THE CITY
ORGANIZATION:
What were the origins
of the Indus Valley people? Some 5000 years ago, a nomadic people made their way
into northwest India from Sumeria (modern day Iran) by means of the Mula Pass
across the Himalayas, near modern Karachi, and there found a fabulously rich
land, fertilized by the great river systems of the Indus, Ravi, Beas, Chenab and
Sutlej. This same area forms modern-day Punjab. Compared to the deserts of Iran,
this was God's blessed land, with ample water, fodder and fuel supply. Clay for
making bricks was plentiful in the riverbeds and so was wood to burn the bricks. Over
a period of a thousand years, these immigrants spread over an area of half a
million square miles.
If by 'urban' we mean the tendency to form society, founding cities with all
their attendant rules, then the Harappan people succeeded admirably. Excavations
show a degree of urban planning which the Romans achieved only later, after a
gap of 2500 years.
The Indus Civilization developed out of farming and herding communities that
carried on trade with each other. About 2500 BC the communities became more
unified culturally planned cities. Excavations at the ancient mounds revealed
well-planned cities and towns built on massive mud brick platform that protected
the inhabitants against seasonal floods. In the larger cities the houses were
built on sun-dried mud-bricks.
The
cities had major streets running north- south and east west, with smaller
streets and valleys connecting neighborhoods to the main thoroughfares. The
houses were often two storied and usually had a bathing area supplied with water
from a neighborhood well. All of the houses were connected to an elaborate
citywide drainage system that reflects a well-organized civic authority. Moen-jo-Daro
has a large water tank that may have serve as a public bathing area. The street layout shows an
understanding of the basic principles of traffic, with rounded corners to allow
the turning of carts easily. These streets divided the city into 12 blocks.
Except for the west-central blocks, the basic unit of city planning was the
individual house.
The Harappan house is an amazing example of a
native people, without the benefit of technology, adapting to local conditions
and intuitively producing an architecture eminently suited to the climate. The
house was planned as a series of rooms opening on to a central courtyard. This
courtyard served the multiple functions of lighting the rooms, acting as a heat
absorber in summer and radiator in winter, as well as providing an open space
inside for community activities. There were no openings toward the main street,
thus ensuring privacy for the residents. In fact, the only openings in the
houses are rather small - this prevented the hot summer sun heating the insides
of the houses.
An advanced drainage system is also in evidence.
Drains started from the bathrooms of the houses and joined the main sewer in the
street, which was covered by brick slabs or corbelled brick arches, depending on
its width.
In most of the sites, the central-western blocks were reserved for
public architecture. Perhaps the most famous examples are the Great Bath and
Granary at Moen-jo-Daro. The Great Bath has been the subject of much debate over
its exact function. The prevalent view seems to be that it was used for
ritualistic bathing - much as continues in the Hindu tradition even today.
It
is unfortunate that none of the structures of the Indus Valley civilization
survive intact today. Unlike Egypt and Mesopotamia, the Harappan people left
nothing monumental, like the pyramids or ziggurats, for posterity to marvel at.
This may be the reason that among the majority of books on architecture, the
Harappan Culture hardly merits a note. However, the planning principles and
response of the architecture to climate are a lesson to us all.
Other important
structures included possible granaries and individual complexes that suggest
some level of state control of economic resources and production.
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