ASSIGNMENT – 1
TOWN PLANNING
IN
INDIA
- ANCIENT AGE
- MEDIEVAL AGE
- MODERN AGE
Submitted by,
Moushila De
MURP – 1st Sem
Roll No. :- 15001512006
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CONTENTS
 Town Planning Concepts
4
 Town Planning in Ancient India

4 - 13
Town Planning system of Indus Valley Civilisation

Main features of town planning in Indus Valley Civilisation

Development of cities

Classification of Towns.

Important cities.

Town planning in Mohenjodaro

Settlements Divisions in Mohenjodaro

Construction techniques in Mohenjodaro

Mohenjodaro Great Bath

Mohenjodaro Granery

Town Planning in Harappa

Harappa’s Drainage System.

Indo – Aryan Town planning

Nagara Vidhana

Samarangana Sutradhara

Manasara
 Town Planning in Medieval Period







13 -18
Characteristics of Medieval India town Planning
Town planning in Shahjahanabad
Spatial structure
Planning of Shahjahanabad
The city form morphology elements
Streets
City walls
 Town planning in Modern India in context of British times

19 – 21
The first hill stations
 Conclusion
22
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 References
22
LIST OF
TABLES
 Table 1 Size and Population of Main cities in Indus Valley
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Civilisation .
LIST OF FIGURES
 Fig.1. Aims of Town Planning
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 Fig 2. Location of Indus Valley Civilisation
 Fig .3. Mohenjodaro City layout and Settlement Plan
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7
 Fig 4. Great Bath of Mohenjodaro
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 Fig 5. Location map of Harappa
 Fig 6. Map of Sahajahanabad
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 Fig 8. Map of cities made by British Empire
18
15
 Fig 7. Streetscapes of Sahajahanabad

Fig 9. The Borah Bazaar in the Fort area,Bombay, 1885
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19
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
TOWN PLANNING :- CONCEPTS :-
The art and science of ordering the use of land and siting of buildings and communication routes
so as to secure the maximum practicable degree of economy convenience and beauty economy,
convenience, and beauty. An attempt to formulate the principles that should guide us in creating
a civilized physical background for human life whose main impetus is thus … foreseeing and
guiding change.
An art of shaping and guiding the physical growth of the town creating buildings and
environments to meet the various needs such as social, cultural, economic and recreational etc.
and to provide healthy conditions for both rich and poor to live, to work, and to play or relax,
thus bringing about the social and economic well-being for the majority of mankind.
Fig.1. Aims of Town Planning
Source :- Introduction to town planning and planning concepts

TOWN PLANNING IN ANCIENT INDIA :-
Towns are probably the most complex things that human beings have ever created. In ancient
times, they were the wellsprings of culture, technology, wealth and power. People have a lovehate relationship with cities. Town
planning has always been of chief concern since times
immemorial. Evidence of planning has been unearthed in the ruins of cities in China, India,
Egypt, Asia Minor, the Mediterranean world, and South and Central America. Early examples of
efforts towards planned urban development include orderly street systems that are rectilinear and
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sometimes radial; division of a city into specialised functional quarters; development of
commanding central sites for palaces, temples and civic buildings; and advanced systems of
fortification, water supply, and drainage.
India has characteristically drifted with history, rising periodically to
accomplish great things. In no field has this been truer than in town planning. From prehistoric
Mohenjo Daro, to the imperial city of New Delhi, to Corbusier's Chandigarh, India has pioneered
in town building.

TOWN PLANNING SYSTEM OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
(HARAPPAN CIVILIZATION) :-
Indus Valley Civilisation also referred to as Harappan civilization and Saraswati Sindhu
Civilization. It was situated between Indus River and the Ghaggar - Hakra River ( Pakistan
and North Western India). Mohenjodaro was one of the major settlements in this area.
Fig 2. Location of Indus Valley Civilisation
Source :- Ancient System of Town Planning in India
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
MAIN
FEATURES
OF TOWN PLANNING IN INDUS VALLEY
CIVILISATION :-
The main features of town planning in Indus Valley Civilisation are as follows :

Streets in perfect grid patterns in both Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Individual wells and separate covered drains along the streets for waste water.

