An Indus city was planned before it was built. Streets met at right angles, drains ran under the lanes, and bricks came in one shared shape.
This lesson explains how the cities were laid out, how the drains worked, and what the Great Bath tells us. It ends with Dholavira, a planned city in the Gujarat desert.
- Two parts: a raised, walled Citadel and a larger Lower Town.
- Grid: streets crossed at right angles, and drains were laid before the houses.
- Bricks: length and breadth were four times and twice the height, at every site.
- Drains: every house joined the street drains, which had removable brick covers.
- Great Bath: a watertight tank on the Citadel that scholars link to a special ritual bath.
Two Parts and a Grid
Why did a city have two parts?
Most Harappan settlements had a small, high part in the west and a larger, lower part in the east. Archaeologists call these the Citadel and the Lower Town.
The Citadel was high because its buildings stood on mud-brick platforms. It was walled, so it stood apart from the Lower Town. The Lower Town was walled too.
Some sites differ. At Dholavira and Lothal in Gujarat, the whole settlement was fortified. At Lothal the Citadel was not walled off, but it stood on high ground.
Sources (card 0): NCERT, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Ch. 6 (Class 6).
How do we know the city was planned?
Builders first raised big platforms to hold the foundations. One labourer moving a cubic metre of earth a day would have needed four million person-days for this. So labour was gathered on a very large scale.
After the platforms were ready, all building stayed inside a fixed area on them. So the settlement was planned first and built after.
Bricks give another sign. Sun-dried or baked, they had a fixed ratio: length and breadth were four times and twice the height. Such bricks appear at all Harappan settlements.
Sources (card 1): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
What was the grid?
Roads and streets ran along an approximate grid, meeting at right angles. It seems the streets with drains were laid first, and houses were built along them.
For waste water to reach a street drain, every house needed at least one wall on a street. The street plan therefore shaped each house.
Sources (card 2): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
| Part of the city | Position | What stood there |
|---|---|---|
| Citadel | High, usually west | Special public buildings on mud-brick platforms |
| Lower Town | Low, usually east | Houses on a street grid |
Check 1
The Harappans built the houses first and cut the drains later.
Show the answer
One ratio from Jammu to Gujarat means builders followed a shared rule. A shared rule needs some central idea or authority.
Houses and Drains
What did a Mohenjodaro house look like?
Many houses were built around a courtyard, with rooms on all sides. The courtyard was probably used for cooking and weaving, especially in hot, dry weather.
Houses show a concern for privacy. There were no windows at ground level, and the main door gave no direct view of the courtyard.
Every house had its own brick-paved bathroom, joined by a drain to the street. Some had stairs to a second storey or the roof. Many had wells, and scholars estimate about 700 wells in Mohenjodaro.
Sources (card 3): NCERT, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Ch. 6 (Class 6) · NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
Why were the drains special?
The archaeologist Ernest Mackay called the system “certainly the most complete ancient system as yet discovered”. Every house joined the street drains.
Main channels were made of bricks set in mortar. They were covered with loose bricks that could be lifted for cleaning. Sometimes limestone was used for the covers.
House drains first emptied into a sump or cesspit. Solid matter settled there while water flowed out. Long channels also had sumps at intervals for cleaning.
These drains generally ran below the streets and took the waste water away.
Sources (card 4): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
Were drains only for big cities?
No. Drainage systems were found in smaller settlements too. At Lothal the houses were built of mud bricks, but the drains were made of burnt bricks.
This shows that care for drainage was not limited to Mohenjodaro and Harappa.
Sources (card 5): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
| Feature | What was found |
|---|---|
| House bathroom | Brick-paved, with a drain through the wall |
| Street drain | Bricks in mortar, covered with loose bricks |
| Sump | Pit where solids settled before water flowed on |
| Wells | About 700 in Mohenjodaro |
Check 2
House drains first emptied into a sump, where solid matter settled.
Show the answer
Loose covers could be lifted for cleaning. A fixed cover would have made cleaning hard.
The Great Bath
What stood on the Citadel?
The Citadel at Mohenjodaro held structures probably used for special public purposes. Two stand out: a massive warehouse and the Great Bath.
Only the lower brick parts of the warehouse remain. Its upper parts were probably wood and decayed long ago.
Sources (card 6): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
How was the Great Bath built?
The Great Bath was a large rectangular tank in a courtyard. A corridor ran around all four sides.
Two flights of steps, on the north and south, led down into the tank. Builders made it watertight by setting bricks on edge and using a mortar of gypsum. Natural bitumen, a form of tar, may also have helped waterproof it.
There were rooms on three sides, and one held a large well. Water from the tank flowed into a huge drain. A drain in one corner emptied the tank so it could be refilled with fresh water.
Sources (card 7): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
What lay next to it?
Across a lane to the north was a smaller building. It had eight bathrooms, four on each side of a corridor.
Each bathroom had a drain that joined one drain running along the corridor.
Sources (card 8): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
Was it a ritual bath?
Scholars link the Great Bath to a special ritual bath. Two clues lead them there: the structure is unique, and it stood on the Citadel among distinctive buildings.
However, whether the Great Bath was a ritual structure is still an open question. Three ideas exist: a public bath for people, a bath for the royal family only, or a tank for religious rituals. The first is ruled out, because most houses had their own bathrooms.
Treat the ritual use as a likely idea, not a proven fact.
Sources (card 9): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
Check 3
The ritual use of the Great Bath as fully proven.
Show the answer
A tank must hold water. Bricks on edge with gypsum mortar made it watertight.
Who planned all this?
Archaeologists found a large building at Mohenjodaro and labelled it a palace. No spectacular finds came with it.
Views differ. Some think the society had no rulers. Others think each city had its own ruler. Others point to uniform artefacts and planned towns and argue for a single state.
Sources (card 10): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
A Planned City in the Desert
How was Dholavira laid out?
Dholavira lies on the dry island of Khadir in Gujarat. It is a Harappan city occupied between about 3000 and 1500 BCE.
It had a fortified castle with a fortified bailey and ceremonial ground, a fortified middle town, and a lower town.
Streets and houses of different quality point to a society with ranks. A series of reservoirs lay east and south of the Citadel.
Dholavira had at least six large reservoirs, built of stone or cut into the rock.
Sources (card 11): UNESCO World Heritage, Dholavira: a Harappan City · NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12) · NCERT, Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Ch. 6 (Class 6).
Why is its water system famous?
Water was scarce on the island. Two seasonal streams fed the walled city, and a sophisticated water-management system helped people survive in a harsh place.
Dholavira is an outstanding example of Harappan urban planning. It had preconceived planning, multi-layered fortifications, water reservoirs, drains and heavy use of stone as a building material.
Sources (card 12): UNESCO World Heritage, Dholavira: a Harappan City.
Exam trap
Do not say the whole city was one walled block. Mohenjodaro had a walled Citadel and a walled Lower Town. At Dholavira and Lothal, the layout differs.
Also keep the Great Bath claim careful. The ritual use is a scholars’ suggestion, not a settled fact.
Quick Q&A
- Brick ratio? Length and breadth were four times and twice the height.
- How many wells at Mohenjodaro? About 700.
- What covered main drains? Loose bricks.
- Bathrooms in the building north of the Great Bath? Eight.
- Where is Dholavira? Khadir island, Gujarat.
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