https://tinyurl.com/y54k9cq5
Gabarband water management, water reservoirs, drainage and sewerage systems of Sarasvati-Sindhu Civilization, dated to ca. 3000 BCE are unparalleled features in civilizational history. See: Possehl, Gregory L., 1975. The chronology of gabarbands and palas in western South Asia. Expedition 17 (2): 33-37. A corollary to the gabarband water management tradition of the civilization is the drainage and sanitation system of unparalleled sophistication and hydrological initiatives evidenced in sites such as Mohenjo-daro, Dholavira, Lothal.
Indus Script hieroglyph, Sign 194:
koḍa 'sluice'; Rebus: koḍ 'artisan's workshop' (Kuwi). A hieroglyph Sign 194 signifies a water sluice.
An overview of the sites of the civilization clearly indicates navigable waterways of Sindhu and Sarasvati rivers for ancient maritime tin-bronze trade across long distances from Ancient Far East to Ancient Near East. On these rivers water management systems, including gabarbands, were constructed.
Gabarband of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization
A remarkable article by Robert L. Raikes in the Anthropologist (1961) is appended. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1961.63.2.02a00020 The prehistoric climate of Baluchisthan and the Indus Valley by Robert L.Raikes (1961). This article highlights the importance of a unique hydrological irrigation system called gabarband. This gabarband system is a precursor to the Grand stone anicut of Kallanai on Kaveri river 2000 years' old which created a stone anicut to create the Kollidam river diverting the surplus waters of Kaveri and brought an additional 5 acres of land under cultivation in the delta region.
[quote] Aurel Stein and others have discovered dams built across the mountain streams in Baluchistan estimated to have been built during neolithic-calcholithic period for irrigation of lands. Wheeler also mentioned the existence of such dams in Baluchistan which are known locally as gabarband. These had been strongly built by stone rubble, even up to height of 10 to 15 feet, to hold sufficient silt and water.[Sir Mortimer Wheeler, The Indus Civilization, Cambridge University Press, 1968, Third Edition, pp.10-11.] Walter A. Fairservis also mentioned such evidence of dams in Las Bela discovered near an Amri site on the Upper Hab River that were built to catch the small annual overflow from the surrounding mountains and by storing it to render it available to normally arid silt tracts which the position of the site indicates were cultivated.[Walter A. Fairservis, “The Harappan Civilization – New Evidence and More Theory,” in, American Museum Novitates, Published by the American Museum of Natural History, New York, No. 2055, 1961, p. 5. ] He also refers to the presence of bund agriculture in southwest Sind mentioned by O.H.K. Spate and earlier by the residents of a Harappan village on the edge of the Malir oasis. All these evidences indicate that these dams were constructed as a rather desperate attempt to store the available water from small rivers and utilize for agriculture. Such bund or dam based agriculture was not unknown in the ancient world as mentioned by some authors. R.S. Bisht has also mentioned the existence of dams at three places that were raised across the Manhar and at two places across the Mansar, both the storm water runnels were embraced the site Dholavira.[ R.S. Bisht, “Dholavira and Banawali: Two Different Paradigms of the Harappan Urbis Forma,” in, Puratattva, No. 29, 1999, pp. 26-28.] The purpose of damming was to harvest water for filling the reservoir in the urban site of Dholavira. At Mehrgarh although no dam was reported, it is mentioned that there is possible evidence for the construction of irrigation ditches, which may have been helpful to agricultural intensification and, eventually population growth.[Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, “Households and Neighborhoods of the Indus Tradition: An Overview,” in, eds, Bradley J. Parker and Catherine P. Foster, New Perspectives on Household Archaeology, Eisenbrauns, Indiana, 2012, p. 381.] C. Benveniste and L. Renou first mentioned Vṛitra from purely philological consideration to mean “obstacle,” “barrage,” or “bloquage,” not a demon, with which D.D. Kosambi also agreed. [Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, An Introduction to the Study of Indian History, Popular Prakashan, Bombay, First Published 1956, Revised Second Edition 1975, Reprinted 1985, pp. 74, 75.] Kosambi had the same view that Indra’s breaking up dams is related to the breaking of prehistoric dams, called “Gebr-band” and are still found on many water-courses in the western parts of this region. M.K. Dhavalikar mentions the connection on gabarbands to the Vṛitra whom Indra slew, burst the cloud, broke the strongholds and drove the floods.[M.K. Dhavalikar, The Aryans: Myth and Archaeology, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2007, pp. 100,101.] He mentions “This interpretation is more plausible because it prevents the water flowing down where the Aryans were living in the Indus plains.”
