HUMAN SETTLEMENT

LECTURE 3 : INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Ar. Nihal Singh Verma

Department of Architecture NIT Raipur
 INTRODUCTION

The Indus Civilization is among the world's

earliest civilizations, contemporary to the
Bronze Age civilizations of Mesopotamia and
Ancient Egypt.
It was spread over an area of some 1,260,000
km, and pop. Over 5 millions
Flourished over Indus river from 2500 BC to
1500BC
It was discovered by RD Banerjee in 1920.
The major urban centers were Harappa
Mohenjo-daro, Lothal, Dholavira, Kalibanga, and
Rakhigarhi.
 INTRODUCTION

It incorporated within itself the social configurations and organizational devices that
characterize such a cultural form.
Cities and towns were particularly prominent.
The civilization occupied a region which included an expansive flood plain and an
agricultural regime based on floodwater farming and the cultivation of a diversity of plants
and animals.
Unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, there were no grand religious shrines nor were
magnificent palaces and funerary complexes constructed for the rulers.
Houses with bathrooms, a network of serviceable roads and lanes, an elaborate system of
drainage and a unique water supply system.
The two major urban centres of the Indus Valley were Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Both
settlements are surrounded by brick walls, have streets laid out in a grid pattern, and are
supplied with covered drainage systems to carry away waste.
 HARAPPA CIVILIZATION

Harappa flourished from 3500 1700 BC in the Western part of the South Asia.
Architecture in a range of building materials, writing system, city life, formal styles
of sculpture, and the use of several kinds of stones, shells, and metals.
Early Harappan (3500 2600 BC)
Large number of villages emerged
Use of copper, wheel, and plough
Extra-ordinary range of pottery forms showing beginning of many regional traditions
Evidence of granary, defensive walls, and long distance trade
Emergence of uniformities in the pottery tradition throughout the Indus Valley
Origins of such motifs as Pipal, humped bulls, Cobras, horned deity, etc.
 HARAPPA CIVILIZATION

Mature Harappan (2600 1800 BC)

Emergence of large cities, uniform types of bricks, weights, seals, beads and pottery
took place
Planned township
Long distance trade

Late Harappan (1800 BC onwards)

Many Harappan sites were abandoned
Writing and city life was abandoned
Continuation of Harappan Crafts and pottery tradition
Trade disappeared leading to the gradual decay of the significant urban traits
HARAPPA CIVILIZATION
 GEOGRAPHY

On THE Bank of the River Indus (Sindhu Nadi).

Its flowing length in Sindh is about 580 miles.
Flood Plains
East and west valley regions form the rich alluvial areas with forests and
agricultural lands.
It has a flat low-level country topography with some hills in the distance ranges of
Kirthar in the west and Aravali in the east.
Deltaic valley soils, with sands more and more prominent as one goes towards the
sea-board.
Marin Rocks
 TOWN PLANNING (Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa)

Both cities were square, with defensive outer walls

Cities are divided into lower dwellings & the Citadel which houses important buildings
An orthogonal street layout of modulated width was oriented toward the cardinal
directions.
These streets divided the city into 12 blocks.
The street layout shows as an understanding of the basic principles of traffic, with
rounded corners to allow the turning of carts easily.
"Lower Town" was divided into a number of blocks by a grid of straight streets running
north-south and east-west, and each block was further divided by small lanes.
Buildings in the lower area are rather monotonous, being mainly functional rather
than decorative. But many houses are 2 storied
TOWN PLANNING (Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa)
 TOWN PLANNING (Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa)

Except for the west-central blocks, the basic unit of city planning was the individual house.
The planning principles employed here are followed practically without change at all other
sites
Some houses had rooms with wells, bathing rooms (paved with baked bricks) and even
toilets.
in Harappa, Mohan-jo-daro, the urban plan included the world's first urban sanitation
systems.
Waste water was drained out of the houses through drain chutes built into the side walls that
fed into a system of drains built alongside the lanes and streets.
Municipal authorities who are responsible for the whole of the valley also regularly maintain a
highly efficient drainage system
The quality of municipal town planning suggests knowledge of urban planning and efficient
municipal governments which placed a high priority on hygiene.
TOWN PLANNING (Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa)
 TOWN PLANNING (Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa)

There is no conclusive evidence of palaces or temples or, indeed, of kings, armies,

or priests. Some structures are thought to have been granaries.
Although the "Citadels" are walled (extended one mile from east to west and one-
half mile from north to south), it is far from clear that these structures were
defensive. They may have been built to divert flood waters.
No large monumental structures were built.
Most city dwellers appear to have been traders or artisans, who lived with others
pursuing the same occupation in well-defined neighborhoods.
Although some houses were larger than others, Indus civilization cities were
remarkable for their apparent egalitarianism. For example, all houses had access to
water and drainage facilities.
 SCIENCE

Achieved great accuracy in measuring length, mass, and time.

First to develop a system of uniform weights and measures.
Metallurgy and produced copper, bronze, lead and tin.
build docks after a careful study of tides, waves and currents.
Knowledge of proto-dentistry.
Trade included bullock carts as well as boats.
 SETTLEMENT PATTERN

The behavior of the river providing an active flood plain and ecology,
Navigation through the river for internal trade,
Climate, accessibility to natural resources and trade routes, both internal and external.
The settlements types and their positioning also reflect the importance from the point of view of
distant marine trade e.g., Lothal and Mohenjodaro, Chanhudaro and Sutkagandor and Harappa; for
trade with the hinterland etc.
The River system, with its own network of tributaries, provided a consistent and better line of
communication through the Sirhind Nala between Punjab and Rajasthan for getting timber from the
areas of present Himachal Pradesh.
The River system had three major 'economic pockets'. The first was on the north along Sirhind The
second or the central pocket was in Bikaner Bhawalpur The third, southern one, in Kachchh, which is
geographically half way between Sindh and Gujarat These three 'economic pockets' in the 'culture
empire' of the Harappan provided a strong economic base that is the foundation of the 'urban boom
Harappan settlements are largely located along the major and perennial rivers.
AFTERMATH
WHAT IS NEXT ?

Vedic Civilization

Thank