HISTORY OF EASTERN ARCHITECTURE

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION (C. BC 3000-2000)

Lecture 1
Introduction

Major historical development of Architecture- famous for their conception and are supremely
distinctive.

Examples:

Greek – refined perfection

Roman – remarkable scientific construction

French Gothic – reveals a condition of passionate energy

In the same way, Outstanding quality of Indian Architecture

Indian Architecture reflects

• Religious consciousness of people.

• Mind materialization in terms of rock, brick stone.
• Wall surface treatment with schematic sculptures which tell ocean of stories (self-narrative story
as teaching media of then).

Development in the dawn age of India- found in Indus Valley Civilization (N-W part of India, presently it
is Pakistan)
 3 civilizations were flourished in the
bank of Indus River

• HARAPPA (At Southern Punjab)

• MOHENJO-DARO (At Sind)
• CHANGU DARO
• LOTHAL

Found evidences from excavation done in 1920 AD clarify:

• No pronounced aesthetic aspiration.

• No deep religious conviction (no evidences of religious structure).

STARK UTILITARIANISM

Civilization found buried in the soil of Indus River bank. Found matured state in 3000 BC (more than
5000 years old), so can be assumed that its origin may be go back to still more remote age. Developed
out of farming and herding communities. Later unified culturally and resulted as one of the meticulously
planned cities.

CITADEL CIVILIZATION

Origin and Development

Geographical situation aided in overflow of people from Central Asia. Group of nomadic people from
Sumeria (present day Iran), deserted direction, entered through N-W through the valleys of Hindu kush
and passes of Bolan pass and Khyber pass landed on unused Indus River banks richly forested with
abundant alluvial soil. These people found breath taking green valley, richly forested and abundantly
watered land beside Indus river (Sindu by local) & its tributaries (Jhelum, Chenab, Rabi, Beas, Sutlej). The
alluvial land was conceived as “God’s own gift” and life supporting. The itinerant group of people felt no
need of wandering more and settle there, thus, beginning of Indus Civilization. River acted as trade
route and highway, this made traders.

Development Process

• Alluvial river bank & continuous water supply was ideal for cultivation.
• Forest as abundant source of hunting and timber for fuel and building material.
• Plenty of mud led to idea of baking brick thus leading to permanent building construction.
 • By the first Millennium of the settlement, they already known to grow rice, wheat, cotton, and
others.
• Development of irrigation system led to production of agricultural surplus.
• Construction of granaries.
• Growth of industries (pottery, brick making, carpentry & weaving for cotton textiles).
• Overseas trade with contemporary cities (like Mesopotamia, Iran, Arab and so on).
• Ox driven carts for transportation.
• Use of stone and copper tools.
• Pots and urns of clay, wood in geometric pattern.
• By the period of a 1000 years, the immigrants and their descendants spread over half a million
square miles along & around the Indus valley.

Town planning

Indus valley civilization has made great achievements in;

• City planning.
• Residential architecture.
• Civic administration in the principal cities.

Exhibit outstanding examples of effective town planning comparable to Roman cantonments came
almost 2500 years later.

• Mohenjo- daro and Harappa show similar planning approaches.

• Both were nearly a mile square in area with crenellated defensive walls.
• Layout of Grid iron pattern of streets N-S and E-W >> 9 M wide.
• City divided into 12 blocks by streets >> each block approx. 365 x 244 M.
• The central western block allocated for citadel and others mainly for residential.

• City served by extensive drainage system and better street networks.

Citadel (raised and fortified place)

• Placed important structures and for conducting rituals.

• Built over a platform of baked brick 15m above general city level.
• Citadel had terraces at various levels approached by ramps or staircases.

Palace

Great Bath CITADEL

Massive granary

Great Bath
Bathing tank probably for ritual public bath
(7x12.1x2.4) m waterproofed with asphalt and
had filling / draining system.

Surrounded by living quarters for Priests

Granaries (as storage chambers of grains) provided
with loading/ unloading platforms and cross
ventilation.

Circular brick paved flour making platforms was next

to granaries.

