For some time, it was believed that the history of India began with the Aryans. But the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro have completely changed the perspectives and old beliefs. In 1922, Dr. RD Banerjee began excavations at Mohenjo-Daro in Sindh province; he found ruins there. Similarly, at Harappa in Montgomery district (now in Pakistan), archaeological remains were discovered by DR Sahani. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Excavations began at both places under the supervision of Sir. Jhon Marshall, who was then also head of the archaeological department. The Indus Valley Civilization developed in two main centers: Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. Harappa is located in the Montgomery district of present-day Pakistan, approximately 180 km from Lahore. This site was larger than Mohenjo-Daro. Mohenjo-Daro was located in the Larkana district of the Sindh province. Mohenjo-Daro literally means the “Mound of the Dead”. The distance between the two important cities of Harappan culture is approximately 650 km. Besides Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, the remains of the Indus Valley Civilization have been discovered at various other sites: Chandu Daro, Amri, Luhon-jo-Daro, Naal, and Rupar. Jhukar and Kelat are very systematically planned cities. The visitor to the ruins will be forced to see how the city was planned. The roads were very wide and crossed at right angles like modern roads also from the crossroads. Along the roadsides, houses were built with all amenities including ventilation, drainage and cesspools. Not all houses were the same size, but the smallest contained two rooms. There were a few double-story houses. Stairs were built in all houses. The most notable features of the Harappan civilization were its urbanization. The Harappan colonies, which were small towns, display remarkable unity of design and an advanced sense of planning and organization. Each city was divided into a citadel area where the essential institutions of civil and religious life were located and a lower residential area where the urban population lived. In Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, the citadel was surrounded by a brick wall. In Kalibangan, the citadel and the lower town were surrounded by a wall. Usually, cities were arranged in the form of a parallelogram. The use of standard sized fired and unfired bricks shows that brick making was a large scale industry for the Harappans. In the Citadel area, the Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro is the most striking feature. It is assumed that this was an elaborate ritual of vital importance to the people. To the west of the Great Bath are the remains of a large granary. At Harappa, a remarkable number of granaries were also found arranged in two rows of six, with a citadel passage. In Mohenjo-Daro, on the other side of the Great Bath, there is a long building which has been identified as the residence of a very high official. Another important building here is a meeting hall. The most significant finds at Kalibangan and Lothal are the fire altars. The lower city was divided into districts like a chessboard, by north-south and east-west arteries and smaller alleys, each intersecting the other at right angles, as in a grid system. Rectangular urban planning was a unique feature of the civilization. The arteries had covered pipes with additional sumps made of pots and placed.