Cities and water in the Indus civilization

Building a city around water

Hundreds of homes needed both a water supply and an outlet for used water. Mohenjo-daro’s wells and drains served those tasks. At drier Dholavira, storing rain and seasonal flows became crucial.

Dholavira combined castle, bailey, ceremonial ground and middle and lower towns, with reservoirs east and south of the citadel. Their placement reveals integrated planning.

Water management and specialist work

Wells draw, drains discharge and reservoirs store. Dholavira combined two seasonal streams with storage. Alongside this timed water supply, craftspeople transformed materials into goods.

Beads, copper, shell, semiprecious stones and ivory required different skills. Workshop evidence connects exported objects to specialist local labor.

Connected but different cities

Ordered streets did not mean identical homes. Shared infrastructure coexisted with differences in living conditions. Cemeteries add evidence about social practices beyond water management and production.

Memorial burials reveal treatment of the dead alongside living infrastructure. Investigations after the 1968 discovery connected water management, workshops and cemetery within one urban landscape.

Before and after

1. Around 3000 BCE

   Early occupation at Dholavira.

2. Around 1500 BCE

   Approximate end of its long occupation.

3. 1968

   The Dholavira site was discovered.

Key terms

Reservoir

Infrastructure collecting and storing water.

Drainage

Systems carrying away wastewater or rain.

Urban planning

Organizing housing, streets and shared facilities.

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