Mohenjodaro and Harappa are the best-known Indus cities. Two other sites tell us more about how varied the civilisation was.
Dholavira shows how people stored water in a dry land. Rakhigarhi shows how large a Harappan settlement could grow.
This lesson covers both sites, what diggers found, and what is still being studied.
- Dholavira: a Harappan city in Gujarat, on the dry island of Khadir.
- Water: about 16 big reservoirs stored rain from two seasonal streams.
- Layout: a Castle, a Middle Town and a Lower Town, all inside walls.
- Time: people lived there for about 1,500 years, from around 3000 BCE.
- Rakhigarhi: in Haryana, about 550 hectares, the largest known Harappan site.
- Graves: most bodies lay north to south, with the head to the north.
How Did Dholavira Store Water in a Dry Land?
Why did Dholavira need clever water planning?
Dholavira stands on the arid island of Khadir in Gujarat. Rain is scarce there, and the city had to make the most of it.
People lived at the site for about 1,500 years, from around 3000 BCE. Over that long time they built a careful system to catch and keep water.
Sources (card 0): UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Dholavira: a Harappan City (list no. 1645).
Which streams fed the city?
The city lay between two seasonal streams. The Mansar ran to the north and the Manhar to the south. Both carried water only after rain.
Small check dams and stone drains guided this water. Low banks called bunds slowed the flow, so less silt reached the main reservoirs.
Sources (card 1): Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2020, Water management in ancient India.
What did the Manhar dam do?
A dam on the Manhar stream collected water for the city. Drains in the Middle Town and Lower Town carried water on its way.
The Castle and Bailey also had their own way to collect rain.
Sources (card 2): ICOMOS evaluation of Dholavira (WHC document 189324).
How big was the reservoir system?
The city was ringed by about 16 large reservoirs. They were around 7 metres deep and 79 metres long, and some were joined together.
Together they covered about 10 per cent of the city. A rectangular step well was also found. It was 73.4 m long, 29.3 m wide and 10 m deep.
Note the difference. The 73.4 m figure belongs to the step well, not to a reservoir.
Sources (card 3): Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2020, Water management in ancient India.
Why did the wall have only two gaps?
A wall ran along all four sides of the city. It had only two openings, near the northeast and southwest corners.
These gaps may have let water from the streams flow into the city.
Sources (card 4): ICOMOS evaluation of Dholavira (WHC document 189324).
Check 1
Dholavira stood beside a big river that never dried up.
Show the answer
Water was the most valuable thing in a dry land. Reservoirs inside the walls kept it safe and close to the people.
What Made Dholavira Look Different from Other Harappan Cities?
What were the three parts of the city?
The walled city had a Castle, with a Bailey and a Ceremonial Ground attached. Beyond it lay a walled Middle Town and a Lower Town.
The city is a fine example of planning. It had separate residential areas, laid out with care.
Sources (card 5): UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Dholavira: a Harappan City (list no. 1645).
What was Dholavira built from?
Stone was the main building material. It was used for the fortification walls, the foundations and the plinths.
Builders also used mud-bricks and mud mortar. The site is one of the best preserved towns of its time.
Sources (card 6): ICOMOS evaluation of Dholavira (WHC document 189324).
What was made in the Lower Town?
A workshop for mass bead processing was found in the Lower Town. Beads were a major Harappan craft.
This shows that the town was not only a place to live. It was also a place to make things.
Sources (card 7): ICOMOS evaluation of Dholavira (WHC document 189324).
What is the Dholavira signboard?
Near a gateway of the Castle, diggers found a large inscription of ten signs, made in gypsum. It may once have been set on a wooden board above the doorway.
School textbooks call it what is considered a signboard. The Indus script has not been read, so its message is unknown.
Sources (card 8): ICOMOS evaluation of Dholavira (WHC document 189324) · NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
Check 2
Scholars have fully read the ten-sign inscription at Dholavira.
How Long Was Dholavira Lived In?
When was Dholavira found and dug?
The site was discovered in 1968. It was then excavated over 13 field seasons between 1989 and 2005.
It is the 6th largest of more than 1,000 Harappan sites found so far. It joined the World Heritage List in 2021.
Sources (card 9): UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Dholavira: a Harappan City (list no. 1645).
