Harappa

SUBMITTED BYANJALI SINGH

DEEPALI CHOUDHARY
NISHANT AGRAWAL
ASHUTOSH AGNIHOTRI

Contents

Indus Plain
Largest Civilization in
Ancient World
Harappan Civilization
Timing
City Structure
Culture
Trade & Economy
Pictograms/ Writing
1st Urban Sanitation
Current Sanitation
Fall of Indus River
Civilization / Climate Change

India has had civilizations as far back as 200,000 years ago

From 8000-5000 B.C.E. there were Neolithic villages west of the
Indus River valley in the Iranian Plateau
Because water covers much of the oldest remains,
archaeologists and historians arent sure exactly how far back in
time Harappan civilization stretches. The earliest strata
indicates that by 2500 B.C.E., Harappan civilization was well
established.

Ancient Civilizations
in India

Largest Civilization in Ancient World

A Civilization of large scale

cities.
Indus River was largest
known Civilization in
Ancient World.
Mohenjo Daro and Harappa
were urban giants, Bronze
Age Manhattans.
Over 200,000 people in
Harappa at height of the
civilization.

Location
Dried-up tributaries
of Indus River:
Known as
Ravi River and
Saraswati River

Intro to Harappan
Civilization

Like the Nile and

Tigris/Euphrates river valleys,
the Indus Valley deposited
alluvial soil across its flood plain,
allowing early farmers to
establish agriculture.
Indus river people domesticated
poultry, elephants, sheep, and
goats.
This civilization was the 1st to
cultivate cotton by ~5000 B.C.E.,
for the production of cloth.
(Predates Egyptian production)

Intro to Harappan Civilization

By ~3000 B.C.E. the

Dravidian People had
built a complex society
with large urban centers.
Harappan civilization
controlled an area of
roughly 500,000 sq.
miles. The Harappan
empire was at least
twice as big as either
Egypt or Mesopotamia.

Harappan
HarappanCivilization
Civilization

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were

the major cities (pop. 35-40,000)
and regional centers.
There were about 300 smaller
settlements along the Indus River.
City of Mohenjo-Daro emerged with
Harappa in 2600 BC.
This civilization with writing
system, was re-discovered in 1920.
The people used copper and bronze
knives, spheres, and arrowheads.
There were centralized
administrative buildings for each
city and controlled management of
their geologic area.

Images: archaeologyonline.net

Timing

Indus Valley Civilization

Re-discovered in early 1920s.
Existed from 4000BC to 500BC.
High Period 2900BC to 1900BC.
Far older than the Bible, Greek or Roman Civilizations.
Same time-line as Ancient Egyptian Civilization.

PLAN OF HARAPPA

Excavation of Harappa.

Harappan
Civilization

By 2500BCE, communities had been turned into urban

centers.
6 urban centers
3 in India: Gonorreala, Dokalingam, Mangalore
3 in Pakistan: Harappa, Mohenjo-Daro, Diki
In total, over 1052 cities and settlements have been found.
The city was named Harappa, because it was the first city discovered
of the Harappan civilization.

Successive Cities

Harappan cities did not develop slowly, which

suggests that whoever built these cities learned to
do so in another place.
As the Indus flooded, cities were rebuilt on top of
each other. Archaeologists have discovered several
different cities, one built over the other, each built a
little less skillfully. The most skillful was on bottom.
It would appear that builders grew less able or less
interested in perfection over time. Each city is a
marvel, and each greatly advanced for its time.

Harappan
Civilization

The twin cities of Mohenjo-dara and Harappa were a

mile square, with defensive outer walls.
Cities were divided into lower dwellings and the
citadel housed important buildings. The higher and
upper portion(i.e. citadel) of the city was protected
by a construction which looks like a fort. The ruling
class of the towns perhaps 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.
In the excavated sites, the Harappan settlements
were found built of mud bricks, burnt bricks and
chiselled stones.

The

size of bricks remained the same everywhere. The ratio of brick

size was 1:2:4.

STREETS
1.The

main streets of the cities at both Harappa and Mohenjodaro were

generally oriented from north to south, with connecting streets running
east to west.
2.The streets were laid out in perfect grid system. The street had
rounded corners to allow the turning of carts easily.
3.These streets divided the city into 12 blocks.
4.The streets were broad varying from 9 feet to 34 feet.
5.They ran straight to a mile. They were suitable for wheeled traffic.
6.Lanes were joined with the streets and intersected at right angles.
7.Each lane had a public welt. Street lamps were provided for welfare of
public.

