An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s9.5

v1.c9.s9.5

‘While there are many characteristic features of the Indus civilization, the one that places it far above the contemporary w. Asian civilizations is its meticulous town-planning and strict adherence to the same from the beginning to the end of any of the given sites, be it Mohenjo-daro or Harappa in Pakistan or KALIBANGAN or LOTHAL in India. At all these sites a concept of dividing the settlement into two major parts, called loosely by archaeologists the ‘Citadel’ and the ‘Lower Town’, is met with. The so-called ‘Citadel’ could be either an altogether separate entity, usually on the w. as at Mohenjo-daro and KALIBANGAN, or integrated with the 'Lower Town' within a common fortification wall, as at LOTHAL. Of the 'Lower Town', the most noteworthy feature was the systematic layout of its streets which ran n.-s. and e.-w., thus dividing the township into several grid-patterned blocks, each one of which comprised a number of houses opening out on one of the streets. Good sanitary arrangement, either by way of local soakage-jars, as at KALIBANGAN, or through a well-laid-out and covered drainage system, as at Mohenjo-daro, was another noteworthy feature.