History of Making Bricks in India

Today, the bricks play an important role in the construction of buildings and the process of construction is called 'brick masonry.'

In India, history of  the masonry is very old. The brick masonry is being practiced since the ancient times and can be traced back to the great cities of the Harappan period.

Type of bricks in ancient India-

In the early Harappan period, unburnt and irregular bricks were used for construction of single storey houses. The people of that period did not know the use of moulds.

In the mature Harappan period, burnt bricks were used. The moulds were used to make uniform cuboid bricks. The earliest evidence of moulded bricks was found in Nal region of Balochistan dated around 30th century BC.

According to Gurdeep Singh, modern Sindh and Rajasthan had dense forests during Harappan period which provided wood for brick baking. 

(ref- Shreen Ratnagagar (2001), Understanding Harappan civilization in the Greater Indus Valley, p. 24)

Size of bricks in ancient India-

Large size brick of Harappan period: National Museum Prayagraj

The size of the bricks in the earlier Harappan period was about 37 cm× 18.5 cm× 9.75 cm with the ratio of 4: 2: 1 in length, width and height.

According to the historian Upinder Singh, the bricks of two sizes were being used in the mature Harappan period. The bricks sized 7 cm× 14 cm× 28 cm were used for the construction of the magnificent multistorey buildings, and 10 cm× 20 cm× 40 cm were used for the construction of the city walls. Both the brick sizes have the same identical ratio of 4: 2:1 in length, width and height. Those bricks were bound together with mortar made from lime, sand, gypsum and bitumen mixed with water.

At Balu, very large sized bricks were found. The size of those bricks was upto 72 cm× 36 cm× 12cm.
(ref- Arun Kesarwani (2002), Excavation at Balu, p. 24)

In the late Harappan period, around mid 2nd millennium BC, the size of the bricks changed to 7 cm× 26 cm× 40 cm with the ratio of about 1: 3: 6. These type of bricks were also found at Intal Kalan village of Jind, Harayana. Some people found a brick structure beneath the ground while cleaning a pond. The size of the bricks was 6.5 cm× 22 cm× 38 cm. The ratio was roughly 1: 3: 6.

Dharamveer Sharma, a former official of ASI commented on this finding, "The site appears to be an ashram in the Vedic period where saints used to perform yajna." He also told that the structure might be older upto 18th century BC on the basis of size of the bricks. 

The bricks of this ratio were also found in Balu. The size of the bricks was 72 cm× 36 cm× 12 cm, used for construction of houses and city walls.
(ref-  Arun Kesarwani (2002), Excavation at Balu, p. 24)

Besides it, 'wedge shaped' bricks were used for making the wells at Mohenjo-daro. 'T shaped' bricks were found at Lothal. Those bricks were used in making roof of the drains which gave them extra strength.

Bricks in the Vedic period-

There is no reference of bricks in the Rigveda. Hence some scholars believe that the houses of the Vedic period were huts constructed with the help of bamboo poles, straw and leaves of the trees and construction of the house with bricks was not being practiced.

But I think that it is not true. The Yajurveda, contemporary to Rigveda or composed slightly after that, has detailed description of manufacturing the bricks.

Description of the bricks in the Yajurveda-

In the Yajurveda, the process of manufacturing the bricks and construction of the Vedic altars is described in detail.

In the eleventh canto of the Shukla Yajurveda there  are 83 hymns of 'Agnichayan.' In sanskrit language the brick is called 'ishtika' meaning comfort giving or well being. Agnichayan was a process of construction of Vedic altars and about 10,800 ishtikas or bricks were required for it.

In the fifteenth chapter of of Shukla Yajurveda, description of manufacturing the bricks and construction of the sacrificial Vedic altars are described in detail. Those bricks were manufactured from tested soil, stone powder, coarse sand containing iron essence and fine sand mixed with water. According to Satpath Brahman, the Vedic seer Angiras got the knowledge of manufacturing the bricks from Savitr, the Sun god.

Soil testing by horse-

According to the Yajurveda, the selected horse is taken to the place of soil testing. He was mounted on the hill of the soil. The Vedic seers chanted the hymns addressing the horse to smell the soil so that the digging could be started.

Soil transporting by donkeys-

After testing the soil by the horse, if it was found suitable for making the bricks, the soil was dug out. The donkeys were used for transportation of soil and other raw materials to the brick manufacturing sites.

At manufacturing  site-

All the raw materials were crushed at the brick manufacturing site. Water was mixed and converted  it to dough like material. It was moulded in specific shapes and sizes and dried in sun. After drying, the bricks were heated to make those solid and durable. 

The size of  the bricks-

According to Satpath Brahman (8:7:2:17), the length of the bricks should  be about similar to the length of thigh bone.

Conclusion-

From the above description we can conclude that-

• The Vedic civilization also had knowledge of bricks manufacturing. If they could make bricks for Vedic altars, they  could  also make their houses from it and why would they have made their houses from bamboo poles and tree leaves?

• According to the Vedic texts, the length of the bricks was same as the length of thigh bone. We know that the thigh bone of an average Indian is roughly 40 cm long, the bricks of this size were manufactured throughout  the early, mature as well as late Harappan period. 

• The donkeys were the means of transportation throughout the Harappan period and their bones were found in many Indus valley civilization sites. 

• Besides cuboid bricks, the bricks of other shapes as triangular, wedge shaped, T shaped etc. are described in the Yajurveda as well as found at different Harappan sites.