HOUSES1.The

nature of the buildings shows that the town dwellers were

divided into various social classes.
2.The rich and the ruling class lived in the multi-roomed spacious
houses and the poorer section lived in small tenements.
3.The public building and big houses were situated on the streets.
The modest houses were situated on the lanes.
4.Smaller houses had two rooms, while larger houses had many
rooms. There were courtyards attached to big buildings.
5.The average house appeared to have stood at least two storeys
high. Some of the buildings were probably multi-storied.
6.The houses were built on plinths rising above the street level
with flights of steps recessed in the wall at the front door.

8. The doors of the houses opened on to the side lanes

rather than on the main streets.
9. 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.
10. The staircases of big buildings were solid; the roofs were
flat and were made of wood.
11. The portion of the buildings where contamination with
water was possible, burnt bricks were used. For other parts
sun-dried bricks were used.
12. The Citadel a mud-brick mound around 12 metres
(39ft) high is known to have supported public baths, a
large residential structure designed to house about 5,000
citizens, and two large assembly halls.
13. These citadels always face west which served as
sanctuaries for the cities population in times of attack and
as community centres in times of peace.

The

citadel at Harappa measuring 1400

ft X600 ft on mound 40 ft high which
faced foundation with brick
embankment 45 ft. thick.
The citadel at Mohenjodaro included a
very large building that may have been
a palace.
GREAT BATH1.One of the largest buildings was the
Great Bath measuring 180 feet by 108
feet. The bathing pool, 39 feet long, 28
feet wide and 8 feet deep was in the
center of the quadrangle, surrounded
with verandahs, rooms and galleries.
2.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.
It consists of a large rectangular pool with steps leading into it from the
narrower ends.
At the foot of the stairs is a small ledge with a brick edging that extends
the entire width of the pool, such that people coming down thestairs could
move along this edge without actually stepping into the pool itself.
It was surrounded by a cloister, which opened onto many small rooms
that may have housed priests of the citys cults.
It was waterproofed with bitumen.
Brick colonnades were discovered on the eastern, northern and southern
edges.

The preserved columns have stepped edges that may

have been used to hold wooden screens or window
frames.
Two large doors led into the complex from the south and
other entrance was from the directions of north and east.
A series of rooms are located on the eastern edge of the
building and in one room is a well that may have
supplied some of the water needed to fill the tank.

The Assembly Hall: An important feature of Mohenjo-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.

GRANARY HARAPPA

It is a brick structure that was built

on a massive brick foundation over
45 meters north south and 45 meters
east-west. Two rows of six rooms that
appear to be foundations are
arranged along a central passageway
that is about 7 meters wide and
partly paved with baked bricks. Each
room measures 15.2 by 6.1 meters
and has three sleeper walls with air
space between them. A wooden
superstructure supported in some
places by large columns would have
been built on top of the brick
foundations, with stairs leading up
from the central passage area. Small
triangular opening may have served
as air ducts to allow the flow of fresh
air beneath the hollow floors

Intro to Indus Valley Cities

Cities. Of Harappa &

Mohenjo-Daro:
Were constructed of the
same type and shape of
bricks.
Both served as capitols of
their respective provinces.
They were laid out in grids.
These people were
incredible builders.
The remains of the cities
signifies there were no social
class in this civilization.

City
CityStructure
Structure

Image from: Spiffykiffy.wordpress.com

There is no evidence indicating royal authority or a

significant military.
There are city walls, a large granary, and a fortified citadel
in each of the two major cities, indicating that Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro were organizational centers.

COURTYARD
COURTYARD

Image from: Mohenjador.net

It was considered to be the most fascinating culture of its time.

1052 towns and villages once were part of this civilization.
The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their
impressive dockyards, granaries, warehouses, brick platforms,
and protective walls.
The massive citadels of Indus cities that protected the
Harappans from floods and attackers were larger than most
Mesopotamian ziggurats.

Streets

Everywhere there are straight streets & well built

homes! Cities are well organized with roads in a
perfect city grid layout.
At MD, narrow streets & alleyways are off major
streets, leading down into private neighborhoods.
The streets of the Indus cities are oriented towards the
cardinal directions.

Houses

Houses were one or two stories

high, made of thick, baked
brick walls, with flat roofs, and
high ceilings to keep the rooms
cool during the hot summers.
Each was built around a
courtyard, with windows
overlooking the courtyard. The
outside walls had no windows.
The dwelling places in the
cities indicate a large degree
of social stratification, but
nearly all houses had indoor
plumbing with showers and
toilets.

