Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c8.s1.7

c8.s1.7

The two sites at present explored are at Mohenjo-daro (*Sind*, "the Place of the Dead") in Sind, and at Harappa in the Southern Punjab, which disclose the foundations of two cities in numerous well-defined strata, denoting that they flourished over a long period. Although the investigations have revealed a culture in which the buildings of its people had no great artistic value, the finished quality of the materials employed, the high standard of their manipulation, and the stability of the construction as a whole is astonishing. In the first place the builders of these cities had acquired no little experience of town-planning, as proved by the methodical manner in which they were laid out with straight streets at right angles, the main thoroughfares running almost due north and south, east and west. The principal buildings were also fairly regularly orientated having their sides towards the cardinal points; while each city was divided into wards for protective purposes. All the walls of both houses and public buildings were constructed with a pronounced batter or slope, but it is in the substance and preparation of these edifices that the artificers showed such exceptional knowledge. In both cities the buildings were composed entirely of burnt brick, which in size were on an average rather larger than the common kind used in the present day. They were laid in mud-mortar in what is known as "English bond", that is a course of stretchers alternating with a course of headers, care being taken to break the joint where necessary, the entire process indicating that the Indus builders were thoroughly experienced in the technique of the bricklayers' craft. This method of construction applies mainly to the foundations and walls of the buildings, but as these were very substantial it seems probable that they were two or more stories in height. The upper stories were composed largely of wood, the roofs being flat and built of stout beams covered with planking finished with a top-dressing of beaten earth. No instance of the use of the true arch has been discovered, openings being generally spanned by wooden lintels, but several instances of the corbelled arch formed by oversailing courses of brick have come to light. In view of the persistence with which the Indian builder until the late medieval period clung to the latter method of bridging a space, this fact is significant.