TOWN PLANNING IN INDIA -ANCIENT AGE -MEDIEVAL AGE -MODERN AGE PDF

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ASSIGNMENT – 1 TOWN PLANNING IN INDIA - ANCIENT AGE - MEDIEVAL AGE - MODERN AGE Submitted by, Moushila De MURP – 1st Sem Roll No. :- 15001512006 1 CONTENTS  Town Planning Concepts 4  Town Planning in Ancient India 4 - 13  Town Planning system of Indus Valley Civilisation  Main features of town p...

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ASSIGNMENT – 1 TOWN PLANNING

IN

INDIA

- ANCIENT AGE - MEDIEVAL AGE - MODERN AGE

Submitted by, Moushila De MURP – 1st Sem Roll No. :- 15001512006

1

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 2

 References

22

LIST OF

TABLES

 Table 1 Size and Population of Main cities in Indus Valley

7

Civilisation .

LIST OF FIGURES  Fig.1. Aims of Town Planning

4

 Fig 2. Location of Indus Valley Civilisation

5

 Fig .3. Mohenjodaro City layout and Settlement Plan

7

 Fig 4. Great Bath of Mohenjodaro

8

 Fig 5. Location map of Harappa

10

 Fig 6. Map of Sahajahanabad

15

 Fig 7. Streetscapes of Sahajahanabad

18

 Fig 8. Map of cities made by British Empire 

Fig 9. The Borah Bazaar in the Fort area,Bombay, 1885

3

19 20



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 4

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

5



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.



World's first sanitation system.



Individual wells and separate covered drains along the streets for waste water.



Houses opened to inner courtyards and smaller lanes.



Impressive dockyards ,granaries, warehouses, brick platforms and protective walls.



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.



Cities interlinked with trade and economic activities, religious beliefs and social relations etc.



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

6



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.



Major streets In North South direction.



Intersection at right angles.



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 7



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.



Underground sewerage & drainage from houses.



Helical pumps for pumping water in Great bath.



Principal buildings – monastry & bath - indicating religious culture.



MOHENJODARO - GREAT BATH :-

Fig 4. Great Bath of Mohenjodaro Source :- Ancient system of Town Planning in India 8

The main features of Great Bath are as follows :

12x7x3 m in dimensions.



Earliest public water tank in ancient world.



Ledge extends for the entire width of pool.



Watertight floor – thick layer of bitumen.



Floor slopes in south west corner with a small outlet connecting to a brick drain.



Rooms located in the east.



MOHENJODARO :GRANARY :-



50x40 m in dimension, 4.5 m tall



Massive mud brick foundation



2 rows of six rooms along a central passageway [7m wide & paved with baked bricks].



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.



Large open areas inside the gateway may have been used as a market or checkpoint for taxing goods coming into the city.



Outside the city walls a cluster of houses may represent temporary rest stops for travellers and caravans. 9



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.



Hearths ( brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven often used for cooking and/or heating) common in rooms.



Bathrooms in every house with chutes leading to drainage channels.



First floor bathrooms also built.



Brick stairways provided access to the upper floors.



Houses built with a perimeter wall and adjacent houses were separated by a narrow space of land.



Granary with areas for threshing grains. 10



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.



Wells were lined with specially-made wedge shaped Bricks to form a structurally sound Cylinder.



Ropes were used to lift the water out, probably with leather or wooden buckets.



Some neighbourhoods had communal wells.



Bathing platforms with water tight floor & drains [open Out to larger drains in streets ] provided in rooms adjacent to the wells.



Drains and water chutes in the upper storeys were often built inside the wall with an exit opening just above the street drains.



Tapered terracotta drainpipes were used to direct water out to the street.



Many houses had distinct toilets, separate from the bath areas.



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, “ 11

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 :-



Grid – iron pattern : main street.



Primary secondary and tertiary street layout.



Street with green plant borders.



Pedestrian footpath between street and green belt.



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.



The street that run around the layout can have buildings on one side. These buildings can relate to schools, colleges, public libraries, building offices, guest houses etc.



The smaller street can have residential buildings on both sides. Each segment or block can have houses that are uniform in height and appearance.

12



SAMARANGANA



Recommends 34 roads in a model town running east west and north south.



Importance of gardens.

SUTRADHARA :-

 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”. 13



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.

14

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 e...