Housing and town planning

Building Materials

There was no stone built house in the Indus cities. Most of the houses were built of burnt bricks. But unburnt sun-dried bricks were also used. That portion of the buildings where contamination with water was possible, burnt bricks were used. For other parts sun-dried bricks were used. Most of the bricks were of equal size. The staircases of big buildings were solid; the roofs were flat and were made of wood.

Systematically built Buildings and Houses

The nature of the buildings at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro shows that the town dwellers were divided into various social classes. The rich and the ruling class lived in the multi-roomed spacious houses and the poorer section lived in small tenements. The public building and big houses were situated on the streets. The modest houses were situated on the lanes. Encroachment on public roads or lanes by building houses was not permitted. The houses can be divided into three main groups viz.

• dwelling houses,
• larger buildings,
• Public baths.

Smaller houses had two rooms, while larger houses had many rooms. There were courtyards attached to big buildings. There was little artistic touch in the architectural design of the buildings belonging either to the rich or the poor. They were plain, utilitarian and comfortable to live. Some of the buildings were probably multi-storied.

Most of the houses had baths, wells and covered drains connected with street drains. Ordinary buildings had little ventilation arrangements, as doors and windows were rarely fixed in the outer walls. Doors of entrance were fixed not on the front wall but on the side walls. One could enter a house by the door facing the side lanes of the house. The doors were made of wood. Large buildings had spacious doors.