Impressive dockyards ,granaries, warehouses, brick platforms and protective walls.

World's first sanitation system.

Houses opened to inner courtyards and smaller lanes.

Massive citadels protected the city from floods and attackers.

City dwellers were mainly traders and artisans.
All the houses had access to water and drainage facilities.

DEVELOPMENT OF CITIES :-

Cities grew out of earlier villages that existed in the same locality for less than 100 years.


Grew in size and density and were surrounded by various towns and villages.

etc.
Cities interlinked with trade and economic activities, religious beliefs and social relations
Vast agricultural lands, rivers and forests by pastoral communities, fisher folks and
hunters surrounded each city.

CLASSIFICATION OF TOWNS :-

Small villages / hamlets – 0 – 10 hectares


Large towns – 10- 50 hectares
Cities – 50 hectares
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
IMPORTANT CITIES :-
Table 1 :- Size and Population of Main cities in Indus Valley Civilisation
Source :- Ancient System of Town Planning in India


TOWN PLANNING IN MOHENJODARO :-

No fortification.

Intersection at right angles.

Major streets In North South direction.

Streets within built up areas were narrow.
Distinct zoning for different groups.
Fig .3. Mohenjodaro City layout and Settlement Plan
Source :- Ancient system of Town Planning in India
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


IN MOHENJODARO, SETTLEMENT DIVISIONS WERE AS FOLLOWS :Religious,institutional &cultural areas –around monastery & great bath in the western
part.
North – agriculture & industries

South – administration, trade & commerce.

CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES IN MOHENJODARO :-


Buildings – masonry construction by Sun dried bricks.

Ranging from 2 rooms to mansions with many rooms.

Helical pumps for pumping water in Great bath.


Underground sewerage & drainage from houses.
Principal buildings – monastry & bath - indicating religious culture.
MOHENJODARO - GREAT BATH :-
Fig 4. Great Bath of Mohenjodaro
Source :- Ancient system of Town Planning in India
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The main features of Great Bath are as follows :

12x7x3 m in dimensions.

Ledge extends for the entire width of pool.

Floor slopes in south west corner with a small outlet connecting to a brick drain.


Earliest public water tank in ancient world.
Watertight floor – thick layer of bitumen.
Rooms located in the east.

MOHENJODARO :GRANARY :-

50x40 m in dimension, 4.5 m tall


Massive mud brick foundation

bricks].

2 rows of six rooms along a central passageway [7m wide & paved with baked
Each room 15.2x6.1 m has 3 steeper walls with airspace between.
A wooden superstructure supported in some places by large columns would have
been built on top of the brick foundations, with stairs leading up from the central


passage area.
Small triangular openings – air ducts for fresh air beneath hollow floors.
The large size of the granary probably indicates a highly developed agricultural
civilization.

TOWN PLANNING IN HARAPPA :-

Citadel mound and lower town surrounded by a massive brick wall.


Citadel had square towers and bastions.

for taxing goods coming into the city.
Large open areas inside the gateway may have been used as a market or checkpoint
Outside the city walls a cluster of houses may represent temporary rest stops for
travellers and caravans.
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
No division of the society is reflected in the layout of the city. Since large public
buildings, market areas, large and small houses as well as craft workshops have been
found in the same neighbourhood.
Fig 5. Location map of Harappa
Source :- Ancient system of Town Planning in India




Barrack-like group of single-roomed tenements were for the poorer classes.
Basic house plans


Single room tenements
Houses with courtyards
Houses - rooms on 3 sides opening into a central courtyard

Nearly all large houses had private wells.

common in rooms.

First floor bathrooms also built.
Hearths ( brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven often used for cooking and/or heating)

Bathrooms in every house with chutes leading to drainage channels.

