THE TOWN PLANNING OF THE HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION

Harappan civilization, also recognized as “The Indus Valley Civilization” was a Bronze Age

civilization. Covering an area of about 1.5 million square kilometers at its peak, it was spread
over the present-day western parts of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan covering 30 percent of
the present landmass of the region. Its earliest roots can be found from 7000 BC in Mehrgarh
but its peak urban period is around 2500 to 1900 BC, declining completely by 1300 BC. This
civilization flourished in the river basins of the Indus and the Ghaggar- Hakra river and is
famous for its systematic planning based on the grid system. However, since almost all the
evidence for the civilization is archaeological, it is generally classified as proto-historic.
Being one of the earliest civilizations of the world The Harappan Civilization has
significance for not only historians and archaeologists but also the common man. Harappan
sites were discovered way backing 1920-21, by archaeologists Dr. D.R. Sahni and Dr. R.D.
Banerjee. With fresh sites still being unearthed, adding insight into the rich culture of the
Harappan civilization, some of the most striking aspects of the discoveries are the town
planning and architecture, art and crafts, and the social, religious, and economic condition of
that era. Much has been known about the town planning and architecture of the Harappan
civilization. The cities boasted of well-planned roads wide and straight, houses provided with
an efficient drainage system and ventilation. This paper aims to discuss the most interesting
urban feature of Harappan civilization which is marked for its uniformity “The
Town-Planning”.

Marked by considerable uniformity, in the layout of the towns, streets, structures, brick size,
drains. It is clear from excavated remains, that the Harappan Civilization possessed a
flourishing urban architecture laid out on a grid pattern with provisions for an advanced
drainage system and the most important innovation was the standardization of the bricks in a
size ratio very close to 4:2:1. The citadel, defence walls, dams etc prove to the existence of
monumental architecture and the planned . Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Rakhigarhi and
Dholavira were by far the largest urban centers of the Indus civilization evidently as
important political and administrative regional centers. The metropolitan centers were
internally divided into two or more parts: the Citadel for rulers and the Lower Town for the
common people.

Well known for its urban outlook and sophisticated sense of town planning and organization.
Archeological excavations at Mohenjo-Daro exposed the division of the regions into two
parts: The Citadel and The Lower Town The citadel contained large structures which might
have functioned as administrative or ritual centers. Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Rakhigarhi, and
Dholavira were by far the largest urban centers of the Indus civilization evidently as
important political and administrative regional centers. The ‘citadel’ is usually marked by a
series of platforms, with fire altars at Kalibangan, the Great Bath at Mohenjodaro,
‘Warehouse’ at Lothal and Granaries at Harappa and Mohehjodaro; and public buildings such
as the Pillared Halls at Mohenjodaro and Dholavira, rungashala or stadium at Dholavira, and
special-purpose structures, such as the ‘Dockyard’ at Lothal. Physically separated from the
citadel, within the walled ‘Lower Town’ there were many sectors for specialized crafts, for
shops and bazaars for social gatherings, etc Inhabited by the common people, residential
buildings are seen to be built in the lower town.

Excavations have uncovered many types of houses and public buildings at both large and
small settlements. The architecture may be grouped into three categories with some variations
as −Private houses, Large houses surrounded by smaller units, and Large public structures.
Most of the houses had a central courtyard with rooms surrounding them. The courtyard was
likely used for summer activities such as cooking and knitting. Also in most houses, the main
entrance was placed in such a way that it did not give a direct view of the interior to maintain
privacy. Doorways and windows rarely opened out into the main street but faced side lanes.
The view into the house was blocked by a wall or a room around the front door. This was
done to protect the activities in the central courtyard from the view of passers-by. The doors
were made with wooden frames and a brick socket set in the threshold served as a door pivot.
Some of the doors seem to have been painted and possibly carved with simple ornamentation.
Evidence of houses with stairs and second floor were found, the windows were small in the
second stories and rarely any in the first. The adjacent houses were separated by a narrow
space of "no man's land". The houses of common people, however, differed in size from a
single-room house to bigger structures. The houses were largely built of burnt bricks. The
bigger houses had many rooms surrounding a square courtyard. These houses were provided
with private wells, kitchens, and bathing platforms. The difference in the size of the houses
suggests that the rich lived in the larger houses whereas the one-room buildings or barracks
might have been intended for the poorer section of the society. Group of houses was
associated with one or more private wells and approximately 700 wells having been
identified in the core area of Mohen-jo Daro, The number of wells and their association with
neighborhoods could indicate a need for discrete and relatively private water sources. The
doors of the houses opened in these lanes and not the main streets. The main street is
connected by narrow lanes. The grid-like arrangement of the streets and the stark uniformity
of the houses suggest rigid state control, the first instance of town planning in the world. It
divides the city into several residential blocks. The streets intersect each other at right angles
in a criss-cross pattern. All streets and roads of Indus Valley were straight and cutting each
other at a right angle. All the roads were built using burnt bricks and the length of each brick
was four times the height of the brick and the breadth was two times the height of the brick.
No encroachment on the streets was to be seen. The sites were laid out on an approximate
rectangular grid of main streets and smaller lanes with an efficient drainage system. It seemed
that the streets with drains were laid out first and then houses were built along with them.
The drainage system of the Harappans was elaborate and well laid out. Every house had
drains, which opened into the street drains. These drains were covered with manholes bricks
or stone slabs that could be removed for cleaning, were constructed at regular intervals by the
side of the streets for cleaning. This shows that the people were well acquainted with the
science of sanitation. The cities and smaller settlements also had carefully designed and
well-maintained drainage systems. Wells and bathing platforms were lined with bricks, and
small drains carried water away from the wells or living area to larger street drains. The street
drains were equipped with sump pits and the streets had bins for non-liquid waste, which was
presumably collected and dumped outside the settlement. The main channels were made of
bricks set in mortar and were covered with loose bricks, that could be removed for cleaning.
In some cases, limestone was used for covers. House drains first emptied into a sump or
cesspit into which solid matter settled while wastewater flowed into the street drains. Very
long drainage channels were provided at intervals with sumps for cleaning. House drains
emptied themselves into the main drains which ran under the main streets and below many
lanes. The Harappan people well knew that such drains were not to be left open. Every house
had its own soak-pit which collected all the sediments and allowed only the water to flow into
the street drain. The elaborate drainage system of the Harappan people shows that they had
developed a high sense of health and sanitation.

