Town Planning and Architecture of Harappa & Mohenjodaro

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1. Town Planning and Architecture of Harappa & Mohenjo-daro Dr. Virag Sontakke

2. Harappa

3. Introduction of IVC Known As : Indus valley civilization, Harappan civilization, or Saraswati civilization, Ghagghar-Hakra civilization, Indo- Sarsaswati civilization The earliest known Urban culture of the Indian subcontinent.  IVC consisted of large cities, and small towns and villages. Indus civilization was the most extensive than contemporary culture. The Indus Valley civilization was basically an urban culture sustained by surplus agricultural production and commerce. Mature period the civilization appear to be about 2500–1700  BCE. It spread in modern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan

4. Location Harappa, is situated in Punjab  province, Pakistan. Site lies on the left bank of a now dry course of the Ravi river. It is located 160 km southwest of Lahore. The current village of Harappa is less than 1 km (0.62 mi) from the ancient site. 

5. History of Excavations at Harappa The archaeological site at Harappa was damaged in 1857 when engineers constructing the Lahore-Multan railroad . The Harappa site was first excavated by Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1872-73. The first extensive excavations at Harappa were started by Rai Bahadur Daya Ram Sahni in 1920.  Then the culture identified as Indus Valley civilisations M.S. Vats excavated the "Granary," and published the results excavations in 1940. Excavations by other archaeologists continued in the 1930’s. In 1946 Sir Mortimer Wheeler excavated and found the first pre-Indus Valley civilization ( Kot Diji ) deposits. After independence, Harappa was excavated by Mohammed Rafique Mughal of the Archaeological Survey of Pakistan in 1966.  In 1986, Harappa Archaeological Project (HARP), initiated and excavation begun under the direction of George F. Dales and J. Mark Kenoyer .

6. The Illustrated London News on September 20, 1924 . 

7. The Site The excavations revealed that Harappa was grid-plan layout. Site has lower town and Citadel It has many mounds called Mound A to F It has a houses with sophisticated construction. Also has public structures And cemetery

8. Chronology Period I : Ravi- Hakra phase (c. 3300-2800 BCE) Period II : Kot diji phase, Early Harappa (c. 2800-2600 BCE) Period III : Harappan Phase (c. 2600-1900 BCE) Periods IV: Transitional Phase (c. 1900-1700 BCE) Periods V : Late Harappan Phase (c. 1700-1300 BCE)

9. Plan of the Harappa

10. Current estimate is that the site was at least 150 hectares in area (Dales and Kenoyer 1989a). Most Harappan baked brick structures had been removed by brick robbing. This disturbance extended up to two meters below the surface.

11. Town Planning of Harappa Fortifications Citadel Lower town Houses Drains Granary Roads Wells

12. Fortifications It has Massive defensive walls on all sides Bastions are seen at regular intervals Bastions also has entrance to go up. This leads to ramps and terraces to supervised from guardrooms. The fortifications have been built and rebuilt  many times First utilizing simple brick-bats were replaced nearly from the ground up by baked bricks Varies gates have been found One gate found measures only 2.6 meters wide

13. Citadel  The Citadel has an size of 420 m. N-S and 196 m. E-W. Structures were build on 6 meter high platform. It was also fortified.

14. Houses Varying types of houses and buildings are found. Central courtyard and rooms around. Entry from the lanes Multi-storeyed houses (1-2 stories) Stairs led to the upper stories through a side room or the courtyard  It is also indicate that third floor might also have existed. The average thickness of walls was 70 cm and the average ceiling height about 3 meters.  Doors were made of wood with wooden frames The windows had both shutters and grills, which were embedded into the building itself. Groups or clusters of houses are also in evidence

15. Evidence of Brick Robbing Structures of Harappa were sometimes made of a combination of mud-bricks and baked bricks. Walls that were made completely of baked brick

16. Wells Total 30 wells were reported Close river nearby may be one of the reason There are more private wells than public Public wells probably got polluted or run out due to heavy use and affluent citizens then dug their own.  Wells made of burnt and wedged shaped bricks

17. Sanitation Bathing platforms were situated next to the wells. Bathing platform were raised above ground level. Bathing place had tightly fitted brick floors which made them more or less waterproof. Drains from these rooms led separately to the main drains Almost every house in Harappa has a latrine. Latrines had a large terracotta jar sunk into the ground and sometimes connected to the external drains.

18. Well and Bathing Platform, Harappa, 2200-1900 BCE

19. Drainage Harappa has series of drains running along the streets  Later these connected to larger sewers in the main streets.  Houses smaller drains of latrines and bathing areas connected to larger drains. Bigger drains had corbelled roofs so they could be buried underneath the main streets. Drains exiting the city even had wooden doors  Sump pits were found at intervals. It seem that drains were regularly cleaned to avoid blockages.

