Ancient History for UPSC 2020 Exam Raise of the Harappan Civilization
Ancient History is very vast topic for UPSE Exam and one of the most important topic as well, in this article we are going to Discuss about Harappan Civilization , which is very much important if you are targeting UPSE 2020 Exam
Harappan Civilization was a Bronze Age Civilization. The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro emerged around 2600 BC along the Indus river valley in Punjab and Sindh. Harappan civilization is known as the Indus Valley Civilization extended from northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and
Northwest India. Harappa was discovered in1826 and in the year 1920 Harappa was excavated for the first time. The Harappan civilization is also the earliest known urban culture.
TOWN PLANNING OF HARAPPA
The Harappan culture’s town-planning is one of it’s most evoking aspects. Their roads, houses, drainage, and bath the granary the Harappan people were very good in their town planning.
HOUSES:
The houses in Harappa were built with burnt bricks. Mohenjodaro, Rupar, Mehrgargh, Harappa all these towns were constructed by burnt bricks. Houses and buildings are both found in small and large settlements.
Mudbrick buildings are usually found in the rural areas and the urban areas have buildings made of baked bricks. The houses in Harappa usually have 1 to 2 story buildings they also have a courtyard in the center surrounded by rooms. To maintain privacy in the houses side streets are restricted.
The doors of the houses are made of wood or wood frames. Larger houses had smaller dwellings connected to the dwellings are assumed to be either for their extended family members or servants. Large public buildings were the third category consisted of public spaces such as markets and also granaries.
There are also shreds of evidence of the cluster of houses in which several families lived and had their own separate toilets and bathing areas.
WELLS AND SANITATION
People in Harappa had access to plenty of water. Water shortage was not a problem. Central Depression has been found in the city which is a public pool for people to use it for drinking and washing purposes but there have been fewer wells in the city of Harappa.
There were more Private Wells as compared to the public which shows that the public wells were polluted or run out due to heavy usage. Bathing rooms were situated right next to the wells. Drains from each room were led to the main drains
ROADS:
Harappa consists of wide roads. Roads in the town are criss-cross from east to west and north to south. There were houses built on either side of the road.
THE GREAT BATH:
The Great Bath was one of the main architectures of the Harappan period. The Great Bath situated in Mohenjo-Daro is 12 meters in its length,7 meters in breadth and 3 meters deep.
The floor and the sides are hard and consist of a stairway that leads to the bath. There is a big well meant for water supply.
The Great Bath was surrounded by galleries with spectators it is thus believed that the great bath was only for the upper ruling class and priestly classes only meant for special occasions happening in the city.
GENERAL CONFERENCE HALL OR VIP QUARTERS:
Next to the Great Bath, there was a large house with a verandah consisting of wooden pillars. Some people assume it to be a residential area for high officials.
GREAT GRANARY:
The Great Granary was one of the most prominent buildings. Located in fort area the floors were formed of stone. There were circular floors for harvesting to the south. During times of floods, droughts, and storms the granary use to be of great help to the people of Harappan city.
THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM:
People of the Harappan culture gave a lot of importance to hygiene. They had steps to drain out wastewater to keep the city clean. On either side of the roads, there were big drains for the water to drain out and were kept covered.
This was all about Harappan civilization which is an important topic for UPSC 2020 and is also a very easy, scoring and interesting topic of Ancient Indian History.