An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s9.22

v1.c9.s9.22

There is another area at Kalibangan which deserves special mention. A hunt for the continuation of the fortifications of the Citadel revealed that these did not continue beyond a certain point on the s., although the habitation as such did go on. Thus there was clearly an area in which there lived some people for whom fortifications were not considered necessary. Although no excavation has been done in this area, surface indications suggest houses of a moderate kind. This and the identification of pottery dumps at the s.-w. periphery of this area suggest that in this part of the settlement there lived the workmen who in all probability attended to the needs of those who lived in the ‘Citadel’ as well as the ‘Lower Town’. As already stated earlier, the n. part of the ‘Citadel’ housed the priests; and it is not unreasonable to surmise that the ‘Lower Town’ was occupied mainly by land-owning farmers and businessmen. Thus we see that Kalibangan provides evidence for a threefold stratification of the society, viz. the priests, the business-cum-agriculturist community and the working class. The evidence regarding the layout of the settlement at Harappa, as spelt out earlier, would also appear to support such a social structure.