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

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.