On this ground it can be suggested that artificial irrigation based on building dams on rivers was employed in the Indus Civilization to increase the agricultural production which was essential for the subsistence of the huge number of the people living in the Indus-Saraswati Valley in so many settlements distributed throughout the vast region. Till now there is no intensive study conducted on the river based irrigation system of the Harappan people which is related to the subsistence agriculture. It can be assumed that the Harappan people built dams on the rivers to impound water and then sent them to distant places through cannels to irrigate agricultural lands. It can also be surmised that there were sluicegates at the dams to control the river waters as required for the irrigation purpose to distribute water to different communities of people. Sluicegates were not unknown to the Harappan people as its existence is mentioned from dockyard of Lothal where there was an arrangement of sliding wooden door in the recesses of the spill-way to control water level at the dock[S.R. Rao, (1979), Lothal: A Harappan Port Town (1955-62), Volume I, Published by the Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi, 1979, p.126.] and the wooden sluicegate or grill at the drains of Harappa[Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, 1998, p. 61]. The water management for the irrigation system was solely controlled by the Harappan state, which was a very sensitive task and requires some kind of control and authority over the whole population living under its jurisdiction[unquote] https://www.ongshumali.com/en/decline-of-indus-civilization-and-vedic-upheaval-chapter-4/
Lothal: Sanitary drainage at the acropolis
"The most unique aspect of planning during the Indus Valley civilization was the system of underground drainage. The main sewer, 1.5 meters deep and 91 cm across, connected to many north-south and east-west sewers. It was made from bricks smoothened and joined together seamlessly. The expert masonry kept the sewer watertight. Drops at regular intervals acted like an automatic cleaning device. A wooden screen at the end of the drains held back solid wastes. Liquids entered a cess poll made of radial bricks. Tunnels carried the waste liquids to the main channel connecting the dockyard with the river estuary. Commoner houses had baths and drains that emptied into underground soakage jars."(Dinesh Shukla)
An elaborate sanitary and drainage system, a hallmark of ancient Indus cities, is in evidence everywhere at Lothal.
"The proximity of the seat of power to the warehouse may have ensured that the ruler and his entourage could inspect stocks easily. An ivory workshop in the acropolis suggests that elephants may have been domesticated to produce the raw material." (Dinesh Shukla) https://www.harappa.com/category/slide-subject/sanitation
Near the warehouse, also on a high plinth, is the upper town or acropolis which spans 128 by 61 meters and has extensive drainage systems.
This bathing area in Harappa today is identical to ancient bathing areas.
Many of the buildings at Mohenjo-daro had two or more stories. Water from the roof and upper storey bathrooms was carried through enclosed terracotta pipes or open chutes that emptied out onto the street, such as this one on a house in DK-G Area. (See a modern example of this type of open drain chute in Slide 100). harappa.com
In the modern town of Harappa, a covered drain built along the outside of a house takes sewage water from a second storey latrine and bathroom to the street level drain without splashing people passing by on the street.
A bathing platform in UM area with blocked up doorway leading into the room. The brick floor was made with carefully fitted flat paved bricks and a smaller catchment drain along the side of the platform. A small step was placed at one side of the platform, and a ledge of finely fitted bricks protected the base of the wall.
A bathing platform in SD area with brick floor made with flat paved bricks. Many bathing platforms were made with watertight floors constructed with bricks laid on their edge. (JM Kenoyer)
This bathing platform is located next to the street, and is made with bricks laid flat. A small drain running along one side of the bathing floor channels dirty water out to the street. A brick on edge with a notch was placed across the drain hole to keep objects from flowing out with the bath water. It is possible that such bathing floors were also used to wash clothes that may have washed out with the rinse water. (JM Kenoyer)
This well was associated with a finely constructed bathing platform. A stairway leads up to the well and platform from a lower room. The walls and well have been covered with mud brick and sprayed with clay slurry to protect them from salt crystallization. (JM Kenoyer)
Toilets would have been an essential feature in Mohenjo-daro, but the early excavators identified most toilets as post-cremation burial urns or sump pots. This brick structure (one of two - see Slide 48) had a hole in the top that was connected to a small drain leading out of the base into a rectangular basin (not reconstructed). Early excavators suggested this might have been a toilet. (JM Kenoyer)
The corbelled arch drain from the great bath is large enough to walk into. It has a small ledge on either side of the actual drain channel. (JM Kenoyer)
A large public well and public bathing platforms were found in the southern part of Mound AB at Harappa. These public bathing areas may also have been used for washing clothes as is common in many traditional cities in Pakistan and India today. (JM Kenoyer)
Almost every house unit at Mohenjo-daro was equipped with a private bathing area with drains to take the dirty water out into a larger drain that emptied into a sewage drain. Many of these bathing areas had water tight floors to keep moisture from seeping into the other rooms nearby or below.j (JM Kenoyer)
Private wells were rebuilt over many generations to serve the needs of a large household or neighborhood. This well in DK G area at Mohenjo-daro stands like a chimney because all of the surrounding earth has been removed by excavation. (JM Kenoyer)
Town planning. Harappa.Mohenjo-daro. Lothal.
