TRADITIONAL WATER HARVESTING
A Multi-millennial Mission
ater has been harvested in India since antiquity.
WEvidence of this tradition can be found in
ancient texts, inscriptions, local traditions and
archaeological remains. A mere description of the known
hydraulic structures spread throughout the country would
require several books. There is some evidence of advanced
water harvesting systems even from pre-historic times.
The Puranas, Mahabharata, Ramayana and various Vedic,
Buddhist and Jain texts contain several references to
canals, tanks, embankments and wells. Numerous treatises
on agriculture and architecture provide detailed
information about them.!
Kautilya's Arthasastra
The information contained in Kautilya’s Arthasastra finds
corroboration in inscriptions and archaeological remains.?
Kautilya, also known as Chanakya, was mentor to and
minister of Chandragupta Maurya (321-297 BC), India’s
first emperor. The Arthasastra is a politico-administrative
treatise that has often been compared to Machiavelli’s The
Prince. In the chapter entitled The Activity of Heads of
Departments, Kautilya says:
“He should build irrigation systems with natural water
sources or with water to be brought in from elsewhere. To
others who are building these, he should render aid with
land, roads, trees and implements and also give aid to the
building of holy places and parks. If one does not participate
in the joint building of an irrigation work, his labourers and
bullocks should be made to do his share of work and he
should share the expenses but will not receive any benefits
from it. The ownership of the fish, ducks and green
vegetables in the irrigation works should go to the king."2
In another chapter, Concerning Judges, he says:
“In case of damage to the ploughing or seeds in another's
field by the use of a reservoir, channels or a field under
water, they shall pay compensation in accordance with the
damage. In case of mutual damage to fields under water,
parks and embankments, the fine shall be double the
damage.
“A tank on a lower level, constructed afterwards, shall not
flood with water a field watered by a tank on a higher level.
A tank constructed on a higher level shall not prevent the
flooding with water of a lower tank, except when its use
has ceased for three years. For transgression of that, the
punishment shall be the lowest fine for violence and the
emptying of the tank.
| “The ownership of a waterwork, not in use for five years,
“shall be lost, except in cases of distress. When new tanks
and embankments are constructed, exemption from taxes
for five years should be granted; when those that are ruined
and abandoned are renovated, exemption for four years;
and, when those that are overgrown with weeds are cleared,
for three years; and, when dry land is newly brought under
cultivation, for two years. He is free to mortgage or sell.
“Owners may give water in return for a share of prodiice of
various kinds from sowings in fields, parks and gardens
watered by their dug-out channels, structures based on
rivers or tanks, or to others as it maybe advantageous. And
those who use these on lease, on hire, as a pledge, for a share
or with authorisation for use, shall keep them in repair. In
case of failure to repair, the fine is double the loss. For one
letting out water from the dams out of turn, the fine shall be
six panas, and also for one obstructing, through negligence,
the water of others when it is their turn.”2
In yet another chapter, Non-observance of Conventions,
Kautilya observed:
“If one obstructs a customary watercourse in use or makes a
new one that is not customary, the lowest fine for violence
shall be imposed; the same fine will be imposed if one
constructs on another's land a dam, a well, a holy place, a
sanctuary or a temple. If a person himself or through others
mortgages or sells a charitable and existing waterwork, the
middle fine for violence is to be imposed, the highest on
witnesses, except when it is in ruins and abandoned. In the
absence of the owner, villages or persons of a pious
disposition should repair these.”2
The terms used in the original text relating to water
harvesting systems are several — setu for embankment or
dam for storing water; parivaha for channel; tataka for tank;
nadyayatana for water from a river; nadinibandhayatana for a
structure dependent on a river such as a dam;
nibandhayatana for canals from a river dam; and, khata for a
well.2 Kautilya mentions two types of setu — the sahodaka,
where there is a natural spring or flow of water, and the
aharyodaka, which is a sort of storage tank with water
Muiti-millennial Mission 11
 HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES

