Features | Description | Significance |
Division of City
Raised Part (called Citadel): Consisted of housing for rulers and important public buildings such as granaries, workshops. It was mostly situated west of the city.
Lower Part (eastern side of town): Consisted of houses of common citizens (see illustration map) |
It shows the presence of social hierarchy and some administrative authority.
Also, the Public and Private sphere was separated as the town was divided into two parts (as is also done in modern town planning) |
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Streets | It followed a grid pattern (i.e. streets cut each other at right angles, thus dividing the city into several rectangular blocks) | It shows excellent knowledge of measurement and urban planning of Harappan people. |
Drainage system | Drains connected all the houses and were made up of mortar, lime, and gypsum and covered with large brick slabs for easy cleaning | It shows Harappan people paid great attention to Health and Sanitation |
Houses | They were often of two or more stories, but no window faced the streets | Often the 2nd story was made on 1st when it had subsided. It shows Harappan inhabited the place for a longer time |
Building materials | Standardized burnt-bricks of ratio 1:2:4 found in all the sites (no stone was used) (*Egyptian civilization at that time used mud-bricks and stones) | It shows the presence of centralized weights and measurement systems. |