Consider the following statements about Harappan cities:
1. Roads were not always absolutely straight and did not always cross one another at right angles.
2. A striking feature is the uniformity in the average size of the bricks for houses and for city walls.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1 only
2 only
Both 1 and 2
Neither 1 nor 2
Answer is Right!
Answer is Wrong!
This question was previously asked in
UPSC CDS-2 – 2016
Harappan urban planning was sophisticated, featuring a grid layout in major cities where main roads intersected at right angles. However, this was not universally applied to all roads and lanes within the city, and smaller streets or those in less prominent areas were not always perfectly straight or right-angled. Thus, statement 1 is correct. A highly distinctive feature of the Harappan civilization was the remarkable uniformity and standardization of brick sizes (typically in the ratio 1:2:4 for thickness, width, and length) used for construction across different sites, for both houses and city walls. This demonstrates advanced planning and organization, making statement 2 correct.