History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c30.s3.12

v1.c30.s3.12

The citadel at Mohenjodaro was situated to the west of the township. It was raised on an artificial mound as at Harappa. Its general height was between 6.5m to 13m. From early times, the artificially raised platforms at Mohenjodaro had to be protected from floods and for this purpose a mud brick embankment of 14m breadth was first constructed. The defences of this place have not been so fully explored as those of Harappa, but whatever work has been done is enough to give a good idea of how the things must have looked like. The extent of the citadel mound was the same as that at Harappa. This was surrounded by a baked brick wall and massive towers. Out of these the earliest had to be protected from floods and hence mud-brick embankments were constructed. ‘The gradual multiplication of rectangular bastions at the south-east corner cannot be fully explained without further excavation. Two of them seem to have originally flanked a postern gate which was later blocked and replaced by a platform with a parapet.’ (Wheeler, 1953, pp. 28-29).