House bathroom and outlet. House bathing platform at Mohenjo-daro and row of private baths at Lothal. After Kenoyer, JM, 1998.
Great bath outlet.Mohenjo-daro and Lothal. After Kenoyer 1998![]()
Drainage and sanitation system. Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization. After Kenoyer, JM, 1988
Drainage and sanitation system. Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization. After Kenoyer, JM, 1988
Hydraulic engineering. Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization. Dholavira. Rann. Gujarat.
Great bath at Mohenjo-daro compares with Dholavira reservoir. The "great bath" is without doubt the earliest public water tank in the ancient world. The tank itself measures approximately 12 meters north-south and 7 meters wide, with a maximum depth of 2.4 meters. Two wide staircases lead down into the tank from the north and south and small sockets at the edges of the stairs are thought to have held wooden planks or treads. At the foot of the stairs is a small ledge with a brick edging that extends the entire width of the pool. People coming down the stairs could move along this ledge without actually stepping into the pool itself.
The floor of the tank is water tight due to finely fitted bricks laid on edge with gypsum plaster and the side walls were constructed in a similar manner. To make the tank even more water tight, a thick layer of bitumen (natural tar) was laid along the sides of the tank and presumably also beneath the floor. Brick colonnades were discovered on the eastern, northern and southern edges. The preserved columns have stepped edges that may have held wooden screens or window frames. Two large doors lead into the complex from the south and other access was from the north and east. A series of rooms are located along the eastern edge of the building and in one room is a well that may have supplied some of the water needed to fill the tank. Rainwater also may have been collected for this purposes, but no inlet drains have been found.
Most scholars agree that this tank would have been used for special religious functions where water was used to purify and renew the well being of the bathers. (JM Kenoyer)
The floor slopes down to the southwest corner where a small outlet (top right) leads to a brick drain, which takes the water to the edge of the mound.
This drain cuts through the edge of the so-called granary. If the entire drain were constructed along with the Great Bath, this feature would indicate that the original "granary" was built before the great bath. (JM Kenoyer)
Different types of wells. After Kenoyer, JEM, 1988
Dholavira. Water-reservoir. Dholavira had a series of water storing tanks and step wells. Dholavira had at least five baths, at least one even larger than the Great Bath in Mohenjodaro.
After Fig. 2.14. Indus Valley Civilization Open toilets Commodes, Kenoyer, J.M., 1998, Mohenjo-daro, An ancient Indus Valley metropolis, Unvi. of Wisconsin, Madison).
Public toilets. Open toilet and household toilet in Indus Valley Civilization. After Fig. 2.13 Kenoyer 1998)
Storm water storage in rock tank and dry well at Dholavira and Lothal. After Wales, R.P., 2010."Bisht, who retired as the Joint Director-General of the ASI, said, "The kind of efficient system of Harappans of Dholavira, developed for conservation, harvesting and storage of water speaks eloquently about their advanced hydraulic engineering, given the state of technology in the third millennium BCE." One of the unique features of Dholavira is the sophisticated water conservation system of channels and reservoirs, the earliest found anywhere in the world, built completely of stone. The city had massive reservoirs, three of which are exposed. They were used for storing fresh water brought by rains or to store water diverted from two nearby rivulets.[20] This clearly came in response to the desert climate and conditions of Kutch, where several years may pass without rainfall. A seasonal stream which runs in a north-south direction near the site was dammed at several points to collect water. In 1998, another reservoir was discovered in the site.The inhabitants of Dholavira created sixteen or more reservoirs of varying size during Stage III.Some of these took advantage of the slope of the ground within the large settlement, a drop of 13 metres (43 ft) from northeast to northwest. Other reservoirs were excavated, some into living rock. Recent work has revealed two large reservoirs, one to the east of the castle and one to its south, near the Annexe. The reservoirs are cut through stone vertically, and are about 7 m (23 ft) deep and 79 m (259 ft) long. They skirt the city, while the citadel and bath are centrally located on raised ground. There is also a large well with a stone-cut trough connecting it to a drain meant for conducting water to a storage tank. The bathing tank had steps descending inwards.In October 2014, excavation began on a rectangular stepwell which measured 73.4 m (241 ft) long, 29.3 m (96 ft) wide, and 10 m (33 ft) deep, making it three times bigger than the Great Bath of Mohenjedaro." