The Grid and Modular Measures in The Town Planning of Mohenjodaro and Kathmandu Valley A Study on Modular Measures in Block and Plot Divisions in the Planning of Mohenjodaro and Sirkap (Pakistan), and Thimi (Kathmandu Valley)

This paper studies the street and block plans of Mohenjodaro and Sirkap of Pakistan, and Thimi of Kathmandu Valley. Mohenjodaro was a reknowned city of Indus civilization, while Sirkap of Taxila, was an important cultural center in later half of first millennium BC. While both of the cities are archaeological remains, Thimi is still a living town. The three cities, apparently separated by enormous time span and geographic space, exhibit certain features that is striking to draw the attention of archaeologists and urban historians. This study finds that all the three settlements employ exactly the same grid dimension in making the division of urban blocks. The standard modules conform to ‘danda’ and ‘rajju’, which are stated in Arthasastra, the work of Kautilya who lived during the later quarter of 4 century BC. This paper makes a morphological analysis of the revealed plans of Mohenjodaro, Sirkap and Thimi, and demonstrates a relationship in their town plan, the division of quarter blocks and the plot divisions as shown by the built clusters and street boundaries. This is the first direct evidence to link the urban civilization of Indus with the living settlements that continue to exist up to modern times.