Brick stairways provided access to the upper floors.

space of land.
Houses built with a perimeter wall and adjacent houses were separated by a narrow
Granary with areas for threshing grains.
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


Burnt bricks mainly used for drains, wells and bathrooms.
Sun dried bricks used mainly for fillings.
Timber used for flat roofs and as frames or lacing for brickwork.
 HARAPPA’S DRAINAGE SYSTEM :-


Wells and reservoirs - drinking and bathing.

Cylinder.

Some neighbourhoods had communal wells.

provided in rooms adjacent to the wells.

opening just above the street drains.

Many houses had distinct toilets, separate from the bath areas.



Wells were lined with specially-made wedge shaped Bricks to form a structurally sound
Ropes were used to lift the water out, probably with leather or wooden buckets.
Bathing platforms with water tight floor & drains [open Out to larger drains in streets ]
Drains and water chutes in the upper storeys were often built inside the wall with an exit
Tapered terracotta drainpipes were used to direct water out to the street.
Commodes were large jars or sump pots sunk into the floors and many of them contained
a small jar.
Drains covered with baked bricks or dressed stone blocks. Garbage bins were provided
along the major Streets.
 INDO – ARYAN TOWN PLANNING :The subject of Indo – Aryan town planning is treated particularly in the Silpa Sastras and
particularly in the Silpa Sastras and incidentally in the Puranas, the two great Epics of India,
treatises on Astronomy and Astrology, the Niti Sastras and Smrti Sastras i.e.. works of
society in its widest sense. The Silpi Sastras that have survived the ravages of time and
vandalism of tyrants, leaving out the not inconsiderable number of the extinct ones that live
only in the extant treatises, may be computed at hundreds. Vastu Vidya or Vastu Sastra – the
science of residence or abode, forms a subdivision of the Silpa Sastra. Manasara defines, “
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The place where men and god reside is called “ vastu” ( from the Sanskrit word ‘ vas’ to reside,
to sit).These include ground, building, conveyance, couch. Mayamata, Manasara, Vishvakarma,
Vastushastra, Samaranganasutra, shilparatnam etc. are treatise on architecture based on vedic
hymns.
Ancient town planning texts written and compiled in India recommended plan types
based on geometry. Traditionally, the city called Nagar was the place for the meeting. Temples
were the link between Cosmic
and
humans. Civic urban
institutional were of great
significance. Kautliyas Arthashastra outlined the image of a Nagar as being well planned.
Heterogeneous where people of diverse occupations lived in access with a prescribed code
of urban area.
City provided the setting the pursuit and fulfillment of the four aims of life
Dharam, Karma, Purasharthas, Artha.Special allocation based on Varna :- Brahman, Kshatriyas,
Vashyas, Sudras.


NAGARA VIDHANA :-

Primary secondary and tertiary street layout.

Pedestrian footpath between street and green belt.


Grid – iron pattern : main street.
Street with green plant borders.
Junction of main axis :- Brahmastaha




Public space – public accessibility.
Public building.
Discard land that
has depression in the middle area corresponding
to
Brahmastana.

Mixed use on main street i.e.. residences above commercial / office.

relate to schools, colleges, public libraries, building offices, guest houses etc.
The street that run around the layout can have buildings on one side. These buildings can
The smaller street can have residential buildings on both sides. Each segment or block
can have houses that are uniform in height and appearance.
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


SAMARANGANA
SUTRADHARA :-
Recommends 34 roads in a model town running east west and north south.
Importance of gardens.
 MANASARA : Towns based on plans ranging from Pechaka ( plan of 4 squares) to Asana.
 ( plan of 100 squares).


It Speaks of the street that is on the border of the street ( Mangalaveedhi) and the
street that surrounds the Brahmasthana (Brahmaveedhi).
Laying out should start in the NE ( Tasanya).

TOWN PLANNING IN MEDIEVAL PERIOD :-

Medieval period in India was a transitional time and it was not possible under the
unstable political conditions for the planned and systematic urban growth. Only fortress
towns under the patronage of chieftains and petty rulers could grow.

Towns along the main routes of travel, and by the river-side had trade in food grains,
cloth, swords, carpets, perfumes and several other handicraft articles.