Ruins of vast halls (70x24) M >> as part of palace/

worshipping place.

A row of two roomed cells probably for labours.

Residential Architecture

• Residences arranged around open to

sky central courtyard.

• No Direct entry and window in the main

street. Entry through irregular, narrow &
shaded walkway to maintain privacy.

• Depend for light & Ventilation on

central open court.

Town planning

A small residential block within the grid of main

and subsidiary streets.
Residential Architecture

• The basic unit of residential block is of varying size and two or more stories in height.
• Group of housing units share a common well for water supply.
• Each house had a separate bathing area connected to drains and joined with main street
sewerage with manhole at regular interval.
• Extensive drainage system in the city.

Construction Method

• Houses constructed of burnt brick in mud

mortar.
• Brick Size : 12x12x27 cm
• Upper stories made largely of wood, roofs being
flat and built of stout beams covered with
planking with top dressing of beaten earth.
• Foundations and walls found to use English
bond.
• No instances of true arch, openings being
spanned by wooden lintels.

• Drains covered with brick slabs, larger main sewers

spanned by corbelled brick arches.
• Corbelled arch formed by over sailing brick courses.
Arts & Artifacts

• Numerous artifacts discovered form the period.

• Use of Unidentified pictorial scripts/ writing system found in pottery, amulets, weight (around
400 no.)
• Writing from left to right.
• Steatites (soap stone) seals with humped bull - sqaure / rectangular, 2-3 cm was used for
security and ownership signs.
• Jewellery such as ear rings, pendants, belts & bangles of gold, silver, jade.
• Sculpture of dancing girl in bronze.
• Statues of priestly king.

Decline and Decay

Over 1000 years,

• Little technological progress.

• People Lived without experiencing wars.
• No progress in armaments/weapons.
• The recurring floods and change of river courses:
• devastated portions of the cities time and again.
• the limited rebuilding ultimately could not sustain for long.
• Around 1600 BC, nomadic invaders from the west ( Aryans) attack the cities.
• The cities became virtually sieged under constant threat from marauding tribes >> cities
defensive but not well equipped.
• New building activity came to be standstill, additional spaces to be created by encroaching upon
courtyards and streets.
• Brick kilns were constructed on the streets.
• Not safe to go beyond city limit.
• Uncertainty & Difficult to enforce rules and regulation.
• Walled up western gate for defense but could not help.
• And finally flee from the cities for life and moved to Chanhu-daro (S-E of Mohenjodaro) and
tried to build new town but not succeeded.
• On the other hand, the cities offered no attraction to the Aryan nomads instead aroused their
contempt and wrath so they destroyed the cities and moved further east towards Gangetic
plains to restart with wood and bamboo.
• The cities were totally abandoned and fragile, converting it to “a city of dead”. The entire
civilization built over thousands of years collapsed, declined and remained buried under earth
for thousands of years.

By 1800 BCE, the Indus Valley Civilization saw the beginning of their decline. The writing started to
disappear, standardized weights and measures used for trade and taxation purposes fell out of use,
the connection with the Near East was interrupted, and some cities were gradually abandoned.
Reasons for this decline was entirely clear, but it is believed that the drying up of the Sarswoti River,
a process which had begun around 1900 BCE, was the main cause. Other experts speak of a great
flood in the area. Either event would have had catastrophic effects on agricultural activity, making
the economy no longer sustainable and breaking the civic order of the cities.
5000 BCE
Evidence of religious practices in the Indus Valley.

5000 BCE - 1500 BCE

The Indus Valley (or Harappan) Civilization.

4000 BCE
Farming settlements are established in the Indus Valley.

3000 BCE
The Aryans - nomadic northerners from central Asia, begin to migrate into the Indus Valley.

3000 BCE
First signs of urbanization in the Indus Valley.

3000 BCE - 2600 BCE

The rise of the great Indian cities of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa.

2600 BCE
Dozens of towns and cities are established in the Indus Valley.

2500 BCE
Earliest use of the Indus Script.

1000 BCE
The Aryans expand into the Ganges valley in India.

530 BCE
Persia conquers the Indus Valley.