THE INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION: FEATURES OF URBAN PLAN

The Indus Valley Civilization is another distinctive prehistoric civilization commonly referred to as the Bronze Age Civilization, which is perhaps the most developed prehistoric civilization, notable for showcasing great advances in town planning and architectural development. The North Indian subcontinent Indus Valley civilization with northwest India, Northeast Afghanistan, and a major part of Pakistan, possesses a separate urban infrastructure with maintained street plans, drains, residences, public edifices, and monumental establishments such as the Great Bath. The arrangement of the cities shows a typical settlement pattern of a civilized society, and the manner in which these urban structures have been designed, built, and integrated also suggests the kind of engineering and sanitation needs that this civilization could cater to were apparent. Unlike earlier sites, the streets are right-angled, and the covered drain system and burn bricks are a sign of planning. The complex includes clearly distinguishable economic facilities – granaries and wells that prove efficient use of resources. Further, the homogeneity of the building materials and the organization of the city layout implies centralized control over construction and city maintenance. Thus, this research focuses on the aspects of the town plan of the Indus Valley Civilization, city streets, sewage, public and private construction, and construction materials and demonstrates how that civilization was very advanced in antiquity. The findings are useful for enhancing the knowledge about early urbanization and its impact on other civilizations.