The 12th century account of Kashmir,

Rajatarangini by Kalhana, describes a well-
maintained irrigation system, in which
notable structures existed around the Dal
and Anchar lakes and the Nandi canal.
The tank at Hauz Khas in Delhi
was built by litutmish in the
14th century. The first notable dynasty of
emperors in the sub-
continent was that of the
Mauryas, founded by
The third millennium BC Chandragupta Maurya
Baluchistan farming (321-297 BC). However, the
communities devised a real power behind the
system of impounding In the 1st century BC, throne was Kautilya, author
rainwater called gabarband. Sringaverapura near of Arthasastra, who guided
Allahabad established a Chandragupta successfully to
sophisticated water expand his empire over
harvesting system, northern India. Kautilya
channelling the Ganga wrote his Arthasastra in
water. Patliputra.

The 2nd century

rock inscriptionsat
describe
the repairs of in the 11th century, was
embankments on one of the largest
lake Sud a. artificial lakes of the
time, covering an area of
over 65,000 hectares.
Some of the settlements
of the Indus
Valley Civilisation, dating back to The Hattigumpha inscriptions of the
3000-1500
BC, had water harvesting 2nd century BC, on the nearby Tosali
and drainage systems. The most recent canal, describe the major irrigation
to come to light is the settiement at v wnvksufflijg!a:
Dholavira.

Various rock edicts and inscriptions

_ describe the extent and character of
sophisticated irrigation projects at
Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh.

Various rock edicts and inscriptions

describe the extent and character of
~ sophisticated irrigation projects at |

Sri Lanka nhounded in canals

strongly ?nded. it had a bund
wmch had a volume of over 17
million cubic yards. .

12 Traditional Water Harvesting Systems

 hymns, particularly those in the Rig Veda, contain many
notes on irrigated agriculture, river courses, dykes, water
reseryoirs, wells and waterlifting structures. The Chandogya,.
With the first human settlements about 6,000 years ago, began one of the principal Upanishads (the philosophical reflections
a two-fold struggle with water. On the one hand, people had of the Vedas, numbering 108 in all), points out:
to protect themselves against floods, on the other, they had to
ensure safe water supply for domestic use and irrigation. Asa “The rivers...all discharge their waters into the sea.
consequence, hydro-technical installations were among the {They lead from sea to sea, the clouds raise them to the
earliest technological achievements of humankind. sky as vapour and release them in the form of rain...”2
Storage of water in cisterns was known by the time the
first cities were built. The oldest known cisterns were This is probably the oldest reference to natural processes
discovered in Palestine and Greece. These cisterns were used within the hydrological cycle. It shows that as early as about
to collect rainwater from roofs, from paved squares and 1000 BC attempts were being made to interpret and explain
sometimes also from water-bearing subsoil strata. The earliest recurrent natural phenomena on the basis of direct
cisterns were hewn into the rock. Masonry cisterns developed experience.
at a later date. From about 2000 BC did mortar begin to be The link between environment and water systems was
used for sealing these cisterns.! By the middle of the first understood even at the time of the Greek philosopher Plato
century AD, covered cisterns
with storage volumes of up to [
75,000 cubic metres (cum) were |
being built and all the
fundamental elements of dam
construction were known.
The earliest dams to retain
water in large quantities
were constructed in Jawa
(Jordan) about 3000 BC and in
Wadi Garawi (Egypt), about
2600 BC. Though probable, there |
is little known evidence to show
that the science of dam
construction emerged in a
particular place from where it
was taken to others. Several
civilisations or states in the
ancient world built dams
and contributed to human
experience and knowledge
AT NINAN,