What are the seven stages?
Digging showed seven stages of life at Dholavira. The dates are:
- Stages I to III: 3000 to 2500 BCE.
- Stages IV and V: 2500 to 2000 BCE.
- Stage VI: 1950 to 1800 BCE.
- Stage VII: 1500 to 1450 BCE.
Stage VI belongs to the late Harappan phase. Stage VII is called post-Harappan.
Sources (card 10): ICOMOS evaluation of Dholavira (WHC document 189324).
Was the city always lived in?
No. The site was empty for a short time between 2000 and 1950 BCE. It was empty again, for longer, between 1800 and 1500 BCE.
So the story is not one clean ending. People left, came back and left again.
Sources (card 11): ICOMOS evaluation of Dholavira (WHC document 189324) · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Dholavira: a Harappan City (list no. 1645).
Why Does Rakhigarhi Matter?
How big is Rakhigarhi?
Rakhigarhi lies in Haryana. It spreads across about 550 hectares. It is widely recognised as the largest known settlement of the civilisation.
Digging shows people lived there continuously from the Early to the Mature Harappan period. The finds include planned settlements, drains and craft production.
Sources (card 12): Ministry of Culture release, 22 June 2026, Rakhigarhi skeletal remains.
Is it one of the five big cities?
Yes. The textbook names five major cities: Rakhigarhi, Mohenjodaro, Harappa, Dholavira and Ganweriwala.
Nearly two-thirds of the settlements lie in the Saraswati basin. So the civilisation was not limited to the Indus river valley.
Sources (card 13): NCERT, Themes in Indian History I, Ch. 1 (Class 12).
What Do Rakhigarhi’s Graves Show?
How were people buried?
Most burials were in rectangular pits with straight sides. A single body usually lay on its back in a plain pit.
Graves were generally laid out on a north-south line. The head lay to the north.
Sources (card 14): PLOS ONE, 2018, Harappan cemetery of Rakhigarhi.
What was special about brick-lined graves?
A few graves were lined with brick. Four of them were studied closely.
These graves held more pots than ordinary graves, and the difference is statistically significant. The graves described in detail held women, young and old.
Sources (card 15): PLOS ONE, 2018, Harappan cemetery of Rakhigarhi.
Who wore bangles?
Among burials where the sex could be estimated, only females wore bangles. This suggests bangles had a link with women in the community.
One young person aged 12 to 16, whose sex could not be found, wore necklaces and bangles. They were made of copper, shell and gemstones.
Sources (card 16): PLOS ONE, 2018, Harappan cemetery of Rakhigarhi.
Check 3
Every grave at Rakhigarhi was lined with brick.
What is new in 2025-26?
In the 2025-26 season, diggers found eight burials at Mound No. 7, an old cemetery area. Three complete skeletons and fragments from other burials went to a laboratory in Kolkata.
There, scientists plan ancient DNA work, studies of diet, bone and disease, and a rebuild of the old environment. Results will take time.
Sources (card 17): Ministry of Culture release, 22 June 2026, Rakhigarhi skeletal remains.
What Can Ancient DNA Tell Us?
What did one ancient genome show?
A 2019 study reported an ancient genome from the Indus Valley Civilisation. The person fitted a mix of people related to ancient Iranians and South-East Asian hunter-gatherers.
The person had little if any Steppe pastoralist ancestry. So that ancestry was not common in north-west South Asia then, though it is today.
One genome cannot speak for a whole civilisation. DNA is a partner to digging, not a replacement.
Sources (card 18): Cell, 2019, An Ancient Harappan Genome.
How Has UPSC Asked About Dholavira?
Which site is known for its water harvesting?
The answer is (a) Dholavira, because of its dam, drains and ring of reservoirs. (Source: UPSC CSE Prelims 2021, General Studies Paper I.)
Sources (card 19): Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 2020, Water management in ancient India.
Quick Q&A
- Streams at Dholavira? Mansar and Manhar.
- Large reservoirs? About 16.
- Main building material? Stone.
- Rakhigarhi area? About 550 hectares.
- Which way did heads face in Rakhigarhi graves? North.
- Where did the 2026 skeletons go? A laboratory in Kolkata.
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