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I was reading about Mohenjo-daro sites in current day Pakistan.
The text talked about something called "lower town". What is lower town in that context?
"Kalibangan is situated on the left bank of the river Ghaggar in Rajasthan. There is same pattern of planning as at Mohenjo-daro and Harappa. There is a citadel on the West side and a lower town on the east."
SOURCE: Above excerpt is taken from the book titled "Ancient India", by V. D. Mahajan, S Chand Publications.
This is a common pattern in towns that have grown around a fortress, in many cultures. The fortress is placed on a hill, since that makes attacking it harder.
People migrate to the area, since anyone who can build a fortress has money, and get jobs there, or run businesses that sell to the fortress inhabitants. A town gradually appears, but there isn't room for it on the hill, so it is on lower ground. Hence a "Lower town."
Edit: The same process also happens for un-fortified towns built on hilltops. It is a bit slower, because the town tends to grow incrementally down the hill, but you still end up with upper and lower parts of the town.