in this field: Gu.nt{\er Garbrecht,

a water management expert
from Braunschweig Technical
Un\ve!Sity', Germany, says there Probably the oldest reference to the hydrological cycle, the Chandogya, one of the principal
is no evidence to show that Upanishads, says “rivers...lead from sea to sea.” It reveals that as early as 1000 BC, attempts
ancient dams were built on were being made to interpret and explain recurrent natural phenomena on the basis of direct
the basis of mathematical experience.
calculations. They were
apparently built more by using empirical experience and (427-347 BC), who has written a vivid description of the
rules, technical skills and an intimate comprehension of erosion he witnessed at Attica in Greece:
hydraulic forces. )
The first great civilisations, in the valleys of the Nile, Tigris, “...What now remains compared with what then
Euphrates, Indus and Huang rivers, flourished only on the basis existed is like the skeleton of a sick man, all the
of water management systems, The Indus Valley Civilisation ‘fat and soft earth having wasted away and only the
(3000 BC to about 1500 BC), which became known with the bare framework of the land being left. But at that
excavation of Harappa and Mohenjodaro in the early 1920s, epoch, the country was unimpaired, and for its
covered a vast area. The Indus Valley and Mesopotamian mountains it had high arable hills...and it had much
civilisations were connected by close trade relations and forest land in its mountains, of which there are visible
strongly influenced each other2 Excellent water supply and signs even to this day; for there are some mountains
sewage disposal systems were the prominent features of these which now have nothing but food for bees, but they
cultures. The standard of their hydro-technical infrastructure had trees not very long ago, and the rafters from those
wasmtemhdevmzflmymhmbyflwkomvdm felled there to roof the largest buildings are still
supply systems are generally considered excellent. As in sound... Moreover, it was enriched by the yearly rains
Mesopotamia, protection against annual flooding of the Indus from Zeus, which were not lost to it, as now, by
Tiver, irrigation to secure and increase crop yield and drainage flowing from the bare land into the sea; but the soil it
of large alluvial areas, were prerequisite to the very existence of had was deep and therein it received the water, storing.
kingdoms in the Indus valley. it up in the retentive loamy soil...it provided all the
The early Hindu texts, written around 800-600 BC, reveal various districts with abundance of springwaters and
a certain knowledge of hydrological relationships. The Vedic streams...”3

— Multi-millennial Mission- 13
 QANATS:
EARHSCAN
Qanats or underground canals that tap an alluvial fan on mountain slopes and carry it over large distances, were one of the most ingenious
of ancient hydro-technical inventions. They originated in Armenia around 1000 BC and were found in India since 300 BC.
brought into it through channels. One of the expressions
used by Kautilya is adharaparivahakedaropabhogaih, which
means “the use of wet fields receiving water by channels
from a reservoir.”
A few more interesting points emerge from Kautilya’s
Arthasastra. The land on which the tank was built
was state property (raja svamyam gachechhet); settlers
pooled their resources to build a tank for common
use (sambhuya-setubandhat); punishment was prescribed
for a person who failed to cooperate in the building of
an irrigation work. Similarly, fines were imposed
for damage to embankments, or flooding of the lower tank
by a tank constructed at a higher level. Detailed
instruction about exemptions from taxes, fines for misuse
Lake Sudarsana at Junagadh, Gujarat, was constructed during the reign of
Chandragupta Maurya (321-297 BC) by his iceroy Pushyagupta. It was
created by an embankment across the rivers Palasini and Suvarnasikata.
14 Traditional Water Harvesting Systems
Water falling on the hills
Vertical shafts
of water from the dams and failure to repair or maintain
the tanks or structures based on rivers were given by
Kautilya.
Junagadh inscriptions
Most of the expressions found in the Arthasastra recur in
several ancient Indian texts. Numerous inscriptions of
different periods have been found in almost every part of
the country with a wide range of information about dams,
tanks and embankments, their upkeep and management.
However, two inscriptions engraved on a rock in
Junagadh (Gujarat) provide interesting information about
the repair of an embankment which was destroyed during
a flood.
The first inscription dates back to Saka year 72
(150-151 AD) of Rudradaman, the Saka ruler.3 This
inscription records the restoration of lake
Sudarsana by Mahakshatrapa Rudradaman, near
which the inscription was engraved. The lake had
originally been constructed during the reign of
Chandragupta Maurya by his viceroy
Pushyagupta and was later improved under the
reign of Ashoka, when irrigation canals from the
lake were excavated by the Yavana king,
Tushaspha. This lake was created by storing the
water of streams like the Suvarnasikata and
Palasini running from the Urjayat (modern Girnar)
hill. Shortly before 150-151 AD, the swollen floods
of the Suvarnasikata, Palasini and other streams of
Mount Urjayat caused a breach in the embankment
as a result of which lake Sudarsana ceased to exist.
The work of restoring the dam was carried out by
king Rudradaman’s minister Suvisakha, a Pahlava
(Parthian). Suvisakha was appointed to govern the
provinces of Suvarna and Surashtra.
Several facts emerge from this inscription. The
water from the lake was used for irrigation through
canals which had been excavated by king
Tushaspha. The restoration work, four centuries
later, was carried out by a Pahlava. In both cases,

