lecture ii indus valley civilization

Indus Valley Civilization

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION


INTENT:

To make student aware about the architecture style, history and social

development which took in Indus Valley Civilization


CONTENT:

INTRODUCTION

ARCHITECTURE FEATURE OF IVC

CITIES of IVC

IMPORTANT BUILDINGS of IVC

NOTABLE ARTIFACTS

DECLINE

CONCLUSION


What is a civilization & which are the

oldest civilizations in the world???

•A type of culture, society developed by a particular group of

people.

•Oldest civilizations:


Mesopotamian Civilization.

Egyptian Civilization.


WHERE IS INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

The Indus Valley is on the border between India,

Pakistan and Afghanistan.

It flourished along the banks of River Indus.


The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) was a Bronze Age civilization

Time period: 33001300 BCE; mature period 26001600 BCE

The life in the Indus cities gives the impression of a democratic bourgeois

economy like that of ancient Crete.

Inhabitants developed new techniques in handicraft (carnelian products,

seal carving) and metallurgy (copper, bronze, lead, and tin).

INTRODUCTION


The cities are noted for:

•urban planning,

•baked brick houses,

•elaborate drainage systems,

•water supply systems,

•clusters of large non-residential buildings.


The Indus Valley Civilization is also known as the Harappan Civilization,

after Harappa, the first of its sites to be excavated in the 1920s, in

what was then the Punjab province of British India, and now is Pakistan.

Among the settlements were the major urban centers

of Harappa, Mohenjo-daro (UNESCO World Heritage

Site), Dholavira, Ganeriwala in Cholistan and Rakhigarhi.


FEATURES OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION

Cities were well developed.

Lord Shiva and Mother goddess were prayed by the people.

People played dice games like ludo , snake -ladder etc.

They were pretty good in measuring length, mass and time etc.

It was the first civilization with urban systems . This shows that people of

that time were advanced enough and were very cautious about hygiene

Their jewellery were highly intricate and beautiful.


Trade and transportation were major goals and source of income for

these people.

They were first people who grew cotton for the very first time in the

world.

Agricultural process in this civilization was very advanced and highly

productive like raising , storing and transporting domesticated wheat and

barley etc.

People were skillful in pottery , paintings etc.


Mohenjo-Daro people had finest bath facilities, drainage system, and

knowledge of personal hygiene.

They were equally conscious of plant medicine since there was occasional

warfare.

The portrayal of a three-faced figure surrounded by various animals has

been considered as Shiva in the form of Pasupati or Brahma, the

originator of Brahmi School of learning.

Application of decimal scale in linear measure is another very important

achievement of the Harappans.


They had perhaps a fairly good idea of lunar astronomy, as envisaged

from some of the seals since they were very much attached to navigation

and fire worship as found in Kalibangan.

The rectangular bath at each of the Harappan sites was considered a

holy place.

The Harappan people could prepare painted potteries of burnt clay,

glazed potteries faience, terracotta, etc. The glazing of potteries is

believed to be of Indian origin.


The cities were supported by both trade and agriculture. The foundations

of well-planned shipyards at Kalibangan and Lothal and granaries at all

these main Harappan sites indicate how important they were in the

economy of that time.

Certain medicated and contemplative postures of the people, available

among terracotta figurines suggest that they also developed the science

of physical and mental discipline to a high degree.


ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES OF



TOWN PLANNING SYSTEM

The Town Planning System was city based.

The drainage and sanitation systems were remarkable.

The main streets and roads were set in a line, sometimes running straight for a

mile, and were varying in width from 4 meters to 10 meters.

Most of these roads and streets were paved with fire brunt bricks.

On the either side of the street stood houses of various sizes which did not

protrude into the streets.

The main streets intersected at right angles, dividing the city into squares or

rectangular blocks each of which was divided length wise and cross wise by lanes.

Some buildings had a lamp post and a well.

There was an elaborate drainage system which emptied into the river.


Urban Cities:

The Indus civilization flourished around cities.

The city was the heart of the civilization.

Large cities divided into two parts.

The higher and upper portion of the city was protected by a

construction which looks like a fort.

