History of Human

Settlements
 Introduction
• Around 13 million years ago: Man’s appearance.
• About 0.3 to 0.4 million years ago: Barbaric stage.
• Early humans led nomadic life, relying on hunting and
gathering for sustenance; concentrated in areas which offered
more favourable / less hostile environment to settle.
• Man’s settlement after nomadic life is accepted to be dawn of
human civilization.
• During 8000 – 10000 Years ago: Systematic cultivation
of plants and domestication of animals; more permanent
settlements.
• Production of surplus of storable food, system of writing, a
more complex social organization, and technological
advances such as the plough, potter's wheel, and metallurgy.
Study of Human Settlements:
• Aspects to be considered are:
- Regional / Physiographic – Natural factors - Location,
Climate – extreme conditions, Water and food availability, land
characteristics, forestry and biodiversity and Minerals;
- Power and Administration – Type of leadership;
- Socio cultural and Anthropomorphic - Origin and
influence, Social grouping, Cultural pattern, Languages, Religion
Literature;
- Socio-Economic - Trade & Commerce, Commodities,
Trade Linkages;
- Technology - Influence in industries, Building and
construction, Transportation, Utilities and services.
 Phases of History of Human settlements classified:
- Ancient Phase (12000 BC to 3000 BC)
- Intermediate / Medieval Phase (3000BC to1500 AD)
- Modern Phase or Organizational Phase (1500 till date)
• Initial phases of Human Settlement started in Central and
South Asia in and around fertile valleys of Euphrates, Tigris and
Indus.
• Predominance of development & growth of settlements
in Europe indicates westward shift of focus i.e. Greek & Roman
Civilizations, Renaissance or re-birth in Italy.
• Modern age experienced westward shift of predominance with
decline of British Imperial power and rise of America.
• Industrial Revolution generated new concepts of planning and
development.
Historians view Civilizations as the product of certain forces,
which act in various ways in different phases of civilizations.
Human settlements undergo three major phases:
- Initiation Phase;
- Development and maturity phase;
- Saturation and decline.
Different stages in lifecycle of a civilization may be attributed to
the following:

Place: land forms basic component of any development activity –

physiographic and climatic conditions invite man to settle at given
place.

People: Man is the unit of any civilization. Suitable place

selection to satisfy needs for shelter, security, belongingness, self
development etc.
 Production: Work to sustain and to meet basic needs. Concept of
work changed from hunting and fruit gathering to agriculture and
manufacturing. Gradually surplus production leading to inter and
intra trade linkages.

Progress and Prosperity: Process of development continues

with up-gradation of skill and technological knowledge and
inventions leading to enhanced quality of life.

Power: With settlement progress, need for proper management of

resources and strong administrative setup. Strongman as the
leader changed to Royal and Religious leadership and finally
Democratic form of governance. Changed norms of settlement
planning.

Polarity and Primacy: Stage when a settlement about to reach

its threshold, beyond which it can not sustain – climax of growth
and development. Cities forming agglomeration with
concentration of activities and no balanced hierarchy.
Post Primacy: Stage when a settlement touches level
beyond which it can not expand, then either it declines and
forms a necropolis or undergoes process of balanced
decentralization of population and activities.
Earlier cities magnified human activities in all its
dimensions.
PREHISTORIC PERIOD
Pre-History & History

Knowledge of Pre-history derives from surviving objects - evidence

of archaeology.
History, by contrast, is based on documents. History,
civilization and writing began at the same time in 3100 BC.

Mesopotamia and Egypt: 3100 BC

Two earliest civilizations developed in an area, called the Fertile
Crescent.
Rivers offer two main advantages to a developing civilization. They
provide water to irrigate the fields and easiest method of transport
for a society without paved roads.
Sumerians settled in what is now known as southern Iraq, between
the mouths of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Egypt develops in the
long narrow strip of the Nile valley.
The Indus: 2600 BC
Neolithic villages along the banks of the Indus combined into
a unified and sophisticated culture.
The Indus civilization, with its two large cities of Harappa
and Mohen-jo-daro, expanded over a larger region than
Egypt and Mesopotamia combined, which survived in a
remarkably consistent form, for about 1000 years.

