DDK HistoryF.p65 - CSIR

54 INDUS VALLEY HOUSE [3.1
Dokri in the Larkana district of Sind was formerly on the bank of the
Indus, which has also changed its course, due probably to the continued
rise of the Himalayas, with slight consequent tilting of the plain. 3 The
impressive ruins show that the original cities must have covered an area
about one mile square in each case, though not all the now remaining
mounds that survive erosion by wind, water, human hands have been
excavated. A hundred years ago Harappa still showed a walled portion
about half a mile square, though the wall must have been of medieval
construction. Traces of Mohenjo-daro walls as well as of embankments
for restraining the river have also been discovered, in this case presumably
original. Each city was densely settled, uninterrupted by anything like a
modern ‘ lung’ or park, but settled according to a careful plan, with
main streets laid out neatly at right angles, and multifarious straight
lanes leading off them. The houses excavated (at Mohenjo-daro, Harappa
being too devastated) were often large in size, clustered together in blocks.
What Mackay called the Palace at Mohenjo-daro (block 1 in the Dk
area) is merely a merchant’s house about 180 ’ x 70 ', only a little larger
than the other merchants’ houses that surround it. The northern wall of
the house,, built solidly throughout of burnt brick, is in part as much
as seven feet thick. Such massive walls are characteristic of the masonry
in general. They indicate — when the stairways are taken into
consideration — the existence of one or more upper storeys. The floors
(or flat roofs) were supported on heavy beams of Himalayan timber,,
brought from a long distance. Every one of the larger houses had a
well-paved courtyard, its own well, bathroom, privy. Besides these,
one feature further distinguished the cities from the Mesopota-mian
: a beautiful drainage system for carrying off rainwater, bathwater and
sewage from the houses to cesspits which must have been regularly
cleared. The ground level rose from 30 to 50 feet during the periods of
occupation, which means not less than 500 and perhaps as much as
1500 years, because mud-brick (which would have washed off more
earth into the deposit) was not used in general. House plans changed
too, but the same wells continued in use; their built-up curbs now tower
high in the excavated courtyards. The street boundaries were not