The ruling class of the towns lived in the protected area.

The other part of the towns was lower in height than the former and

common men lived in this area.

The lower area of the towns generally spread over one square mile.


Streets

The main streets of Indus Valley ran from north to south and east to west

intersecting one another at right angles.

The streets were broad varying from 9 feet to 34 feet.

They ran straight to a mile.

They were suitable for wheeled traffic.

Lanes were joined with the streets.

Each lane had a public welt.

Street lamps were provided for welfare of public.


Grid Pattern

Harappa and Mohen-Jo Dero were laid out on a grid pattern and had provisions

for an advanced drainage system.

City Walls

Each city in the Indus Valley was surrounded by massive walls and gateways.

The walls were built to control trade and also to stop the city from being flooded.

Each part of the city was made up of walled sections.

Each section included different buildings such as: Public buildings, houses,

markets, craft workshops, etc.


The acropolis and the lower cities

A typical city would be divided into two sections, each fortified

separately.

One section was located on an artificially raised mound (sometimes

called acropolis) while the other level was on level ground.

The acropolis contained the important buildings of the city, like the

assembly halls, religious structures, granaries and in the great bath in

case of Mohenjo-Daro.


The lower section of the city was where the housing for the inhabitants

was located.

It was here where some truly amazing features have been discovered.

The city was well connected with broad roads about 30 meters long

which met at right angles.

The houses were located in the rectangular squares thus formed.


Public Buildings and Houses

The town dwellers were divided into various social classes.

The rich and the ruling class lived in the multi-roomed spacious houses and

the poorer section lived in small tenements.

The public building and big houses were situated on the streets.

The modest houses were situated on the lanes.

Encroachment on public roads or lanes by building houses was not permitted.

The houses can be divided into three main groups viz.

dwelling houses,

larger buildings,

Public baths.


Smaller houses had two rooms, while larger houses had many rooms.

There were courtyards attached to big buildings.

There was little artistic touch in the architectural design of the

buildings belonging either to the rich or the poor.

They were plain, utilitarian and comfortable to live. Some of the

buildings were multi-storied.

Most of the houses had baths, wells and covered drains connected

with street drains.


Ordinary buildings had little ventilation arrangements, as doors and

windows were rarely fixed in the outer walls.

Doors of entrance were fixed not on the front wall but on the side

walls.

One could enter a house by the door facing the side lanes of the

house.

The doors were made of wood.

Large buildings had spacious doors.


Houses:

The houses were of different sizes varying from a palatial building to

one with two small rooms.

In harappan houses , Bathrooms were attached to the rooms

The houses had a well, a bathroom, and a covered drain connected to

the drain in the street.

Houses in this civilization were built of Burnt bricks and Gypsum (which

have been preserved even to this day).


Sun-dried bricks were used for the foundation of the buildings and the

roofs were flat and made of wood.

The special feature of the houses was that rooms were built around an

open courtyard.

Some houses were double storied.

Some buildings had pillared halls; some of them measured 24 square

meters.

Palaces, temples or municipal halls were part of public buildings.


Building Materials

Most of the houses were built of burnt bricks in molds of 1:2:4 ratios

Un-burnt sun-dried bricks were also used but stones were not used in

construction.

That portion of the buildings where contamination with water was possible,

burnt bricks were used and for the other parts sun-dried bricks were used.

The staircases of big buildings were solid; the roofs were flat and were

made of wood.

Mud mortar, gypsum cement, mud plaster and gypsum plaster were used.


Drainage System

The elaborate drainage system was a remarkable feature of the civilization.

Housewives were expected to use pits in which heavier part of the rubbish will

settle down while only sewerage water was allowed to drain off.

Each house had a well-constructed sink, and water flowed from the sink into the

underground sewers in the streets.

Each house had horizontal and vertical drains.

There were underground drains for the streets which were covered by stone

slabs.

The soak pits were made of bricks which were occasionally cleaned by workmen.

The house drains were connected with street drains which had manholes at

regular intervals.