LOWER
LOWERTOWN
TOWN

Crafts Quarters are identified by large

quantities of manufacturing debris, such as stone
beads, shell ornaments, glazed faience
ornaments, stone tools and gold working.

Image from: Mohenjador.net

Image from:
Mohenjador.net

The
TheGrainery
Graineryof
ofHarappa
Harappa

A large brick structure that was built on a massive brick foundation

over 45m x 45m.
Two rows of 6 rooms, each arranged along a 7m wide central hall.
Each room is 15.2m x 6.1m and has 3 sleeper walls with air
spaces in between.

RINGSTONES
RINGSTONES

Ringstones were used as supports for wooden poles and

timbers for doors, gates, and fake walls made of fabric, wood
or woven fronds.

Water / Irrigation Systems

Sometime in the third millennium B.C., the

Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley built
water systems that in many ways would rival and
surpass any other water system, except that of
the Romans, until the middle of the 19th
century.
It was the Harappan civilization that gave us the
plumber and the first indoor plumbing. The
mains that carried wastewater to a cesspit were
tall enough for people to walk through. Even
today, nothing like this exists for nearly half of
the world's population."

Earlie
st
Form
of
Sanit
ary
Engin
eerin
g
1st known toilets and running
water in residential buildings
in the world.
By 2500BC, highly developed
drainage system where
wastewater from each house
flowed into the main drain.

The ancient Indus systems of sewage and drainage that

were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus
Empire were far more advanced than any found in
contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even
more efficient than those in some areas of modern
Pakistan and India today.

First
Urba
n
Sanit
ation
Syste
m

The people had water borne

toilets in each house. The houses
were lined with drains covered
with burnt clay bricks (burning
makes clay harder, more dense).
The system had manhole covers,
chambers, etc., to facilitate
maintenance. It was the first
form of sanitary engineering.
From a room that appears to
have been set aside for bathing,
waste water was directed to
covered drains, which lined the
major streets.

Houses and Running Water

Each home had its own
private drinking well and
its own private bathroom.
Clay pipes led from the
bathrooms to sewers
located under the streets.
These sewers drained
into nearly rivers and
streams.

Town Planning / Sanitary

Sewers

Scientists have found giant reservoirs for fresh water.

They have also found that even the smallest house at
the edge of each town was linked to that town's
central drainage system.
They not only drained waste water out, but also had a
system to pump fresh water into the homes, similar
to modern plumbing.
After the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization, the
science of engineering disappeared from India.
Today, many towns in So. Asia still do not even come
close to the detail, organization and depth of hydroengineering that was used over 4500 years ago!

The Pool/ Great Bath

About 2200 B.C., Mohenjo Daro's people built

what archaeologists regard as the most
spectacular feature yet discovered: a pool 39
long, 23 wide, and 8 deep.
The brick walls were sealed with bitumen, and
the floor was slanted toward a corner drain.
There are two flights of steps into this
commodious tank, used 4,000 years ago.

Mohenjo-Daro Bath

The Great public bath at Mohenjo-Daro.

The earliest public water tank;
2 staircases led down into the tank.
Predates Roman baths by @2000 years !

Harappan Culture

One striking feature of

Harappan civilization was
that throughout the large
territory there was a
remarkable degree of
standardization in not only
in architectural styles, but
also weight and measures
and even brick sizes.
The layout of the major
cities indicates that they
were planned before they
were built, rather than rising
up organically as the
population grows, like today.

Harappan
HarappanBurial
BurialRituals
Rituals

There are very few grave sites throughout the Harappan

lands; in other civilizations, grave burials normally help
historians understand the beliefs of ancient cultures.
This lack of evidence means that there arent as many
preserved luxury goods.
Simple burials. Early Harappan burial sites yielded simple
wooden coffins which were entombed in a rectangular pit
with burial offerings in pottery vessels.
Offerings: Gold, agate, jasper, steatite, and greenstone.
In addition, cremation of Human remains and bones were
also stored in pottery burial urns.