Small urban centres was the ‘rule’, and only capitals were having busy life. Jaunpur was
the capital city under the rule of Firozshah.

It was only under the rule of Akbar that the disturbed urban life was reconstituted and
redeveloped. All centres – ‘dasturs’ (districts) as well as ‘parganas’ (tehsils) beside
capitals in nature were also ‘garrison towns’ where armies were invariably stationed for

protection.
Medieval towns, whether in India or anywhere else, were walled, encircled by an outside
moat. The town resembled “an island when its gates were locked at sundown”.
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
Medieval town site was usually governed by physically significant terrain; it was either
on a hill flanked on the other side by a water body, or it was guarded by a ring of
mounds.

Medieval town used to have its first nucleus often as a fortress of walled property of a
landlord, its internal roads being controlled to connect the market place lying directly
before the gate of the castle or place of worship. Nucleus of the town was “the stage on
which were enacted the daily drama of buying and selling, religious pageant, tournament
and procession”.

Urban centres of the medieval times were surrounded by agricultural land, and farmers
and labourers commonly were having their dwellings near or outside the town limit. The
areas within the walls of a town near its bound were occupied by artisan castes engaged
in handicrafts.
Wealthy merchants were having their mansions around the
market place in the central area, while the administrative officials and high-ranked army
personnel’s’ residences were around the palace or castle, church, abbey and the place of worship.
The entire structure of a town was divided into socially hierarchical classes controlled by the
chieftain or bishop.
 TOWN PLANNING IN SHAHJAHANABAD :By the time the emperor Shah Jahan (1928‐58) came to the throne, the Mughal empire had
ruled continuously over northern India for almost a century and the artistic tradition of Mughals
had reached a stage of maturity and refinement. During Shah Jahan’ rein the architectural
development was remarkable due to his interest and patronage of architecture. His buildings
were characterized by sensitivity and delicateness.
By Shah Jahan’s time, the Muslims in India had partially Indianized.
Under the Mughals, they were mainly an urban community, and they disliked village. Muslim
life was closely linked to religious event, as well as to ceremonies and festivals or ritual events.
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Shah Jahan was a religious person and was very particular about observing ceremonies.On the
morning of the most important Muslim festival Eid‐i‐Qurba (the fest of the sacrificed), Muslims
go to Id‐gah, or place of prayer, generally situated outside the city or village in an open space.
The Id‐gah of Shahjahanabad is located on the crest of the ridge, west of the city.
Fig 6. Map of Sahajahanabad
Source :- Introduction to town planning and planning concepts
 SPATIAL STRUCTURE :-
 Urban spatial structure of Shahjahanabad was different from that of the other Mughal
Capitals, because it was planned and built by one concentrated planning effort.
 Creation of architectural expression of what has often been called the patrimonial
system in its climax.
 The shurafaur ignited from the qasbah garrison posts & admn. settlements in which
Islamic scholars also met their clients & where an integrative or even syncretists
cultured prevailed –usually established around a tomb or a waqf .
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 The shurafa usually were situated to the west of the place, along one of the two
boulevards at Chandni Chowk, & originated from the employer’s palace, thus
furnishing the city with an unequivocal structure.
 Those professional groups delivering fresh agrarian products to the city must have
settled along the southern and south‐south‐western rim of the city walls (Delhi gate &
Turkman gate): this is where institutions , such as Masjid gadarion (shephered’s
mosque), Masjid kasai (butcher’s mosque) were located. They all represent “low
ranking traders”.
 The closer to the core of the city the more socially recognized are the professional
settled there: weavers, producers of wool, traders of saddle‐ horses, oil‐ extractors &
manufacturers of straw goods, each of them represented by their respective mosques.
 Further, in the direction of Chandni Chowk, mostly representative of the trading
professions, e.g. traders of fabrics, fish, meats and luxury goods, but also some of the
professional groups processing goods, e.g. producers of water pipes can be found, all
of them are characterized by the spatial proximity to the imperial house.
 PLANNING OF SAHAJAHANABAD : The city was planned according to hindu planning principles of shilpashastra from
vastushastra.
 The site was placed on a high land as in the shastra and was karmukha or bow
shaped, for this ensured its prosperity.
 The arm of the archer was Chandni Chowk.
 The string was Yamuna river.
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 The junction of the two main axes is the most auspicious point in the whole region
and was therefore the red fort.
 THE CITY FORM‐ MORPHOLOGY ELEMENTS :-
 The urban infrastructure was laid out in a geometric pattern.
 Shows traces of both Persian and Hindu traditions of town planning and architecture
with the Persian influence largely accounting for the formalism and symmetry of the
palaces gardens and boulevards.The designed infrastructure of Shahjahanabad








