Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c12.42

c12.42

In the two cities the impression of centralized power, already implicit in the distribution and character of the settlements as a whole, is immediately and overwhelmingly apparent. The two sites are laid out to a common ground-plan, in which, on the western edge of the city, rose an impressive citadel, an approximate rectangle or parallelogram with its long axis north and south, and measuring about 400 by 200 yards (Fig. 18). This was formed of an artificial platform over 30 feet high, of mud brick faced with burnt brick revetments and strong defensive walls, carrying on its fortified summit a group of buildings which, as we shall see later, are not private houses, but houses with a ceremonial or public character. To this high defended citadel belonged processional terraces and monumental gateways; below it lay the streets and houses of the town, and the industrial quarters of a semi-servile labouring class (Fig. 19).