DRAINS


Science and engineering

A thick ring-like shell object found with four slits each in two margins served

as a compass to measure angles on plane surfaces or in the horizon in

multiples of 40 degrees, up to 360 degrees. Such shell instruments were

probably invented to measure 812 whole sections of the horizon and sky,

explaining the slits on the lower and upper margins.


For their renowned draining system, engineers provided corbelled roofs, and

an apron of kiln-fired bricks over the brick face of the platform where the

sewerage entered the cesspool.

Wooden screens inserted in grooves in the side drain walls held back solid

waste. The well is built of radial bricks, 2.4 metres (7.9 feet) in diameter

and 6.7 metres (22 feet) deep.

It had an immaculate network of underground drains, silting chambers and

cesspools, and inspection chambers for solid waste.


On average, the main sewer is 2046 cm (7.918.1 in) in depth, with

outer dimensions of 86 × 68 × 33 cm (34 × 27 × 13 in).

Brick-makers used a logical approach in manufacture of bricks, designed

with care in regards to thickness of structures.

They were used as headers and stretchers in same and alternate layers.

Archaeologists estimate that in most cases, the bricks were in ratio

1:0.5:0.25 on three sides, in dimensions which were integral multiples of

large graduations of IVCscale of 25 mm (0.98 in).


CITIES OF



Mohenjo-daro

Harappa

Lothal

Dholavira

Kotdiji


Mohenjo-daro

Mound of the Dead Men.

Site in the province of Sindh, Pakistan & was Built around 2500 BCE.

It was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley

Civilization, and one of the world's earliest major urban settlements.

Mohenjo-daro was abandoned in the 19th century BCE as the Indus

Valley Civilization declined.


3300 BC

2600 BC

2600-

1800 BC

1800 BC

1922 AD

1948 AD

1973 AD

1980 AD

Small villages are established in the area around Mohenjo-Daro.

Building of a planned city is begun at Mohenjo-Daro.

Mohenjo-Daro is a thriving trade city.

Mohenjo-Daro falls into decline and is later abandoned.

Mohenjo-Daros ruins are found.

First attempts to conserve Mohenjo-Daro are made.

Plans are approved to preserve Mohenjo-Daro.

Mohenjo-Daro becomes a World Heritage Site.

Mohenjo-Daro timeline


Citadel of

Mohenjo-Daro


Mohenjo-daro has a planned layout based on a street grid

of rectilinear buildings.

The covered area of Mohenjo-daro is estimated at 300 hectares.

The city is divided into two parts: Citadel and the Lower City.

The Citadel a mud-brick mound around 12 metres (39 ft) high is

known to have supported public baths, a large residential structure

designed to house about 5,000 citizens, and two large assembly halls.

Architecture and urban infrastructure


The city had a central marketplace, with a large central well.

Individual households or groups of households obtained their water from

smaller wells.

Waste water was channeled to covered drains that lined the major

streets.

Most houses had inner courtyards, with doors that opened onto side-

lanes. Some buildings had two stories.


One large building :"Great Granary "has certain wall-divisions in its

massive wooden superstructure appeared to be grain storage-bays, complete

with air-ducts to dry the grain.

Close to the "Great Granary" is a large and elaborate public bath,

sometimes called the Great Bath. From a colonnaded courtyard, steps lead

down to the brick-built pool, which was waterproofed by a lining of bitumen.

The pool measures 12 meters (39 ft) long, 7 meters (23 ft) wide and

2.4 meters (7.9 ft) deep. It may have been used for religious purification.


Other large buildings include a "Pillared Hall", thought to be an

assembly hall of some kind, and the so-called "College Hall", a complex

of buildings comprising 78 rooms, thought to have been a priestly

residence.

Mohenjo-daro had no series of city walls, but was fortified with guard

towers to the west of the main settlement, and defensive fortifications

to the south. Considering these fortifications and the structure of other

major Indus valley cities like Harappa, it is postulated that Mohenjo-daro

was an administrative center.


Both Harappa and Mohenjo-daro share relatively the same architectural

layout, and were generally not heavily fortified like other Indus Valley sites.

Mohenjo-daro was successively destroyed and rebuilt at least seven

times. Each time, the new cities were built directly on top of the old ones.