comprised‐
The fort
The Friday mosque.
The other major mosques, including the corresponding waqf properties.
The two main boulevards.
The bazaars around the Friday mosque.
The elaborate system of water channels.
The major gardens and the city wall.
The arrangement of these planned elements was influenced by certain site features, which
precluded absolute geometry.
 STREETS :The streets in Mughal capital were usually narrow and crooked. However, the major streets in
the new capital were designed as wide and straight. The east‐west street called Chandni Chowk
connected the Lahori Darwaza of the fort to the Lahori Darwaza of the city wall. It ran in a
straight line forming a wide boulevard with broad vista. The Fort was visible from any place on
the street. This perspective view marked a new concept of town planning for the Mughal
capital. Chandni Chowk is 1.4km in length and jogged right at the Fatehpuri Begum Mosque. It
was built as the central axis of the city. Karawan Sarai and begum ki Sarai were also located in
this area.
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Another main street the Faiz Bazaar or Akkarabadi Bazaar, was also wide and
straight. It had a north‐south axis and connected Delhi gate of the fort with the city walls Delhi
gate and is about 1km in length. These major two streets developed as processional routes, as
well as commercial arteries. The streets also assumed importance for ritual events.
Fig 7. Streetscapes of Sahajahanabad
Sources :- Introduction to town planning and planning concepts
 CITY WALLS :The layout o the city walls was based on a geometrical planning; i.e. to say, a polygonal plan
with gateways. The four main gates were Delhi Darwaza on south, the Ajmeri Darwaza on the
south-west, the Lahori Darwaza on the west and the Kashmiri Darwaza on the north. These
important gates were positioned according to the basic network of the city, being laced on the
cardinal points. The graphic representation of the city was indicated geometric planning and the
geometric placement of the main gates.
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 TOWN
PLANNING IN MODERN INDIA IN CONTEXT OF
BRITISH TIMES :A prosperous town is normally situated along a sea or river coast. India was the centre –
piece of the British Empire on account of – limit less material resources, insatiable markets,
enormous man power resource. These attributes funded Britain industrilisation making Indiathe Jewel in the Crown.Both the architectural style for British buildings in India and town
planning ideas were imported from British.
Fig 8. Map of cities made by British Empire
Sources :- Introduction to town planning and planning concepts
Colonisation
brought urbanization. It rise density in the urban centres. Urbanisation led to the
rise of the suburb. The arrival of the railways accelerated urban growth. Calcutta, Bombay and
Madras
grew rapidly and soon became sprawling cities. In other words, the growth of these
three cities as the new commercial and administrative centres was at the expense of other
existing urban centres. As the hub of the colonial economy, they functioned as collection depots
for the export of Indian manufactures such as cotton textiles in the eighteenth and nineteenth
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centuries. After the Industrial Revolution in England, this trend was reversed and these cities
instead became the entry point for British-manufactured goods and for the export of Indian raw
materials. The nature of this economic activity sharply differentiated these colonial cities from
India’s traditional towns and urban settlements.
Fig 9. The Borah Bazaar in the Fort area,Bombay, 1885
Source :- Colonial Cities Urbanisation, Planningand Architecture
The introduction of railways in 1853 meant a change in the fortunes of towns. Economic activity
gradually shifted away from traditional towns which were located along old routes and rivers.
Every railway station became a collection depot for raw materials and a distribution point for
imported goods. For instance, Mirzapur on the Ganges, which specialised in collecting cotton
and cotton goods from the Deccan, declined when a railway link was made to Bombay.
With
the expansion of the railway network, railway workshops and railway colonies were established.
Railway towns like Jamalpur, Waltair and Bareilly developed.
The nature of the colonial city changed further in midnineteenth century. After the Revolt of 1857 British attitudes in India were shaped by a constant