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21. Public Buildings: Granary The granary is located on Mound F. Plan : Rectangular It is lying on a massive mud brick foundation. Size : 50 m x 40 m. Total of 12 rooms in two rows (6 rooms each row) divided by a central passageway A central passageway is 7 meter wide and partially paved with baked bricks. Each room measures approx. 15 m. x 6 m. The main structure would probably have been made of wood Triangular openings in the floor might have been air ducts to remove moisture.  Circular platforms near the buildings thought to be for husking of wheat

22. Granary: Conjunctural view 6 Rooms Air ducts Passage: 7 meter

23. Plan view of the ”Granary" The Great Granary is a mystery What its function was? Was it actually used to hold grains? Or used as a place for farmers to store their crop? Other Views: Roman style? Or Administrative Building 

24. Workman’s Quarter Situated north of citadel (mound F) Fourteen Rooms in two rows Seven in each row with a passage in between It has courtyard at front and room at back Size : 17 x 7 meter In front (north) of this structure 18 circular brick platform was found Average diameter of these platform was 3 meter Could be used for threshing platform for grains

25. Building Materials The main materials used were burnt bricks Bricks were made in moulds of 1:2:4 ratios Mud mortar and gypsum cement were used Mud plaster and gypsum plaster are also found

26. Conclusion Harappa is the the first identified site of the IVC Though, the site was robbed, many structures surviews Excavations is still going on at Harappa The data still being discovered helping us to piece together its history. It was one of the biggest city of IVC Number of public structures/ bigger structure indicate importance of the site No doubt much more work needs to be done to understand.

27. Mohenjo-Daro Mohenjo-Daro means mound of the Dead Men Mohenjo-Daro was one of the largest settlements of the IVC It was also one of the earliest major city of the World. Mohenjo-Daro was considered a cosmopolitan city of IVC

28. Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro is situated on the bank of the Indus river. In modern Larkana district of Pakistan. It is around 28 kilometres  from District Headquarter 5 Km from Indus river 675 Km from Harappa

29. Historical Backdrop Discovered in 1922 by R. D. Banerji , ASI. Large-scale excavations were carried out at the site under the direction of….. John Marshall, K. N. Dikshit, Ernest Mackay, and numerous other directors through the 1930s. Further excavations were carried out in 1945 by Mortimer Wheeler and A.H. Dani.  The last major excavation project at the site was carried out by the late Dr. G. F. Dales in 1964-65

30. Site occupies 200-300 Ha. Area Site contains two mounds and various area Like HR area : H. Hargreaves DK area : K.N. Dikshit VS area : M. Vast Fairservice (1967): At peak it probably had a population of 41,250. The Site

31. Site Lay-out Upper Town a,b : Blue Lower Town c to h: Red a: DK b: DK c: DK d: DK e: VS f: HR g: DKM h: i :

32. Town Planning and Architecture Citadel Lower Town Fortifications Houses Street and Drains Wells Great Bath Granary Pillared hall College of Priest Citadel

33. The Citadel Western Mound called as citadel The Citadel is a mud-brick mound It rose to a height of 12 m from GL. Its size around 400 x 200 m. Citadel is encircled by fortification wall

34. Structure Bath Granary Assembly Hall Priest house Fortification Wall

35. Fortification Both Citadel and lower town has thick fortification Size of Citadel’s fortification was 6 m. thick The wall has bastions It also has towers to supervise from top

36. Great Bath It’s a unique architecture and model of engineering of IVC Size : 14.5 x 7 meter Depth: 2.5 meter Entry from North and South via wide steps The floor and walls are water-tight Mortar : gypsum Earliest example of waterproofing structure Slope : south-west corner (drain with corbelled arch) A walkways surrounded the structure Series of room from eastern side and one room has a well At north eight room with bathing platform

37. Great Bath

38. College of Priest This structure is situated north of the great Bath Size : 69 x 23.4 meter Two staircases indicate multistoried building It has several rooms and three verandas Because of close proximity to great bath its identified as College of Priest

39. A workman handing over the Priest King to John Marshal in 1925-26 excavations

40. College of Priest

41. Granary This structure is situated in the citadel area Initially it was identified as “ Hammam ” Build on higher platform Size : 50 x 27 meter Structure probably made of wood with solid brick foundations Foundation was divided into 27 blocks with narrow passageway in-between 4.5 meter thick wide stairway to reach the structure A brunt brick platform identified as loading dock by Wheeler It has a bathing platform and well nearby

42. Assembly Hall/ Pillared Hall Situated in the south of Citadel Square in shape Size : 27 x 27 meters This structure was divided into five aisles

43. Assembly Hall/ Pillared Hall

44. Lower Town Lower town encompasses over 80 ha. Enclosed by fortification wall Town was planned with broad streets intersecting each other at right angles Main street was 9 meter wide Miner street were 1.5 to 3 meter wide

45. Houses Different size of houses One bigger house with multiple room where large number of seals and sealing and statue found considered as house of important person. In HR area 16 houses (room + bathroom) identified as workers quarters. Numerous shops were also reported. Many workshops, manufacturing area also identified according to material culture. Size may indicate the social hierarchy

46. House Pattern of the Mohenjo-daro

47. Wells Total 700 wells were reported This is largest as compare to any site of IVC Mohenjo-Daro identified as a “ City of Wells ” High numbers of wells indicate one in every third house had a well Wells were constructed by 10-15 meter deep Constructed by wedge shaped bricks Proper drains were planned for circulation of waste water

48. Conclusion Earliest evidence of house planning The size of the city, and its structures and planning indicate a high level of socio-political organization. Site shows urban nature through its structural remains High level of planning seen in architecture Big structure witnessed the administrative stronghold Mohenjo-daro was surely an important city of whole IVC

49. Any Questions ?