The Aegean: 2000 BC

A distinctive civilization developed on the bays and inlets of
the rugged coastal regions of Greece, and many small islands.
Aegean civilization stands at the start of the very lively
tradition of Mediterranean culture.
It began in the large island which is perfectly placed to guard
the entrance to the Aegean - Crete.
China: 1600 BC
The longest consistent civilization in the human story so far
is that of China. There are no identifiable precedents for the
civilization of the Shang dynasty, which emerges in China in
about 1600 BC.

America: 1200 BC
Around this time the earliest American civilizations have
their beginnings, in Central America and in the Andes.
Both these cultures developed large towns, centered on
temples.
CULTURE & CIVILIZATION IN INDIAN
SUB-CONTINENT
Culture of India refers to the religions, beliefs, customs,
traditions, languages, ceremonies, arts, values and the
way of life in India and its people.
Regarded as the oldest civilization in the world.
Dates back to 8000 B.C., has continuous recorded history
since time of Vedas – believed to be 3000 to over 5500
years ago.
Vedas are large bodies of text originated in ancient India
composed in Vedic Sanskrit and oldest scriptures on
Hinduism.
These are not of human agency but are supposed to be
directly revealed and thus are called ‘SRUTI’ (what is
heard) and are distinguished from other religious texts
called ‘SMRUTI’ (what is remembered)
Vedic Texts are organized around four canonical
collection of metrical material called ‘Samhitas’. First
three of these are related to performance of ‘yagna’
(sacrifice) in Historic Vedic Religion.
1. Rig-Veda – oldest religious text in the world; hymns
dedicated to 33 different gods expectedly to nature
gods.
2. Sama-Veda or wisdom of chants, contains chants,
recited by the officiating priest during soma
ceremonies.
3. Yajur-Veda or wisdom of sacrifices, lays down
sacred invocations, chanted by particular sect of
priests called adhrvayu; performed sacrificial rites.
4. Atharva-Veda or the wisdom of the Atharvans –
sect of Brahmins credited for composition of the
Veda.
According to Vedas the four ages of human existence on
earth are:

1. Satya Yuga – Vedic Period (21000 BC to 15000 BC);

2. Treta Yuga - Ramayana Period (15000 BC to 9000BC)
3. Dwapar Yuga – Mahabharata Period (9000 BC to
3000BC);
4. Kali Yuga – started with the end of Mahabharata war
around 3000 BC.
Vedic Civilization flourished between 1500 BC to 500 BC on
Indo-Gangetic Plains of Indian Sub-continent and laid down
the foundation of Hinduism as well as the associated Indian
Culture.
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
3000 BC
Physiographic Characteristics: Plain Land between
Hindukush, Himalayas and sea in south, suitable for
settlements and cultivation;

Politics and Power: Political units comprised of Grama

(village), Vish and Jana ( the largest unit); King and Samrat
heading the Regions and Country.

Social Cultural: Social stratification as per defined duties

– Varnas: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras;
Predominance of Religion and activities.

Economy: Importance of agriculture; No economic

leadership.

Technology: Settlement located close to water bodies;

