The essentials
Harappan cities such as Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, Kalibangan and Lothal show advanced planning and craft skills. Streets were laid out in a rough grid, and houses were built of baked or sun-dried bricks of standard proportions — length, breadth and thickness in the ratio 4 : 2 : 1. Covered drains ran along streets, with houses connected to them. The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro was made watertight with fine bricks, gypsum mortar and a layer of bitumen. Dholavira had large reservoirs to store water. Lothal in Gujarat has a large brick basin often interpreted as a dockyard.
Crafts were highly developed. Harappans made beads of carnelian, steatite, lapis lazuli and other stones; Chanhudaro and Lothal were bead-making centres, and long carnelian beads were drilled with special drills. Seals were made of steatite, carved with animals and script. Metal workers made copper and bronze tools and figures; the bronze "dancing girl" was cast by the lost-wax method. Faience (a glazed material made from crushed quartz) was used for ornaments.
Standard weights, usually cubes of chert, followed a system that doubled at first (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 …) and then went up in decimal multiples. A scale made of shell has been found at Mohenjo-daro.
Key points
- Brick ratio 4 : 2 : 1.
- Great Bath: bitumen waterproofing.
- Lothal: dockyard, beads; Dholavira: water reservoirs.
- Lost-wax casting; faience; steatite seals; chert weights.
Exam tips
- Small numericals on brick ratios and weights are possible.
Common mistakes
- Thinking Harappans used iron; they used copper and bronze.