What were the main features of the cities built
during the Harappa Civilization ?
Answers
Answer:FEATURES OF URBAN PLANNING - SHORTCUT
The main characteristics of town planning were the following:
i) Each city was divided into two parts-the raised area called the 'Citadel' and the 'lower town.'
ii) The main streets followed a grid pattern running from north to south or from east to west.
iii) The houses at street corners were rounded to allow carts to pass easily.
iv) House drains emptied all waste water into the street drains.
v) The streets crossed the main road at right angles, dividing the city into square or rectangular blocks.
URBAN PLANNING DURING HARAPPAN CIVILISATION - SHORTCUT
The two most important Harappan cities are - Harappa in Montgomery district of Punjab and Mohenjodaro in Larkana district of Sindh. A third city lies at Chanhudaro. The fourth city is at Lothal in Gujarat. The fifth city lies at Kalibangan in Rajasthan and the sixth called Banawali is situated in Hissar district in Haryana.
HOUSES OF HARAPPAN CIVILISATION - SHORTCUT
1. The residential buildings were built on a high mound in order to protect them from floods.
2. The sizes of the house varied from single room tenants to bigger houses with courtyards, upto twelve rooms, private wells and toilets. Each house had covered drains connected with street drains.
3. The houses were made of brick and wood with each house having doors, windows and ventilators.
MONUMENTAL ARCHITECTURE OF HARAPPAN CIVILISATION - SHORTCUT
The contribution of the Harappans is evident from the following public buildings.
a) The Great Bath: It is one of the largest public buildings at Mohenjodaro. It measured twelve metres long, seven metres broad and 2.5 metres deep. The outer walls of the bath had the width of 7 to 8 feet and there was also a provision of separate changing room. There was also provision of disposal of used water and bringing in clean water in the bathrooms.
b) Granaries: Evidence of several granaries, massive buildings with solid brick foundations and sockets for wooden superstructures have been found in excavations of Harappa, Mohenjodaro, and Rakhigarhi. All the granaries were built close to the river bank so that with the help of boats, grains could be easily transported. The Great Granary at Harappa also had a series of working platforms with circular bricks nearby that were probably used for threshing grain.
The Harappan cities were generally divided into two main parts - the raised area; known as the ‘Citadel’, and the lower town. The Citadel was more in height because the buildings in it were built on mud brick platforms. This area was separated from the lower town by a wall. The Citadel had within its fold important buildings like the Great Bath, the assembly hall, the granary and the workshops. The lower town, on the other hand had residential dwellings.
The main streets of the Harappan cities were built according to the grid pattern. They were built from north to south and from east to west.
The houses built on the corners of streets were rounded in order to allow the passage of carts. The main road in the city of Mohenjo-daro was 10.5 meters wide and 800 meters long.
The house drains relayed all the waste water to the drains built in streets.
The streets were so designed as to cross the main road of the city at right angles, thus dividing the city into square or rectangular blocks.
Explanation:
Answer:
Urban civilization, Town planning,Drainage plans were the main features of Harappan Civilization