Arthasastr:
The Arthasastra is a treatise on government and economics in
ancient India, ascribed to Kautilya, the chief adviser to India’s
first emperor Chandragupta Maurya. The acquisition and
protection of state territories, for which he needed finance, is
the central theme of the book and this was Kautilya’'s
overriding concern. It was natural, therefore, that Kautilya
looked at agriculture as a source of state revenue.
There is enough evidence in the book to indicate that the
people knew about rainfall regimes, soil types and
appropriate irrigation techniques in specific
micro-ecological contexts. The Arthasastra
divides the country between the Himalaya and
the ocean into various kinds of regions —
fore: gions (aranya), village areas (gramya),
inous areas (parvata), wet or humid_
areas (audaka), dry lands (bhauma), p!ams
“(sama) and uneven lands (visawa). The average
“annual rainfall in some of the famous places
like Asmaka and Avanti was 13.5 and 23 dronas
(1 drona = 1.5 or 2 inches), respectively
Asmaka (upper Godavari region), Avanti
(Malwa) and Aparanta (Konkan) together
fbrmed a more or less continuous territory. A water cess, over and above normal land revenue, was levied by the ancient
Haimanya is believed to be a region in the Indian state on all users of irrigation facilities. Even those using their own
Ganga plains, where the Himalayan snowfed ~waterworks had to pay.
tivers flowed, and where the average rainfall
vas unlimited. For a good crop, however, proper distribution
of rainfall s as important as the sufficiéncy of rai
Arthasastra says, “one-third of the (annual) rainfall in the first
“and the last months and two-thirds in the intervening months
were the ideal distribution.”%,
Classifying land level
Cultivated areas not dependent on rainfall for water, called
adevamatrik, were valued more than areas dependent on rain.
TRainfed agricultural areas which received 16 dronas of annual
rainfall were called jangala (dry) pnd those With 24 drods of*
rainfall anupa (wet). A further grading of cultivable lands was
‘made from the pomnt of view of their suitability to different
crops and their humidity and water content — sthala (dry
lands), kedara (marshy lands), sanda (vegetable gafdefis) and
vata (flower gardens and fruit orchards). Anupa means both a
wet field and an area with heavy rainfall. Another kind of
division was made between sthala and audaka (land
abounding in water). A small tract of audaka land was thought
better than large sthala land because of the certainty of the
produce. Audaka land, therefore, seems to have been the same
as adevamairika land. Sthala was suitable for crops that needed
"a small amount of rainfall for ripening and if the proper crop
was sown, it could yield a large harvest. Kedara, however, did
not mean only land which got abundant rain, it probably
meant a tract that could get sufficient water through
irrigation, for kedara is mentioned in the list of revenue items
classified under the head setu (irrigation work). Auduka, anupa
or kedara lands were suitable for grains (dhanya). Probably it
was in these lands that crops like sali and orihi were grown.2
Treasuring land
The value of human resources, efforts and organisation has
been strongly emphasised by Kautilya. He winds up an
interesting argument on the relative values of different
categories of land by saying that land is what is made ofit
people. One of the primary ways of making land valuable for
agriculture, according to the Arthasastra, was to make proper
arrangements for irrigation. Land provided with irrigation
facilities Wwas, therefore, prized more than rainfed land. The
state initiated and encouraged irrigation projects. In the
enumeration of the sources of revenue, certain types of
agricultural land have been named under the Heading
“Trrigation work”. The types of land listed under this head
wéte asvaried as flower gardens and fruit orchards,
vegetable gardens, wet crop fields and land growing edible
roots , which shows how widely irrigation was practised.
The construction of embankments to collect rainwater
was a popular irrigation device. Both natural resources like
rive \g5 and lakes, and humanmade systems like tanks,
feservoirs and wells were tapped for irrigation. It was
Zonsidered necessary to build irrigation works both in
waterless regions (anudaka) as well as those blessed with a
good supply of water (sahodaka). In waterless regions
government superintendents were asked to construct wells
and waterworks. The anudaka areas may be identified with
sthala lands, which, according to the commentary Naya-
Candrika, had no flowing river and received sparse rainfall.
Kautilya was well aware that in such areas the most practical
means of getting water supply was to dig wells with
underground springs as their feeders. It is believed that the
expression anudake kupasetubandhotsan sthapayet indicates that
wells were the mainstay of irrigation in anudaka areas.
A clear referénice to canal irrigation is to be found in a
passage which refers to water set into motion by digging
(khatapravartim) from river dam (nadinibandhayatana).
Channels for divering water from a reservoir or river were
also dug and were perhaps known as adhara parioaha or
udakamarga. There were both state and private irrigation
works. The state rendered help for the construction of
irrigation works initiated and managed by the inhabitants of a
newly settled village. Some usufructuary rights continued to
be vested in the king on account of the help given. A water
cess (udakabhagam) over and above normal land revenue was
levied by the state on all users of irrigation facilities. Even
those using their own waterworks had to pay. Temporary
exemptions were granted for constructing a new irrigation
work or improving an existing one. Private owners used to
give water to farmers from their tanks and wells against
payment of a part of the produce. However, keeping a private
waterwork in disuse led to a lapse of ownership to the state.
The Arthasastra states that those who cultivate land
irrigated by manual labour, shall pay one-fifth of the produce
as water rates; by water carried on the shoulders, one-fourth
of the produce; by waterlifts, one-third; and, by water raised
from rivers, lakes, tanks and wells, one-third or one-fourth.
Multi-millennial Mission 15