fear of rebellion. They felt that towns needed to be better defended, and white people had to live
in more secure and segregated enclaves, away from the threat of the “natives”. Pasturelands and
agricultural fields around the older towns were cleared, and new urban spaces called “Civil
Lines” were set up. White people began to live in the Civil Lines. Cantonments– places where
Indian troops under European
command were stationed – were also developed as
safe
enclaves.These areas were separate from but attached to the Indian towns. With broad streets,
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bungalows set amidst large gardens, barracks, parade ground and church, they were meant as a
safe heaven for Europeans as well as a model of ordered urban life in contrast to the densely
builtup Indian towns.
For the British, the “Black” areas came to symbolise not only chaos and
anarchy, but also filth and disease. For a long while the British were interested primarily in the
cleanliness and hygiene of the “White” areas. But as epidemics of cholera and plague spread,
killing thousands, colonial officials felt the need for more stringent measures of sanitation and
public health. They feared that disease would spread from the “Black” to the “White” areas.
From the 1860s and 1870s, stringent
administrative measures regarding sanitation were
implemented and building activity in the Indian towns was regulated. Underground piped water
supply and sewerage and drainage systems were also put in place around this time. Sanitary
vigilance thus became another way of regulating Indian towns.
 THE FIRST HILL STATIONS :As in the case of cantonments, hill stations were a
distinctive feature of colonial urban
development. The founding and settling of hill stations was initially connected with the needs of
the British army. Simla (present-day Shimla) was founded during the course of the Gurkha War
(1815-16); the Anglo-Maratha War of 1818 led to British interest in Mount Abu; and Darjeeling
was wrested from the rulers of Sikkim sin 1835. Hill stations became strategic places for
billeting troops, guarding frontiers and launching campaigns against enemy rulers.
The temperate and cool climate of the Indian hills was seen as an advantage,
particularly since the British associated hot weather with epidemics. Cholera and malaria were
particularly feared and attempts were made to protect the army from these diseases. The
overwhelming presence of the army made these stations a new kind of cantonment in the hills.
These hill stations were also developed as sanitariums, i.e., places where soldiers could be sent
for rest and recovery from illnesses.
Hill stations were important for the colonial economy. With the setting up
of tea and coffee
plantations in the adjoining areas, an influx of immigrant labour from the
plains began. This meant that hill stations no longer remained exclusive racial enclaves for
Europeans in India.
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 CONCLUSION :The history of India is very old and strong. In these period, India has witnessed various new
development in their cities. India has passed through three phrases :- ancient , medieval and
modern and during these periods
many towns were flourished, some of the town are still
located and some town were frozen with time due to its natural, political causes like Harappa,
Mohenjodaro these cities were frozen with time but Delhi, Calcutta are still existed but with little
modification or development.
 REFERENCES : Class Notes
 Dutt B.B, “ Town planning in Ancient India”, 2009, Vishal kaushik printers.
 http://www.ancientindia.co.uk/staff/resources/background/bg23/home.html
 http://www.importantindia.com/908/town-planning-system-of-indus-valley-civilization/
 https://prezi.com/s9nak3xkcojw/ancient-town-planning-in-india/
 https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-history-of-town-planning-in-India
 https://www.scribd.com/doc/86624347/Ancient-System-of-Town-Planning-in-India
 http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/geography/8-important-characteristics-of-medievalindian-towns/39924/
 Lakshmanan T.C, “Introduction to town planning and planning concepts”, Town
planning and human settlements.
 Lakshmanan T.C, “ Ancient city of town planning in India”.
 NCERT Notes, “ Colonial cities , Urbanisation , planning and architecture”.

Shrey .S., Kandoi S, Shrivastava S , “ Urban planning in India”.
.
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