development of astronomy;
• IVC is the earliest urban civilization in India and one of
the earliest in the world.
• Unique urban characteristics indicate a sophisticated and
technologically advanced urban culture.
• At its peak the civilization may have had a population well
over five million. Twin cities of Mohen-jo-daro and
Harappa formed the hub of civilization.
• Civilization noted for its cities built of brick, roadside
drainage system, and multistoried houses.
• Discovery of variety of seals prove knowledge of
writing, religious beliefs of people and the means to note
down the business transactions which facilitated trade &
commerce with other countries.
• Society divided into three distinct groups:
- Group I - ruled and administered the city;
- Group II- included the merchants, associated with
trade and other business activities in the city.
- Group III - labourers who worked in the city and
farmers who cultivated wheat and barley as their
main crops.
• Harappan people knew the measuring tools of length,
mass, and time. They were the first in the world to develop
a system of uniform weights and measures.
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
Salient Features:
Three broad divisions of the settlement:
•Western part: Religious, Institutional and Cultural areas
around monastery and great bath including temple.
•Northern part – principally for production of agriculture
and industries;
•Southern part - principally for administration, trade and
commerce.
•Cities divided into lower dwellings, a market place; the
Citadel housed important buildings.
•Kilns & furnaces to manufacture burnt bricks outside city.
•Settlements were found built of mud bricks, burnt bricks
and chiseled stones.
• Both cities were a mile square, with defensive outer walls.
LAYOUT PLAN OF MOHEN JO-DARO CITY IN INDUS VALLEY
DETAILED LAYOUT PLAN OF CITADEL AREA OF MOHEN JO-DARO
Salient Features:
•Good under ground drainage system possible due to the
knowledge of arch, confirming geometrical knowledge of the
people.
•Decent houses with amenities of bath, lavatory, water
supply & a courtyard for pounding, grinding, laundry etc.
•Good roads cut each other at right angles, dividing the city
into blocks.
•Roads were so arranged that the wind would work as
suction pump, cleaning the area automatically.
•The lamp posts lit the roads at night.
•Granary is another special feature of this civilization, used
as storage for future use or for collection of tax.
•Highly standardized weights also an important
characteristic of this urban civilization.
• MOHAN-JO-DARO
 Decline of the Indus Valley Civilization
• Ecological changes led to decline of land and agriculture,
thereby enforcing need to evacuate the area.
• Shifts in monsoon pattern and changes in temperature.
• Disruption of agricultural base due to changes in the river
flow patterns and corresponding widespread flooding.
• Increase in population, excessive deforestation, decline in
agriculture etc. creating economic problems.
• Marked decline in the quality of building and town
planning.
• The invasion of the Aryans.
MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION
3000 BC
Mesopotamian Civilization