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DholaviraIn the settlements of Sarasvati-Sindhu civilization, drinking water was separately provided by drinking wells and reservoirs. A central underground waste and disposal sanitation system was designed, which connected through indoor plumbing to homes. [quote] Almost every house had a bathroom and the waste water was drained out and went into the central drainage system which emptied outside of the city in cesspits or river estuaries. They drains were multi level and deliberately designed to filter out solid waste from liquid waste, and were inspected and cleaned regularly. A very high standard of sanitation and hygiene was achieved. This feature was found universally in all Indus cities(Harappa, Mohenjadro, Lothal, Dholavira). The extent of hydraulic engineering in water harvesting is particularly notable in Dholavira. Dholavira was built in a desert area(in modern day Kutch) and had little access to water, and because it was near the sea it was being constantly flooded. The Indus engineers were able to turn this to their advantage by building a dam to prevent the cities from flooding, and channelled the waters to irrigate their fields and fill their reservoirs which would provide constant water all year round. They also harvested rain water using water tanks...Almost every house had a bathroom, usually a fine sawn burnt brick pavement, often with a surrounding curb. The house drains start from the bathrooms of the houses and join up to the main sewer in the street, which was covered by brick slabs or corbelled brick arches (Figures 2.5, 2.7, and 2.8). On the streets there are manholes for cleaning; some drains flow to closed seeps, others flow out of the city (Jansen, 1985). These water wells and well planned sanitation and sewerage system is one of the great signs that lead to the well developed Indus Valley Civilization (Jones, 1967). The bath and kitchen waters, as well as drainage from the latrines, and the roof drainage, usually did not run into the street drains direct, but entered them via tightly brick-lined puts, with outlets to the streets drains about three-quarters of the distance above the bottom. Apparently these pits were cleaned out from time to time, as were the setting basins or soakage pits located along the street drains. These pits may have been the ancient precursors of our present day septic tanks and grit chambers. In some houses the drainage water discharged into large pottery jars places in the street at the foot of the vertical drains in the street walls (Gray, 1940). Houses also had rubbish chutes built into the walls and descending from the upper floors, at the foot of which chutes there were sometimes provided bins at the street level which could be cleaned out by the scavengers. Public rubbish bins were also provided at convenient places (Gray, 1940). The most unique aspect of planning during the Indus Valley civilization at Lothal was the system of underground drainage. The main sewer, 1.5 meters deep and 91 cm across, connected to many north-south and east-west sewers. It was made from bricks smoothened and joined together seamlessly. The expert masonry kept the sewer watertight. Drops at regular intervals acted like an automatic cleaning device (Figure 2.6). A wooden screen at the end of the drains held back solid wastes. Liquids entered a cess poll made of radial bricks. Tunnels carried the waste liquids to the main channel connecting the dockyard with the river estuary. Commoner houses had baths and drains that emptied into underground soakage jars. The rooms of the upper town were obviously built for upper classes. They had private pathed brick baths (Figure 2.5) and a remarkable network of drains and cesspools (Mulchandani and Shukla, 2010). Baths and wells One of the best-known excavations is the Great Bath of Moen-Jo-Daro, which has before discussed. In addition to wells, archaeologists have also found remains of giant reservoirs for water storage. Reservoirs were situated around the metropolis which was fortified with stonewalls. The Archaeological Survey of India has revealed that one third of the area of the city of Dholavira in the Rann of Kutch, was devoted to collection and distribution of fresh water (Figure 2.2). The city was situated on a slope between two streams. At the point where one of the streams meets the city's walls, people carved a large reservoir out of rock. This was connected to a network of small and big reservoirs that distributed water to the entire city all year round. All the reservoirs together could hold about 248480 cubic meters of water. Such was the importance they gave for water storage. According to Gray (1940), many of the houses in Indus civilization had their individual wells within buildings. These wells were usually circular in plan, thought at time oval, and had copings of stones or bricks at the floor level, and brick lining for a moderate depth below the surface (Figure 2.8). In a few instances the streets drains ran rather too close to the wells, and it is possible that some contamination of the well occurred. But in most cases the wells were located at adequate distances from the drains. Generally, the Moen-Jo-Daro ruins present a picture of a community in which both personal and community cleanliness was quite effectively practiced, and the water supply reasonably safeguarded from contamination as a rule. Practically every house in Moen-Jo-Daro had its bathroom, always placed on the street side of the building for the convenient disposal of waste water into the street drains. Where latrines have been found in the houses, they were placed on the street wall for the same reason. Ablution places were set immediately adjacent to the latrines, thus conforming to one of the most modern of sanitary maxims. Where baths and latrines were located on the upper floor, they were drained usually by vertical terra-cotta pipes with closely fitting spigot joints, set in the building wall (Figure 2.5). In the bathroom, people stood on a brick 'shower tray' and tipped water over themselves from a jar. The clean water came from a well. Dirty water drained through a pipe out through the wall into the drain in the street ( Lofrano and Brown, 2010) These ancient terra-cotta pipes, still sound after nearly five thousand years, are the precursor of our modern verified clay spigot-and-socket sewer pipe) Drainage system The Indus civilization had an elaborate sanitary and drainage system, the hallmark of ancient Indus cities. The authorities maintained a highly efficient drainage system. Each and every house had a connection with the main drain. These even had inspection holes