Walls and Platforms
Major Indus settlements were generally surrounded by massive walls, constructed of baked bricks, mud brick, rubble, or stone, and, as Rojdi shows, even farming villages could be walled. The walls at Dholavira, for example, were 18 meters wide and at least 9 meters high. In many cases these were retaining walls for mud brick platforms, in others they were freestanding circuit walls, and they might be both. For example, the wall around Harappa mound E was a revetment in the northwest of the mound but a freestanding wall with gates around its south side. Frequently there were bastions and sometimes towers, and there were generally a number of imposing gateways.
The gateways were not designed primarily for defense, being typically a straightforward opening or passage, although strong wooden gates would have allowed them to be closed. The elaboration of gateways, for example with the addition of stairs or ramps, seems designed rather to increase the impressiveness and solemnity of the approach than to inhibit access or enhance defensibility. Side chambers often flanked the gateway, probably accommodating gatekeepers, who could monitor the flow of people into and out of the city. They may also, as Kenoyer (1998) has suggested, have collected taxes or customs dues on goods being brought into or out of the settlement. The large southern gateway of mound E at Harappa, though tall and imposing, was only
This northeastern corner of the citadel mound at Dholavira gives some indication of the massive scale of Harappan construction. (Namit Arora)
2.8 meters wide, enough to allow the passage of one cart at a time, and immediately inside the gate was a large open space where vehicles and people entering the city could be detained as required.
Gates also controlled access between parts of the settlement that were separately walled, such as the citadel, and ordinary residential areas. At Dholavira, a gateway with bastions and flanked by chambers gave access from the Lower Town to the Middle Town. A stone bar laid on the stone sill of the gateway contained slots thought to have been used to hold wooden planks to close the gate when required.
The settlement at Kuntasi had a double wall, made of boulders and mud, separated by a passage around 20 meters wide. In the southwestern corner was a tower, and in the east side a gate flanked by guard chambers, presumably the public access to the walled town. This contrasts with the small postern gate used by the residents of the unwalled suburbs.
A number of settlements, including Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Chanhu-daro, Lothal, and Banawali, were wholly or partly founded on artificial platforms made of mud brick, earth, and rubble with substantial retaining walls, which gave some protection against flooding. These required enormous amounts of materials, time, and labor (calculated at around 4 million man-days for
Mohenjo-daro) and were therefore possible only where sufficient manpower could be deployed and the necessary organization existed. Flood damage has been reported at several Harappan sites, including Chanhu-daro and Lothal, confirming that flooding was a hazard endured by settlements located in the floodplains and in some other areas such as the Nal Depression. Jansen has demonstrated that the platforms at Mohenjo-daro, more than 6 meters high, raised the city above any possible floodwaters.
World History
