New research suggests that Mohenjo-daro, one of the world’s earliest cities, became more economically equal as it grew. The 4,000-year-old urban center appears to have expanded its productivity and population while narrowing the gap between wealthy and ordinary households.
Historians have often argued that inequality increases when small farming settlements develop into cities. According to this traditional model, kings, priests, and other powerful elites gain control over wealth and resources, widening the divide between rich and poor.
Mohenjo-daro Became More Equal as It Grew
A University of York study of Mohenjo-daro, the largest known city of the ancient Indus civilization, suggests a different pattern. By analyzing house sizes across the city, researchers found that wealth may have become more evenly distributed as Mohenjo-daro developed.
The ancient city also appears to have been more economically equal than comparable societies in Mesopotamia and Greece. Rather than creating increasingly sharp differences between elite and ordinary households, Mohenjo-daro experienced a narrowing gap between its largest and smallest homes over time.
Lead author Dr. Adam Green, from the University of York’s Department of Archaeology and Department of Environment and Geography, said: “Legacy data from the ancient city shows that as Mohenjo-daro matured, the gap between the largest and smallest homes narrowed. By its later years, the wealth gap in this massive urban center had fallen to levels similar to those found in the first farming villages.
“While ancient Egyptians were building pyramids for god-kings and the Greeks were constructing massive palaces at Knossos, the people of the Indus civilization were building something very different.
“Instead of gold-filled tombs and enormous temples, Mohenjo-daro invested in sophisticated brick-lined drains and carefully organized streets. Rather than allowing the benefits of urban life to accumulate among a small elite, the city’s amenities appear to have been distributed widely among ordinary households.”
Advanced Drains and Streets Instead of Palaces
Mohenjo-daro devoted significant resources to practical infrastructure that benefited the wider population. Its carefully planned streets and advanced brick drainage systems suggest that investment focused on shared services rather than monuments dedicated to rulers or religious elites.
The distribution of Indus seals provides additional evidence of this social structure. The seals were important tools for trade, administration, and business, yet archaeologists have frequently discovered them inside ordinary homes instead of concentrating them in public buildings. Mohenjo-daro also has no known palaces where a ruler or ruling class could have centralized control over commerce and administration.
This evidence suggests that wealth and authority may not have been monopolized by a single ruler or narrowly defined elite. Instead, residents may have cooperated to provide households with broad access to the resources and services needed for a comfortable standard of living.
Shared Infrastructure and Standardized Trade
Continued investment in drainage systems, road maintenance, and other public services reflects collective support for the city’s everyday needs. These projects improved living conditions across Mohenjo-daro rather than serving only a privileged group at the top of society.
A standardized system of weights and measures used throughout the Indus region may also have supported fairer trade. By giving merchants and residents a common method for measuring goods, the system helped make commercial exchanges more consistent and reliable.
Published in the journal Antiquity, the study challenges the idea that economic growth must inevitably produce greater inequality. Researchers argue that Mohenjo-daro demonstrates how a technologically advanced, productive, and densely populated society could distribute prosperity broadly instead of allowing wealth and power to accumulate among a small elite.
What Mohenjo-daro Teaches Modern Societies
Dr. Green said: “Mohenjo-daro is often recognized for what it lacks, including palaces for kings, gold-filled tombs, and statues of rulers. But what the city does have is equally important.
“During the period when inequality appears to have been lowest, productivity seems to have increased. This challenges the idea that prosperity requires decision-making power to be concentrated in the hands of a few.
“Mohenjo-daro offers an important lesson for modern societies. The Indus civilization demonstrates that a large urban society could be highly productive and innovative while also sharing resources and power more equitably. In fact, this approach may have been essential to sustaining prosperity over the centuries.”
Source: www.sciencedaily.com