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So how did you find the discussion History of toilets – Part 1? Funny? Interesting? Gross? Well, we hope you found it interesting because today we will find out about the middle ages.

It seems the ancient world was a lot better than the world of middle ages across the world. It was a dark age for toilets and sanitation.

Toilets in the Middle Ages

Europe: In the Middle Ages toilets were simply pits in the ground with wooden seats over them. However, in the Middle Ages, monks built stone or wooden lavatories over rivers. At Portchester Castle in the 12th-century monks built stone chutes leading to the sea. When the tide went in and out it would flush away the sewage.

In Medieval castles, the toilet was called a garderobe and it was simply a vertical shaft with a stone seat at the top. Some garderobes emptied into the moat.

In the Middle Ages, wealthy people could be using rags to wipe themselves. Ordinary people often used a plant called common mullein or woolly mullein.

A lot of the toilets emptied into the streets. People would ‘go’ anywhere on the road or street. It was really messy.

India: Harappan people built toilets but with the coming of nomadic tribes from elsewhere the practice disappeared. They did not settle down and build houses so the practice of going in the open began.

As few more centuries passed open defecation became rampant. And it was only after the arrival of the Arab traders and the Mughals that toilets were once again made. These were not as advanced as the old times.  They needed to be cleaned manually. “Manual scavengers” grew as a community that was considered to be dirty and outcasts.

The practice continues till now in parts of India. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan is trying to change this across India.

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