for maintenance. The conduits to the main drains ran through the middle of the streets below the pavement level and were covered with flat stones and sturdy tile bricks. The covered drain was connected to the larger sewerage outlets which finally led the dirty water outside the populated areas. The urban plan found in these cities included the word's first urban sanitation system. The elaborate brick-linked drainage system for the removal of rainwater is of unparalleled engineering skill (Rothermund and Kulke, 1998). With such an extensive domestic water storage system, the associated problem that arises is that of drainage. Town planners of Moen-Jo-Daro had built the worlds first known main drainage system. It was a central system that connected every household in the city (Figure 2.6). Every house had a drinking water well with a private bathroom. Earthenware waste pipes carried sewage from each home into covered channels that ran along the centres of the city's main streets into the nearby agricultural fields, rivers, or streams. The drains took waste from kitchens, bathrooms, and indoor toilets. The main drains even had movable stone slabs as inspection points. The houses had excellent plumbing facilities for provision of water (Rothermund and Kulke, 1998). Toilets had brick seats. The toilet was flushed with water from jars.The waste flowed out through clay pipes into a drain in the street. Waste was carried away along the drains to 'soak pits' (cesspits), Cleaners dug out the pit and took the waste away. They also took away rubbish from bins on the side of houses. Each street and lane had one or two drainage channels, with brick or stone covers which could be lifted to remove obstructions in the drains. The drains were usually ranged from 46 to 61 cm below the street level, and varied in dimensions from 30.50 cm deep and 23.00 cm wide (Gray, 1940). When the drain could not be covered by flat bricks, or stone slabs, the roof of the drain was corbelled. Rainwater harvesting and storage system. The Indus Valley Civilization, that flourished along the banks of the river Indus and other parts of western and northern India about 5,000 years ago, had one of the most sophisticated urban water supply and sewage systems in the world. The fact that the people were well acquainted with hygiene can be seen from the covered drains running beneath the streets of the ruins at both Moen-Jo-Daro and Harappa. Another very good example is the well-planned city of Dholavira, on Khadir Bet, a low plateau in the Rann in Gujarat. One of the oldest water harvesting systems is found about 130 km from Pune along Naneghat in the Western Ghats (Kenoyer, 1991) A large number of tanks were cut in the rocks to provide drinking water to tradesmen who used to travel along this ancient trade route. Each fort in the area had its own water harvesting and storage system in the form of rock-cut cisterns, ponds, tanks and wells that are still in use today. A large number of forts like Raigad had tanks that supplied water (Figure 2.10). "The kind of efficient system of Harappans of Dholavira, developed for conservation, harvesting and storage of water speaks eloquently about their advanced hydraulic engineering, given the state of technology," (Subramanian, 2010). One of the unique features of Dholavira is the sophisticated water conservation system of channels and reservoirs, the earliest found anywhere in the world and completely built out of stone, of which three are exposed. Dholavira had massive reservoirs. They were used for storing the freshwater brought by rains or to store the water diverted from two nearby rivulets. This clearly came in wake of the desert climate and conditions of Kutch, where several years may pass without rainfall.[unquote]
https://historum.com/threads/greatest-ancient-hydraulic-engineers.91466/page-3
"Major human settlements could initially develop only where fresh surface water was plentiful, such as near rivers or natural springs. Throughout history, people have devised systems to make getting water into their communities and households and disposing (and later also treating) wastewater more convenient."
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_water_supply_and_sanitation)
[quote] Saifullah Khan, Sanitation and wastewater technologies in Harappa/Indus valley civilization (ca. 2600-1900 BCE):
Almost every house had a bathroom, usually a fine sawn burnt brick pavement, often with asurrounding curb. The house drains start from the bathrooms of the houses and join up to the main sewer inthe street.The proud people of Indus were docile, peace loving and accommodative. The Indus persondemonstrated tolerance and broadmindedness. Our quest to search for our identity has taken us to the landof Mighty Indus. There is absolutely no doubt that the Pakistani are the people of the forgotten Induscivilization, who were docile, peace loving, accommodative, moderate and open minded, traits that we havelost. It is time to rediscover and restore Pakistan as a liberal, progressive, modern Muslim state with itsrightful place into the community of nations.[unquote]
https://www.academia.edu/5937322/Chapter_2_Sanitation_and_wastewater_technologies_in_Harappa_Indus_valley_civilization_ca._26001900_BC Mirror: https://www.scribd.com/document/335936547/Chapter-2-Sanitation-and-wastewater-tech-pdf
References:
Pathak, B., 1995, The history of toilets, Intl. symposium on public toielts,Hongkong. http://www.plumbingsupply.com/toilethistoryindia.html
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Water-well at Lothal. In Lothal all houses had their own private toilet which was connected to a covered sewer network constructed of brickwork held together with a gypsum-based mortar that emptied either into the surrounding water bodies or alternatively into cesspits, the latter of which were regularly emptied and cleaned.
