Development of Town Planning in Indus Valley Civilization.

Indus valley Civilization

The Indo-Gangetic region formed the cradle of Indus Valley Civilization, nearly five thousand years ago, though no one had heard of such civilization till the 1920’s. However, the excavations carried out in the latter half of twenties at Mohen-jo-Daro (Hill of the Dead, on the Indus bank) covering an area of about 260 hectares and Harappa (on the bed of river Ravi) now in Pakistan, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, Lothal, Sukortada and Dhoulavira in Gujarat, Rakhigadhi in Haryana, show that the Indus Valley Civilization had its beginning between 4000-3000 B.C.

The civilization had greatly developed as that of ancient Mesopotamia. The cities had highly advanced system of town planning. The city Mohen-jo-Daro  was located on two mounds, one 1183 m x 546 m and other 364 m x 773 in with the population of 70,000 (the same as Harappa).

The city was built systematically. The street 9 m wide divided the city in 12 blocks each 365 m x 244 m. The layout of streets was based on ‘Grid-iron ‘plan. Houses were of varying sizes and storeys, constructed with brick walls. A series of rooms were arranged around an open-to-sky central court.

The residences had no direct entrance opening to the main streets; and no windows were provided towards the subsidiary walkways.. They depended entirely on roof lighting and ventilation. Almost every house built of kiln-brick, had complete bathing-establishment. A common well was provided to the groups of the buildings.

The city had an effective system of drainage. The drainage lines were running under walkways and finally connected to the main sewers laid under main roads. There were manholes located at different places for cleaning and inspection. Market-halls, granaries, offices were neatly planned.

The Great Bath was 7 m wide and 12 m long and 2.4 in deep. The Great Bath had a remarkable system of filling and emptying and meticulously joined at the bottom with bricks. It was Made watertight with layers of bitumen and was surrounded by toilets and private baths. It was a prototype of ritualistic bathing tank which was the part of Hindu’ temples. The Indus-Valley Civilization culture collapsed due to the natural catastrophe. After centuries later, it was occupied by the Aryan invaders in 1500-1000 B.C.