Mohenjo-daro

Also called: Mohenjodaro · Topic: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 6 "The Beginnings of Indian Civilisation"; Class 12, Ch 1 "Bricks, Beads and Bones"

Meaning

Mohenjo-daro is the best-known city of the Harappan Civilisation. It lies on the Indus river in Larkana district, Sindh (Pakistan). Excavation began in 1922 after R.D. Banerji found the site.

It matters because it is the clearest example of a Harappan planned city. It had a walled Citadel and Lower Town, streets laid out in a grid, covered drains, about 700 wells and the Great Bath. Exam questions on Harappan town planning often draw their examples from Mohenjo-daro.

Explanation

Background: a city planned before it was built

• The name is usually translated as "mound of the dead".
• Its main phase belongs to the mature Harappan phase, c. 2600–1900 BCE.
• The city was planned first and built afterwards:
• First, people raised large mud-brick platforms.

• Houses and other buildings were then built only on top of these platforms.

• The platforms alone needed about 4 million person-days of labour. This means one day's work by one person, repeated 4 million times.

• Work on this scale needed someone to organise many workers.

• So many historians think some strong central authority existed, even though no palace or king has been found.

• Streets and drains came first. Houses were built along them later. Drains were not added afterwards as a repair.

Main parts of the city

• Citadel (the smaller, higher part, on the west):
• It stood on mud-brick platforms and was walled.

• It held special buildings such as the Great Bath and the warehouse.

• Lower Town (the larger, lower part, on the east):

• It was also walled.

• Most people lived here.

• Streets: laid out in a grid pattern, crossing each other at right angles.

• Bricks: made in a fixed ratio of 4:2:1 (length : breadth : height). Some were sun-dried and some were kiln-baked. The same ratio was used at Harappan sites from Jammu to Gujarat.

Houses, wells and drains

• Houses:
• Rooms were built around a central courtyard (an open space inside the house).
• No windows faced the street at ground level.
• Doors were placed at an angle, so people passing by could not see into the courtyard.
• Staircases show there was a second storey or access to the roof.

• Many houses had their own brick-paved bathroom. Its drain joined the street drain.

• Wells: Mohenjo-daro had about 700 wells, many of them inside houses. This is some of the earliest known evidence of a water supply on this scale.

• Drainage system:
• Almost every house was connected to a street drain.
• Main drains were made of bricks set in mortar. They were covered with loose bricks, and sometimes limestone slabs, that could be lifted for cleaning.
• Waste flowed like this: house drain → sump (a pit that trapped solid waste) → street drain.
• Long drains had sumps placed at regular distances.
• Mackay called it "the most complete ancient system as yet discovered."

Special buildings on the Citadel

• Great Bath:
• A rectangular tank of about 12 × 7 m.
• It had corridors on all four sides and steps going down from the north and the south.
• It was made watertight with bricks set on edge and gypsum mortar. A layer of bitumen (a natural tar) along the sides also stopped water from leaking out [2].
• It had rooms on three sides. One room held a large well, which was probably the Bath's water source [2].
• Used water flowed out into a large corbelled drain (a drain whose roof is made of bricks that step inwards until they meet) [2].
• Next to it was a block of eight bathrooms that opened onto a lane.

• Most scholars think it was a ritual bath, used for special religious bathing, not a public bath for daily use. There are two reasons:

  • It is unique and stands on the Citadel.
  • Ordinary people already had bathrooms at home.

• Warehouse: only its lower brick part survives. The wooden upper part has rotted away.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: Harappan Civilisation (c. 3500–1300 BCE). The Great Bath belongs to the mature phase, in the 3rd millennium BCE [2].
• Place: on the Indus, in Larkana district, Sindh, Pakistan. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as "Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro".
• Key people:
• R.D. Banerji: his finds led to the excavation that began in 1922.
• E.J.H. Mackay: an excavator who praised the drainage system.

• John Marshall: Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India when the Harappan Civilisation was announced to the world.

• How we know: all our knowledge comes from archaeology, because the Harappan script has not been read. The evidence includes:

• the platforms, walls, streets, drains, wells, the Great Bath and the warehouse that survive
• well-known objects found at the site, such as the bronze "dancing girl", the stone "priest-king" figure and many seals
• the NCERT chapter "Bricks, Beads and Bones" (Class 12), which uses Mohenjo-daro as its main example of Harappan town planning

Don't confuse with

• Harappa: the first Harappan site to be found (1921, by Daya Ram Sahni). It lies on the Ravi in Punjab (Pakistan). Mohenjo-daro is on the Indus in Sindh and has the Great Bath.
• Dholavira: has a three-part plan (Citadel, Middle Town, Lower Town) and uses a lot of stone. Its water came from at least six reservoirs [2][3]. Mohenjo-daro has a two-part plan, baked bricks, and a water system based on wells and drains.
• Lothal: the whole town was walled, but its Citadel was only raised on a platform and not walled separately. At Mohenjo-daro the Citadel had its own wall.
• Great Bath vs house bathrooms: the Great Bath was a single ritual tank on the Citadel. Daily bathing happened in the bathrooms inside houses.

Prelims Hooks

• Mohenjo-daro is in Larkana district, Sindh (Pakistan), on the Indus. Its excavation began in 1922 after R.D. Banerji's finds.
• The Great Bath measured about 12 × 7 m. It was waterproofed with gypsum mortar and bitumen and had steps from the north and the south [2].
• Mohenjo-daro had about 700 wells.
• The foundation platforms at Mohenjo-daro needed about 4 million person-days of labour.
• Mackay called the Harappan drainage "the most complete ancient system as yet discovered."
• Trap: the three-part town plan belongs to Dholavira, not Mohenjo-daro. Mohenjo-daro has the usual Citadel + Lower Town plan.

Mains Points

• Planned city, not a city that grew by chance:
• Platforms were built before houses, and drains before housing.
• Streets followed a grid, and bricks followed one ratio.

• Together these show careful planning from the start, not slow, unplanned growth.

• Strong authority without kings: 4 million person-days of platform labour suggests a central authority that could organise workers. Yet no palace, royal tomb or king has been found. This is a key debate about how the Harappan state was run.

• Cleanliness and ritual: every house had a bathroom and drain, while the city had only one ritual Great Bath. This suggests people valued cleanliness and ritual purity. Cities in Mesopotamia at the same time were built around large temples, but Mohenjo-daro was not. This contrast is useful in GS-I answers on Indian heritage and world history.

Related concepts

• Harappan town planning
• Citadel
• Lower Town
• Upper town and lower town
• Harappan bricks
• Harappan domestic architecture
• Harappan drainage system
• Great Bath of Mohenjo-daro
• Warehouse of Mohenjo-daro
• Dholavira reservoirs

Read more

• Town planning, architecture and water management