Mohenjo-daro, located in Sindh, Pakistan is one of the best excavated and studied settlements from this civilization. The Great Bathmight be the first of its kind in the pre-historic period. This ancient town had more than 700 wells, and most houses in Mohenjo-Daro had at least one private well.(Singh, Upinder (2008). A history of ancient and early medieval India : from the Stone Age to the 12th century. New Delhi: Pearson Education. pp. 151–155.)
"The earliest evidence of urban sanitation was seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, and the recently discovered Rakhigarhi of Indus Valley civilization. This urban plan included the world's first urban sanitation systems. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Devices such as shadoofs and sakias were used to lift water to ground level. Ruins from the Indus Valley Civilization like Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan and Dholavira in Gujarat in India had settlements with some of the ancient world's most sophisticated sewage systems. They included drainage channels, rainwater harvesting, and street ducts...With a number of courtyard houses having both a washing platform and a dedicated toilet / waste disposal hole. The toilet holes would be flushed by emptying jar of water, drawn from the house's central well, through a clay brick pipe and into a shared brick drain, that would feed into an adjacent soakpit (cesspit). The soakpits would be periodically emptied of their solid matter, possibly to be used as fertilizer. Most houses also had private wells. City wallsfunctioned as a barrier against floods. The urban areas of the Indus Valley provided public and private baths, sewage was disposed through underground drains built with precisely laid bricks, and a sophisticated water management system with numerous reservoirs was established. In the drainage systems, drains from houses were connected to wider public drains...he ancient Indus Valley Civilization of South Asia, including current day Pakistan and Northwest India, was prominent in hydraulic engineering, and had many water supply and sanitation devices that were the first of their kind. The urban areas of the Indus Valley civilization included public and private baths. Sewage was disposed through underground drains built with precisely laid bricks, and a sophisticated water management system with numerous reservoirs was established. In the drainage systems, drains from houses were connected to wider public drains. Many of the buildings at Mohenjo-daro had two or more stories. Water from the roof and upper storey bathrooms was carried through enclosed terracotta pipes or open chutes that emptied out onto the street drains. (Rodda, J. C. and Ubertini, Lucio, 2004, The Basis of Civilization - Water Science, p 161. International Association of Hydrological Sciences, International Association of Hydrological Sciences Press)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation_of_the_Indus_Valley_Civilisation
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https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1961.63.2.02a00020 The prehistoric climate of Baluchisthan and the Indus Valley by Robert L.Raikes (1961)
"Major human settlements could initially develop only where fresh surface water was plentiful, such as near rivers or natural springs. Throughout history, people have devised systems to make getting water into their communities and households and disposing (and later also treating) wastewater more convenient."
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_water_supply_and_sanitation)
[quote] Saifullah Khan, Sanitation and wastewater technologies in Harappa/Indus valley civilization (ca. 2600-1900 BCE):
Archaeologists have found evidence in the highlands of agriculture and domesticated sheep and goats dating to about 7000 BCE. By ca .3200 BCE people were farming in villages along the Indus River (Smith, M.L., 2006, The archaeology of South Asian cities, J. Archaeol. Res. 14, 97-142)… One of the most remarkable achievements of the Indus Valley people was their sophisticated city planning. The cities of the early Mesopotamians were a jumble of
buildings connected by a maze ofwinding streets. In contrast, the people of the Indus laid out their cities on a precise grid system. Cities featured a fortified area called a citadel, which contained the major buildings of the city. Buildings were constructed of oven baked bricks cut in standard sizes, unlike the simpler, irregular, sun-dried mud bricks of the Mesopotamians. Early engineers also created sophisticated plumbing and sewage systems. These systems could rival any urban drainage systems built before the 19th century…So far as the origin of the word Indus is concerned, Scholars are of the opinion that thename "Indus" is the origin of the word "Hindu." The original Indian name of the river is Sindhu. Theancient Iranians had difficulty in pronouncing an initial sibilant "s" and changed it to an aspirate sound "h",hence, "H-indu" instead of "S-indhu." The Greeks referred to the river as the "Indos," and the later Arabsreferred to it as "al-Hind." Eventually the name came to be applied to the people of the subcontinent,namely, the "Hindi," the "Hindus" and the "Indians". (Kosambi, D.D., 1964, The culture and civilization of Ancient India in Historial Outline, House 803, Poona 4, India, p.188).