Images: archaeologyonline.net

Standardized Weights & Measures

Cubical weights were found in graduated sizes in

Harappa.
These weights conform to the standard Harappan
binary weight system that was used in all of the
settlements.
Probably for controlling trade and quite possibly
for collecting taxes.
The smallest weight is 0.856g and the most
common weight is @13.7g. (a 1/16 ratio)

Trade
Trade&&Economy
Economy

It was mainly an urban culture

Majority agriculture
Traded with Mesopotamia
Mostly brick houses and
fortified administrative and
religious centers
Seals were used to identify
property and shipment
Wheel-made pottery & animal
cultivation
Image: chemistryland.com

Agricultural Base

Terraced fields
Fishing with hooks
Image:flooding.
fao.org
Earthen walls were built to control the Rivers annual
Crops grown include wheat, barley, peas, melons, rice,
vegetables, fruits and sesame.
This civilization was the 1st to cultivate cotton for the
production of cloth.
Several animals were domesticated, including the elephant,
sheep, pigs, zebus (cow), and water buffalo.

Economy

Trade networks linked this culture

with related regional cultures and
distant sources of raw materials
including lapis lazuli and other
materials for bead making.

These people were traders across Persian Gulf.

Inhabitants of the Indus Valley traded with Mesopotamia, So.
India, Afghanistan, and Persia.
Between 2300-1750 B.C.E. the Harappan people traded pearls,
gems, copper, and ivory for Mesopotamian wool, leather, and
olive oil.

Pictogram
PictogramWriting
Writing

The Harappan people used

pictographic script.
3500 specimens of the script
survive in stamp seals carved out
of stone, in molded terra cotta,
faience amulets, pottery
fragments, and in other inscribed
objects.
Along with the pictographs are
more realistic pictures of animals,
cultic scenes, and deity worship.
The origins of Indus writing can be
traced to the Ravi Phase in
Harappa: from 3300 2800BC.

Image from: thenagain.info

Language / Writing

In addition to inconvenient water, Harappan

civilization remains mysterious because historians
cant read Harappan script.
The civilization consisted of literate people who
used Dravidian language to communicate.
Harappan script seems to have used 400
characters that were both phonetic and logographic
on thousands of clay seals and copper tablets.

Art

Their art works were very small and

used as personal possessions.
Harappan artisans produced many
beautiful ornaments and statues.
Some art statuary seems to have
an early Mesopotamian / Assyrian
influence.

Indus
IndusPlains
PlainsToday
Today

Image from: Mohenjador.net

Global Climate Change 2

It is believed that there was a significant amount of global climate

change, because of expansion of arctic air which may have
caused drought.
Using NE Arabian Sea sediment cores, geochemist Michael
Staubuasser examined the link between the abrupt
climate change @4200 BP (2200BC) and the collapse of
the Harrappan Civilization in the Indus River Valley.
Oxygen isotope shifts in a sediment core revealed a sharp
decline in the outflow from the Indus River 4200BP that
transformed the Indus River Valley Civilization from a
highly urban phase to a rural post-urban phase.
Cultural centers such as the large cities of Mohenjo
Daro & Hrappa, were almost completely abandoned.
The Saraswati River was totally dry by 1900BC.

Fall
FallOf
OfHarappan
HarappanCivilization
Civilization
Annual Precipitation

The reduction of average rainfall over the Indus

River watershed restricted Harappan farming in the
Indus Valley and left large city populations
unsustainable.

River Avulsion

Harappa lies on an old terrace of the Ravi River.

River avulsion also has important archaeological significance
for this region. The tributaries of the Indus (Ravi, Sutlej,
Sarawati) have had a very dynamic nature.
The Earliest Phase of the Ravi River was 3300-2800 BC. This is
when Pre-Harappan regional culture emerged and subsequently
the great Indus River Civilization.
By 2600BC, The Indus valley was verdant, forested and
teeming with wildlife. Since then, there has been frequent
avulsion and sediment deposition.
Harappa now lies some 20 km south of the present Ravi River.
Both ancient site and modern town are located on south bank
of a channel that often carries water during the summer
monsoon floods, which was once the main course of the Ravi.
The Ravi River meandered @ Harappa. At least 3 meanders of
different ages were identified through soil analysis @ Harappa.

Climate Change Background

In So. Asia, the Himalayas create the monsoon

The monsoon provides the water that supports
agriculture in this region
As the monsoon declined over time it shifted east
As precipitation in the region declined, river dried
up and the Indus Valley cities died.

Monsoon
and
Population
Shift

As the Monsoon shifted East to Ganges Plain many

Indus people followed monsoon and migrated to
Ganges Plain @ 1500BC
Same time as Arian invasion from the North.
Arians : Civilized Ones.

The
The End
End
Image from: