What Did Ancient Indian Houses Look Like?

By Staff WriterLast Updated April 14, 2020

Ancient Indian houses were rectangular, built with mud bricks, wood, and reeds with doors and windows made of wood. Floors were either packed dirt, covered with clean sand or plastered, or occasionally paved with bricks.

Homes in ancient India were laid out to facilitate communal living. Houses usually had exposed back sides which opened into a large courtyard surrounded by several houses. The courtyard represented a common area to be used by the inhabitants of all the homes surrounding it.

The ancient Indian civilization maintained complex bylaws to regulate construction. Higher caste individuals were able to have houses that were multiple stories, whereas lower caste individuals had small single story homes.