ii. Indus Valley Architecture

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Details

The Indus Valley Civilization, also referred to as the Harappan Civilization, was one of the earliest urban civilizations in the world, flourishing around the Indus River basin.
The architecture of the Harappans is considered groundbreaking for its time. Notable archaeological sites from this period include Kot Diji in Sind, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, Rupar in Punjab, Banawali in Haryana, as well as Lothal, Surkotada, and Dholavira—all of which are located in Gujarat.

Features

Town Planning: Indus cities were well planned. The excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro have shown a lot of evidence of this. The city had two parts, i.e., the citadel and the outer city.

Citadel: The citadel was built on an elevated area. While certain major cities, such Harappa, Mohenjodaro, Kalibangan, Banawali, Rakhigarhi, Lothal, and Dholavira, had a citadel and lower town, this was not the case in the majority of them.
- The outer city was at a lower level.
Roads: The roads were wide and straight cutting each other at right angles.
Drainage System: They also had a perfect drainage system.

Drains: Each house had a well-constructed sink from which water flowed into the underground drains.
The hydraulic engineering skills of the Harappans were expert. They created the successful system.
To facilitate self-cleaning, the drains were built with drops at regular intervals.
The small drains went into huge drains, while the private drains went into smaller drains. The huge drains transported all of the city’s waste water to ponds or open spaces outside.

Some sewers had huge bricks or stones covering them. The crucial parts of the drainage system included soakage jars, man-hole cesspools, etc.

Gateways: The gateways were of two types, one simple entrance for vehicular activities while the other had some special importance.

Water management: The Harappan people’s-built canals to increase productivity and protect their crops from unfavourable weather.

They also built a hydraulic device to collect it for rainwater. At several locations, some evidence including dams, canals, and reservoirs was discovered.
Building a synthetic dock for berthing ships was the Lothal engineers’ greatest contribution to the advancement of science and technology.

Great Bath: The Great Bath is one of the most remarkable structures discovered at the archaeological site of Mohenjo-Daro. It is located east of the granary, a significant building complex in the ancient city. The floor of the bath has five levels. It is still functional today. It was probably used for religious celebrations and events.