Harappan architecture
Bath building at Mohenjo-Daro, 2500 BC
The earliest big buildings in India were built by the Harappan people in the Indus River valley, about 2500 BC. The Harappan buildings included high brick walls around their cities to keep out enemies. Most of the buildings were ordinary houses, with rooms arranged around a small courtyard. Probably some families owned a whole house (and lived in it with their slaves), while others rented only one room in a house, and the whole family lived together in the one room.
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(a project)
The rulers built bigger buildings, like this public bathing house and a town warehouse for storing wheat and barley, also out of mud-brick and baked brick. Like the houses, these bigger buildings were square or rectangular, with small courtyards in the middle. They used arches, but, like the Sumerians and the Egyptians, they only used them underground, as drains or foundations for buildings.
More about Indian Architecture (the Vedic period)
To find out more about the architecture of India, check out these books from Amazon or from your local library:
West Asian architecture
Islamic architecture
Chinese Architecture
Main India page
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