Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c40.s3.15

v6.c40.s3.15

Plan of Mirpur Khas stūpa excavator declares that the ‘explorations around the Manchhar now prove, for the first time, the existence of a lake-dwelling people in Sind during the later part of the Indus period. Their settlements were on the verge of the lake. Their ways of living could not have been much different from those of the present dwellers, many of whom live in boats with their families, or in huts constructed on platforms on the surface of water. These huts have a curious likeness to the Neolithic and Chalcolithic pile-dwellings of the lakes of Switzerland and other European countries. Whether the ancient lake-dwellers of Manchhar used to have similar pile-houses it is difficult to say with the data available. The pits and trenches excavated on Lal Chhatto and Mashak mounds have not revealed any brick or stone, nor was there any indication to show that the lake-dwellings were made of these materials.’¹