Life in the City


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Life in the City

Layout of the cities: Harappa was a busy place.Rulers planned buildings ,traders travelled to distant places to procure raw materials and scribes prepared exotic seals.

  • The Harappan cities were divided into two two parts: the citadel and the lower town .Walls were fortified with bricks in interlocking patterns.
  • Streets were laid out straight and cut each other at right angles.
  • Drains ran parallel to each other and had covers.
  • The Citadel was located at a higher level and had special buildings.
  • The Great Bath in Mohenjodaro was a tank used for bathing rituals.
  • Kalibangan and lothal had fire altars where sacrifices may have been performed.
  • The lower town was the residential area where houses were one or two storeys high and built around a corridor.
  • Life in the city: Town planning

    The most striking feature of the Indus civilization was the well- planned nature of its cities. Most of our knowledge of the Indus cities is based on excavations at Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Like most of the Indus towns, Mohenjodaro was a grid planned city, i.e., all the streets cut each other at right angles. It was divided into two parts. One part was at a higher level. It was built on a massive platform constructed of baked brick. Archaeologists call this area the citadel or acropolis. It might have been the administrative centre of the city where all the large public buildings were located. The lower part of the city consisted of the houses of the common people. Harappan city was a very busy place. There were people who planned the construction of special buildings in the city. These were probably the rulers. It is likely that the rulers sent people to distant lands to get metal, precious stones, and other things that they wanted. Besides, there were men and women, crafts persons, making all kinds of things – either in their own homes, or in special workshops.

    The people who lived in the city were:

  • Scribes,who wrote and helped to prepare seals and wrote on other materials also.
  • Rulers who planned the construction of the city.
  • Traders and merchants who travelled to distant lands to get metal,precious stones,etc.
  • Crafts persons including both men and women ,who made ornaments ,vessels,beads,toys ,etc.
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