Harappan urban settlements, of whatever size, from 250-hectare Mohenjo-daro to 1.4-hectare Surkotada, generally shared a number of features: the use of bricks of uniform proportions (1:2:4) and usually size (7 by 14 by 28 centimeters for houses, 10 by 20 by 40 centimeters for city walls); efficient provision of water and sanitation; workshops and other industrial facilities; well-appointed housing; cardinally orientated streets; and the use of baked brick, particularly for bathrooms, drains, and wells. Generally, walls surrounded the settlement or separate parts of it, some freestanding while others provided revetment for foundation platforms; and there was usually a separately walled sector (a "citadel"), often on a raised mound, within which were located many of the settlement's public buildings. Evidence is accumulating that the settlements also had unwalled suburbs.
These features, however, were expressed in very different ways, both from one settlement to another and from region to region. Stone, for example, was rarely used in architecture except in Gujarat, where it was common; Mohenjo-daro and Chanhu-daro were unusual in their very extensive use of baked bricks for building houses. Citadels were sometimes separate mounds, in other cases a subsection of the area within the settlement wall, and the structures present in this area were different in almost every settlement. Water facilities also varied markedly; for example, Mohenjo-daro had seven hundred wells, whereas Harappa, near a river, had only a few, and Dholavira had huge reservoirs. Settlements varied in the degree to which they were planned: In some (for example, Kalibangan), the north-south orientation of the main streets resulted in a grid plan; in others (for example, Banawali), there is much less apparent order; and a few did not even adhere to cardinal orientation.
Also characteristic of Indus towns and cities were several negative features, notably the apparent paucity or absence of substantial administrative and reli-
A view across the northern part of the citadel at Mohenjo-daro. The layout of Mohenjo-daro shows the planning typical of many Harappan settlements, in which geometry and cardinal orientation played major parts. Mohenjo-daro may have been laid out as a pristine settlement, but these features are also seen in Dholavira which was built in several stages over hundreds of years. (Yousaf Fayyaz/Fotolia)
Gious buildings and of readily identifiable elite residences. Few large-scale storage facilities have been identified. Cemeteries are also rare, although their presence outside some settlements suggests that the current situation reflects accidents of discovery. The same might perhaps be said of other negative features, given the small proportion of the settlement investigated in most cases.
World History