• Asia Minor: a Broad Peninsula lying between Black

and Mediterranean Seas.
• Mesopotamia : in origin a Greek name (mesos –
middle and potamos – river; i.e. land between the
rivers) also known as cradle of civilization.
• Comprises of several ancient civilizations existed:
Mesopotamian (4500 BC); Sumerian (3000 BC);
Babylon Civilization (2000-323 BC) Hittites
Civilization (1600-1200 BC); Assyrian Civilization
(1200-627 BC); Persian ( 1200-586 BC).
• Permanent settlements with knowledge of art and
specialization; leadership skill; Planning of
economy; and Caste system.
MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION BETWEEN EUPHRATES AND TIGRIS
RIVERS
Mesopotamian Civilization
• Cities began to emerge in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq)
around 4500 years ago.
• Mesopotamian villages and towns eventually evolved into
independent and nearly self-sufficient city-states.
• By 3000 B.C., Mesopotamian civilization had made
contact with other cultures of the Fertile Crescent.
Between 3000 and 2900 B.C. craft specialization and
industries began to emerge.
• Sumerians inhabited southern Mesopotamia from 3000-
2000 B.C. The origin of the Sumerians is unclear.
• Ur, the capital of ancient Sumeria, was the world’s first
city. It supported a complex and sophisticated society.
Mesopotamian Civilization
• Greatest achievement of Sumerian civilization was their
CUNEIFORM (wedge-shaped) system of writing.
• City-state was Sumer's most important political entity.
City-states were a loose collection of territorially small
cities which lacked unity with one another.
• Each city-state consisted of an urban center and its
surrounding farmland and was estate of a particular god.
• Although there were early Sumerian law codes, the best-
preserved Mesopotamian collection of law codes was that
of Hammurabi (18th century B.C.).
• CODE OF HAMMURABI reveals a society of strict justice.
Penalties for criminal offenses were severe and varied
according to the wealth of the individual.
Mesopotamian Civilization
• Three social classes in Babylonia according to Code:
an upper class of nobles (government officials, priests,
and warriors), class of freemen (merchants, artisans,
professionals, and wealthy farmers), and a lower class of
slaves.
• Number of laws in the code dedicated to land and
commerce reveal importance of agriculture and trade in
Mesopotamian society.
• Numerous laws dealt with questions of landholding like,
establishment of conditions for renting farmland, strict
laws concerning land-use and irrigation etc.
• Tenant farming was the basis of Mesopotamian
agriculture.
Ur- BABYLON (Sumerian City)
CITY OF BABYLON
Mesopotamian Civilization
• Sumerian civilization (12000-3000 BC) was characterized
by invention of dams, development of stepped pyramids
or Ziggurats.
• Settlement development was geometric and rectilinear.
Roads and houses developed parallel to river banks.
• Sumerian City was protective, compact with defense walls
for protection from repeated invasions.
• Social stratification seen as the conqueror and defeated,
who were mostly engaged as agriculture labour.
• Economy principally agricultural during the period.
EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
Egyptian Civilization – 3000 BC.
• Period characterized by development of knowledge in
town planning, construction with sun dried bricks,
medicine, pictographic writings, astronomy and fine arts.
• Earliest settlements seem to have been irregular – organic
development.
• Old Kingdom (2686 – 2181 BC) - many towns were
enclosed by walls.
• Middle Kingdom (2025 – 1700 BC) - highpoint of
centralized planning of settlements, typically within
rectilinear boundary walls and on a strict orthogonal plan.
• New Kingdom settlements (1500 – 1069 BC) - Largest
and most famous example Amarna – capital of
Akhenaten.
EGYPTIAN PERIOD DEVELOPMENTS
EGYPTIAN PERIOD – SOCIAL PYRAMID
Egyptian Civilization – 3000 BC.
• Insecurity and natural calamities increased influence of
religion - became very powerful and controlled life of
people.
• Types of leadership (political, administrative, economic and
religious) concentrated in a single personality in Pharaoh
or the king, who became immortal.
• Stone cutting and curving technology to satisfy the
pharaoh’s pomp and show, led to advancement of
construction technologies.
• Sacred buildings and imperial structures connected by
broad avenues and geometrically planned streets.
• Temple enclosure was 1/3 mile x 1/2 mile with large plazas
for performing religious ceremonies.
• Separate settlements for slaves located near construction
sites of pyramids.
Egyptian Civilization – 3000 BC.
• Reasons for foundation of a new settlement could be
security, economics, cultic and administrative need and
political motives.
• Water the main source of transportation. Settlement
planning in linear form along the river banks.
• Kahun – city plan was rectangular, covering an area of
about 350 x 400 m., surrounded by brick wall and divided
into two parts by another wall.
• Wide streets leading to palace and other streets in the city
laid out in straight lines.
• Temple districts were better planned. Outlay of individual
temples basically symmetrical with surrounding walls.
• Avenues leading through city to temple district were wide,
suitable for processions.
LAYOUT PLAN OF Tel-El-AMARNA
EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
AMARNA - WORKERS SETTLEMENT AT AKHETATEN
Egyptian Civilization – 3000 BC.
• Avenues leading through city to temple district were wide,
suitable for processions and ceremonies.
• Towns of Memphis, Thebes had number of temples, later
interconnected by Sphinx Avenues from 18th Dynasty
onwards.
• Freshly quarried limestone mostly used in temple
construction, which being relatively soft, could be easily
shaped. At times granite also used.
• Pyramids of different shapes and sizes built by Egyptians
as tombs for the Pharaohs and their queens.
• Three largest and best pyramids build at Giza at the
beginning of old kingdom. Great pyramid for Pharaoh
Khufu on west bank of Nile river. 230 mt. sides and height
146.6 mt. 2,300,000 stone blocks, av. weight 2.5-15 tons.
Mansara Vastushastra: 600 AD
In ancient India ‘Manasara’ also laid down town planning
principles.
Vastushastra by Mansara stipulates eight different types of
towns and villages according to shapes.
1. DANDAKA: Plan for small town and village.

2. SARVATOBHADRA: Plan applicable for larger

villages and towns on a square site.

Sarvatobhadra
Mansara Vastushastra: 600 AD

NADYAVARTA: Name of flower, commonly used for

towns and not for villages; for 3000-4000 houses;
temple in the centre.

PADMAKA: Plan for town with fortress around;

suitable for island surrounded by water; no scope for
expansion.

Nadyavarta
Mansara Vastushastra: 600 AD

SWASTIKA:

PRASTARA: Sites set apart for different class of

citizens; size of plots depending on purchasing capacity
of individuals.

Prastara
Mansara Vastushastra: 600 AD

KARMUKH: Plan for parabolic or semicircular sites;

applicable for sites located on seashore or rivers. Roads
running in north-south direction.
CHATURMUKHA: Applicable for all types starting
from largest town to smallest village.

Chaturmukha