[quote]2.4.7 Public Toilets
In each society from time to time the administration felt the need to provide public toilet facilitiesto those who could not afford to have individual toilets. The public toilets have a long history in number ofcountries and most of these were constructed and managed by municipalities. But there was all arounddisgust with their poor maintenance, vandalism and lack of basic facilities (Pathak, 1995). In the absence of proper toilet facilities, people perforce had to defecate and urinate wherever they could. Defecating on theroad, open spaces, or just easing themselves in the river was very common (Figures 2.13 and 2.14).The third millennium BC was the "Age of Cleanliness." Toilets and sewers were invented inseveral parts of the world, and Moen-Jo-Daro ca . 2800 BC had some of the most advanced, with lavatories built into the outer walls of houses. These were primitive "Western-style" toilets made from bricks withwooden seats on top. They had vertical chutes, through which waste fell into street drains or cesspits (Pathak, 1995).Figure 2.13 Public toilets, Open toilet and house hold toilet in Indus Valley Civilization, (Kenoyer,1998) The toilets at Moen-Jo-Daro, built about 2600 BC, were only used by the affluent classes. Most people would have squatted over old pots set into the ground or used open pits (Figure 2.14). The people ofthe Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan and north-western India had primitive water-cleaning toilets thatused flowing water in each house that were linked with drains covered with burnt clay bricks. The flowingwater removed the human wastes (Hooper, 2011).Toilets would have been an essential feature in Moen-Jo-Daro, but the early excavators identifiedmost toilets as post-cremation burial urns or sump pots. This brick structure had a hole in the top that wasconnected to a small drain leading out of the base into a rectangular basin (not reconstructed). Earlyexcavators suggested that structure with a hole and drain located are thought to have been toilets (Figure2.14). For the human urinate, they may have used a hole in the ground at open places that connected to near by drain. The toilets of Indus Valley Civilization were different than the Roman and Greek Civilizations.This difference is the main evidence of the cultural difference between them (Hooper, 2011). The figure3.13 reveals that the Indus Valley Civilization in Pakistan has the concept of toilet and latrine and a wellestablished waste system at that time.
2.4.8 Dockyard at Lothal The dominant sight at Lothal is the massive dockyard which has helped make this place soimportant to international archaeology. Spanning an area 37 meters from east to west and nearly 22 metersfrom north to south, the dock is said by some to be the greatest work of maritime architecture before the birth of Christ (Mulchandani and Shukla, 2010). To be sure, not all archaeologists are convinced that thestructure was used as a dockyard and some prefer to refer to it as a large tank that may have been areservoir (Figure 2.9).It was excavated besides the river Sabarmati, which has since changed course. The structure'sdesign shows a thorough study of tides, hydraulics and the effect of sea water on bricks. Ships could haveentered into the northern end of the dock through an inlet channel connected to an estuary of the Sabramatiduring high tide. The lock gates could then have been closed so the water level would rise sufficiently forthem to float (Figure 2.9).An inlet channel 1.7 meters above the bottom level of the 4.26 meter deep tank allowed excesswater to escape. Other inlets prevented siltation of the tanks and erosion of the banks. After a ship wouldhave unloaded its cargo, the gates would have opened and allowed it to return to the Arabian sea waters inthe Gulf of Combay (Mulchandani and Shukla, 2010).Archaeological finds from the excavations testify to trade with ancient Egypt and Mespotamia.The hydraulic knowledge of the ancient Harappans can be judged by the fact that boats could dock atLothal in the 1850's. In 1942 timber was brought from Baruch to nearby Sagarwala. It is said that then thedockyard could hold 30 ships of 60 tons each or 60 ships of 30 tons each. This would be comparable to themodern docks at Vishakapatnam (Mulchandani and Shukla, 2010).A long wharf connected the dockyard to the main warehouse, which was located on a plinth some3.5 meters above the ground. The first concern of the Harappan engineers might have been to ensureagainst floods and tides (which may have been their undoing at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa).
2.5 CONCLUSION
By about 1700 BC, the Indus Valley Civilization was on the verge of decline. The causes of its declineare not certain. The physical existence of the civilization ended due to various factors as given below.(a)
Ecological changes led to the decline of land and agriculture, thereby enforcing the need toevacuate to other areas might have been the reason for the disintegration of the Indus valleycivilization. Shifts in the monsoon pattern and changes in temperature led to the area becomeeven more arid (Carr, 2012).(b)
Increase in population, excessive deforestation, decline in agriculture might have createdeconomic problems leading to the gradual decay of the culture. The marked decline in the quality
The changes in the Indus flow and correspondent widespread flooding would have disrupted theagricultural base and destroyed the civilization.(d)
The invasion of the Aryans is the other view that is said to be another reason which might havealso led to the decline of the Indus valley. Thus ended the most brilliant civilization of the ancientworld.(e)
Hypothesis is made here that the destruction of the Indus Valley Civilization is the result of anearthquake caused by the plate tectonic moment of the Indian plate. This earthquake was causedat night time when most of the people were asleep. The dead bodies that buried in the Harappaand Moen-Jo-Daro sites are the evidences of the earthquake disaster as most of them lay properlyalong with juvenile. The people who were safe and a live shifted to other areas and constructednew sites for survival. However, this needs further research to study the evidence of earthquakedisaster that destroyed the Indus valley civilization.The first basic concept embodied in the Indus civilization was the belief that no one individual hadthe right to usurp the wealth and resources of the land and use them for his or his family's benefit. Thewealth of the cities was distributed among all segments of the society. There were rich people and poor people, but the executive hold of one individual or family on the wealth of the cities is nowhere found.The second basic concept ingrained in the Indus civilization is the separation of the clergy from thestate administration. Religion was a very important part of the spiritual, social and cultural life of the Indus people. The role of the priests was to provide spiritual comfort and to promote cleanliness and purity ofthought and actions. There is no evidence to suggest that they craved for power or to indicate their involvement in the affairs pertaining to state administration.The third basic concept, which characterized the Indus valley civilization, was that of unified culture and decentralized form of government. The Indus civilization was spread far and wide over widely different regions and terrain, yet these regions were knit together by common bonds of religion and culture. The design of the artifacts and the layout of the towns were all very similar. All this uniformity was achieved without the direct interference of the central regime in the administration of the city states. The fourth concept which characterized the Indus civilization was that of well planned drainage,sanitation system, dockyards, and hydraulic engineering. The houses had their own wells, bathroom and toilet.