The excavation shows that the Great Bath which was located inside the city was a larger
rectangular tank and meant for special rituals or ceremonial baths and was almost looked
similar to a modern-day swimming pool. The tank was built inside a courtyard and was
bordered by a corridor on all four sides. The tank was coated with gypsum to prevent water
leakage. There were two entrances to the tank one from the north and another from the south.
The tank had bricks in its edges and a huge drain on one side. Interestingly, there have been
additionally 3 showers simply close to the Great Bath. The tank was also surrounded by side
rooms like cloth changing rooms. A thin layer of bitumen was applied to the bed of the Bath
to ensure that water did not seep in. Water was supplied by a large well in an adjacent room.
There was a drain for the outlet of the water. The bath was surrounded by sets of rooms on
sides for changing cloth. The Great Bath was a brick structure, which measured 12 m by 7 m
and is nearly 3 m deep from the surrounding pavement. Water was supplied by 3 large wells
placed in an adjacent room. Surrounding the bath, there were porticos and sets of rooms,
while a stairway led to an upper story. The bath was linked with some sort of ritual bathing,
which was very common in Indian life right from ancient times to date. The Great Bath
of Mohenjo Daro is the most remarkable feature of any Harappan site. Immediately to the
west of the Great Bath (at Mohenjo Daro) was a group of 27 blocks of brickwork
crisscrossed by narrow lanes. This structure measures 50 m. east-west and 27 m. north-south.
These structures have been identified as granaries, which were used for storing grains.
Similar structures have been also found at Harappa, Kalibangan, and Lothal. It consists of
several rectangular blocks of brick for storing grains. A granary has also been found at
Harappa. It has rows of circular brick platforms, which were used for threshing grains. This
is known from the finding of chaffs of wheat and barley from here. One of the biggest
granaries sites was found in Indus Valley at Mohenjo Daro. Almost every site found in
excavation witnesses the system of Granary or Warehouses. Most staple food such as rice,
wheat, and barley was stored in these warehouses for public distribution during
calamities. The granaries in the cervical region were a huge construction. Archeological
proof proposes the lower piece of the stockroom was made of blocks and the upper part was
likely made of wood.The Great Granary at Harappa consists of a series of parallel walls, each
15.9 m. long-standing in two sections divided by a passage 7. 01 m. broad. The building thus
comprises two similar blocks, together with a measuring 51.51 m.X41.14 m. The walls are
about 2.74 m. thick. In each block, six halls are alternating regularly with five corridors.
Each of the halls is partitioned into four narrow divisions by three equidistant, full-length
walls terminating in broader piers at the ends. The piers are made of burnt brick, while the
partition walls are of mixed construction.A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for
threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made out of
pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice
and other animals. Near the granaries, two-roomed barracks have been found which might
have housed laborers. The granary was built on a raised platform to protect it from floods.
The dockyard found at Lothal was another important structure. It was a large structure
measuring 223 m. in length, 35 m. in width, and 8 m. in-depth, provided with an inlet
channel (12.30 m. wide) in the eastern wall and a spillway. The inlet channel was connected
to a river. By its side, it was 240 m. long and 21.6 m wide wharf. This was a dockyard where
ships and boats used to come for loading and unloading of trading goods. Lothal was a major
trading center of the Harappan civilization. At Lothal, a brick structure has been identified as
a dockyard meant for berthing ships and handling cargo. This suggests that Lothal was an
important port and trading center of the Harappan people. The dock is a testimony to the
engineering skill of its builders and was the first-ever venture made by man to build an
artificial basin for sluicing ships at high tide. In its conception and engineering, it surpasses
the Roman and Phoenician docks of later times. Its embankment walls measure 212.4 m. on
the west, 36.4 m. on the north, 209.3 m. on the east, and 34.7 m. on the south. The basin and
walls are lined with burnt bricks. It was built off the mainstream to reduce the likelihood of
silting and flooding and incorporated a water-locking device and a spillway to ensure
floatation of ships during low tide. Ships would enter the dock at high tide. The inner walls
were made perfectly vertical so that cargo could be loaded and unloaded directly between the
ships and the wharf. The wharf, measuring 260 m. ran along the western wall of the dock.
From the wharf, goods could be taken to the warehouse adjacent to it.

The Indus valley people thus achieved considerable proficiency in engineering and technical
skill as shown by their use of building materials and their construction of roads,
drains.Town-planning being the prime specialty of the Harappan culture, the people thus left
an imprint of originality and brilliance. The town-planning of Harappan culture is one of its
most impressive aspects, as though it was the handiwork of a genius of an architect. In every
aspect like roads, houses, drainage, bath, granary, the Harappan people have left their imprint
of originality and brilliance. Each town being divided into two main parts, built of forts on
higher ground that housed the ruling class and the priestly class and from the foot of the fort
area the spread of human settlements of other classes, immaculate indeed was the
arrangement of the city. Town-planning of Harappan culture was highly modem and
dignified, big wide roads and drainage system speak of their healthy civic life, the
house-building, the Great Bath, granary and drainage speak of the developed mode of living
of the people of Harappa.
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