According to Wheeler, there existed a granary complex rather than
isolated and disjointed structures.
No special concentrations of burned grain or storage
containers were discovered by the earlier excavators and the interpretation of
these structures as granaries is based on comparisons with Roman buildings and
has no parallels with any building tradition in South Asia.

Conclusion
The Indus Valley Civilization was one of the oldest and developed civilizations
of its time. The cities were very well structured and developed. Collection and
disposal of waste were also done in a nice manner as a wooden screen was
placed at end of the main sewer, this shows that they were also aware of water
pollution. They built a scientific drainage system in their cities. Streets were also
construed in an engineering style and also made up of burnt bricks and having
well drainage system. There is enough evidence to show that some of the early
conceptions of Hinduism are derived from this culture. On the whole, the
present civilization is a composite product resulting from a fusion of several
cultures where the contribution of the Indus Valley is of utmost importance. It s
very unfortunate that none of the Harappan architecture has completely
survived the test of time all we see today are that ruins are very sophisticated.
An advanced civilization whose architecture continues to be the center of
historical debate for so many because so many remains are excavated and
unexplored.