https://www.academia.edu/5937322/Chapter_2_Sanitation_and_wastewater_technologies_in_Harappa_Indus_valley_civilization_ca._26001900_BC Mirror: https://www.scribd.com/document/335936547/Chapter-2-Sanitation-and-wastewater-tech-pdf
References:
Nambiar, A. (2006) Indus Valley - How They Managed Their Water Resources,
Water Management in the Ancient Indus Valley, online,http://voices.yahoo.com/indus-valley-they-managed-their-water-resources-82580.html.
Pathak, B., 1995, The history of toilets, Intl. symposium on public toielts,Hongkong. http://www.plumbingsupply.com/toilethistoryindia.html
Violett, P.L. 2007. Water Engineering in Ancient Civilizations: 5,000 Years of History, (Translation into English by Forrest M. Holly), International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR),Madrid.
http://www.amazon.com/Water-Engineering-Ancient-Civilizations-Monographs/dp/9078046058
Water-well at Lothal. In Lothal all houses had their own private toilet which was connected to a covered sewer network constructed of brickwork held together with a gypsum-based mortar that emptied either into the surrounding water bodies or alternatively into cesspits, the latter of which were regularly emptied and cleaned.
Mohenjo-daro, located in Sindh, Pakistan is one of the best excavated and studied settlements from this civilization. The Great Bathmight be the first of its kind in the pre-historic period. This ancient town had more than 700 wells, and most houses in Mohenjo-Daro had at least one private well.(Singh, Upinder (2008). A history of ancient and early medieval India : from the Stone Age to the 12th century. New Delhi: Pearson Education. pp. 151–155.)
"The earliest evidence of urban sanitation was seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, and the recently discovered Rakhigarhi of Indus Valley civilization. This urban plan included the world's first urban sanitation systems. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from wells. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing, waste water was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Devices such as shadoofs and sakias were used to lift water to ground level. Ruins from the Indus Valley Civilization like Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan and Dholavira in Gujarat in India had settlements with some of the ancient world's most sophisticated sewage systems. They included drainage channels, rainwater harvesting, and street ducts...With a number of courtyard houses having both a washing platform and a dedicated toilet / waste disposal hole. The toilet holes would be flushed by emptying jar of water, drawn from the house's central well, through a clay brick pipe and into a shared brick drain, that would feed into an adjacent soakpit (cesspit). The soakpits would be periodically emptied of their solid matter, possibly to be used as fertilizer. Most houses also had private wells. City wallsfunctioned as a barrier against floods. The urban areas of the Indus Valley provided public and private baths, sewage was disposed through underground drains built with precisely laid bricks, and a sophisticated water management system with numerous reservoirs was established. In the drainage systems, drains from houses were connected to wider public drains...he ancient Indus Valley Civilization of South Asia, including current day Pakistan and Northwest India, was prominent in hydraulic engineering, and had many water supply and sanitation devices that were the first of their kind. The urban areas of the Indus Valley civilization included public and private baths. Sewage was disposed through underground drains built with precisely laid bricks, and a sophisticated water management system with numerous reservoirs was established. In the drainage systems, drains from houses were connected to wider public drains. Many of the buildings at Mohenjo-daro had two or more stories. Water from the roof and upper storey bathrooms was carried through enclosed terracotta pipes or open chutes that emptied out onto the street drains. (Rodda, J. C. and Ubertini, Lucio, 2004, The Basis of Civilization - Water Science, p 161. International Association of Hydrological Sciences, International Association of Hydrological Sciences Press)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanitation_of_the_Indus_Valley_Civilisation
https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1961.63.2.02a00020 The prehistoric climate of Baluchisthan and the Indus Valley by Robert L.Raikes (1961)