Flooding by the Indus is thought to have been the cause of destruction.


Aerial View of Mohenjo-Daro


Wide View, Mohenjo-Daro


Bath Area Well


Harappa

Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 km

(15 mi) west of Sahiwal.

The city is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents and

occupied about 150 hectares (370 acres) with clay sculptured

houses.


Public Well, Harappa


Drain


Male Skeleton

Female Skeleton with Child


Lothal

Lothal is one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilisation,

located in the Bhl region of the modern state of Gujart and dating from

3700 BCE.

It was a vital and thriving trade centre in ancient times, with its trade

of beads, gems and valuable ornaments reaching the far corners of West Asia and

Africa.

The techniques and tools they pioneered for bead-making and in metallurgy have stood

the test of time for over 4000 years.

The findings consist of a mound, a township, a marketplace, and the dock.


Layout plan Lothal


BUILDINGS OF



Great Bath

Granary

The Assembly Hall


The Great Bath, Mohenjo-Daro


There is an impressive building which was used as a public bath.

The overall dimension of the Bath is 180 feet by 108 feet.

The bathing pool is 39 feet by 23 feet with 8 feet depth. There is a

device to fill and empty the water of the bathing pool.

There are galleries and rooms on all sides of the bathing pool.

This public bath was attached to the Mohenjo-Daro fort where upper

class people lived.

Great Public Bath


It is in the center of the quadrangle, surrounded with verandahs, rooms

and galleries.

flight of steps led to the pool.

The pool could be filled and emptied by means of a vaulted culvert, 6

feet and 6 inches high.

The walls of the pool were made of burnt bricks laid on edge, which

made the pool watertight.


The pool was filled with water from a large well, situated in the same

complex.

Periodic cleaning of the pool was done by draining off the used water

into a big drain.

The Great Bath building had six entrances.

The Great Bath reflected the engineering genius of those ancient

days.


Granary, Mohenjo-Daro


The largest building found at Mohenjo-Daro is a granary, running 150

feet long, 75 feet wide and 15 feet high.

It was meant to store food grains. It had lines of circular brick

platforms for pounding grain.

The granary was divided into 27 compartments in three rows.

It was well ventilated and it was possible to fill grain in from outside.

The large size of the granary probably indicates a highly developed

agricultural civilization.

The granary also had smaller halls and corridors.

Granary


Attached to the granary were two roomed tenements with a common

courtyard.

These tenements housed the workers or the slaves who thrashed the

corn to be preserved in the granary.


The Assembly Hall

An important feature of Mohen-jo-daro was its 24 square meters

pillared hall.

It had five rows of pillars, with four pillars in each row. Kiln baked bricks

were used to construct these pillars.

Probably, it was the Assembly Hall or the ruler's court. It is said that it

also housed the municipal office which had the charge of town planning and

sanitation.


NOTABLE ARTIFACTS


A Male Head, Mohenjo-Daro


Bison Seal Unicorn Seal


A Horned-God Seal Pottery


Female Figures


Bull Figurine Elephant Figurine


Burial Pottery


This civilization is said to have come to an abrupt end. The following

reasons are put forward for its abrupt end:

The neighboring desert encroached on the fertile area and made it

infertile.

Regular floods destroyed the area.

Aryan invaders killed people and destroyed the Indus Valley Civilization.

Decline


The end was partly caused by changing river patterns. These changes

included the drying up of the Hakra River and changes in the course of the

Indus River. The river changes disrupted agricultural and economic systems,

and many people left the cities of the Indus Valley region.

Earthquakes and Epidemics caused destruction.

By 1700 B.C., the Indus civilization had gradually broken up into smaller

cultures, called late Harappan cultures and post-Harappan cultures.


Conclusion:

The Indus Valley people gave to the world its earliest cities, its town planning,

its architecture in stone and clay, and showed their concern for health and sanitation.

They built a scientific drainage system in their cities.

There is enough evidence to show that some of the early conceptions of Hinduism are

derived from this culture.

On the whole, the present civilization is a composite product resulting from a fusion of

several cultures where the contribution of the Indus Valley is of utmost importance.

lecture ii indus valley civilization

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