Recent archaeological excavations near Allahabad have
brought to light an extraordinary example OF €arly Indian
hydraulic engineering, dating back to the end of the
1t century BC. The tank is not only the longest of its kind
discovered so far — more than 250 m long — but is fed by the
waters of the Ganga; other contemporary or near-
conemporary tanks just collected rainwater.
{The earliest settlement at Sringaverapura, where,
according to the Ramayana, Rama crossed the Ganga during
his exile from Ayodhya, goes back to the 12th century BC.
This, and subsequent setflements, hugged the Tiver bank, but.
when their population began to grow, houses were,
constructed about 1 km away from the river bank. During the
monsoon season, the Ganga swells up by about 7-8 m and
spills into a nearby nullgh. Hence, a canal neatly 11 m wide
and 5 m deep was dug to take the excess water. ;-
“The water in the canal first entered a silting chamber
Shech MALAY KAWAKAR Phorograchs B B LAL
where the dirt settled down. Relatively clean water entered
the first tank (tank A) which was made of bricks. Only clean
water could find access to tank B, which constituted the
primary source of water supply. Tank C was circular and had
an extremely elaborate staircase. It appears that along its edge
stood some shrines at which people offered pray
taking.a ritual bath in the tank. The téfracotta so
Tecovered from the debris of tank C include a highly artistic
head of a three-eyed Siva and Kubera. An elaborate waste
weir was provided at the end of tank C. It consisted of seven
~
spill-channels, a crest and a final exit Charinel. THe excess
“water was returned fo the river, completing the cycle. In case
the tank dried up during the summer, the ancient engineers
built a series of wells in the bed of the tank to access
groundwater.
No inscription associated with the tank has yet been
found. However, circumstantial evidence suggests that in all
probability it was constructed by king Dhanadeva of Ayodhya
under whose jurisdiction Sringaverapura lay.
BBLal

Layout of the 1st century BC hydraulic engineering marvel of Sringavera pura that used floodwaters of the Ganga. A series of tanks ensured
desiting and filtering, and a waste weir and seven spill chambers ensured that overflow was properly channelled back to the river.

16 Traditional Water Harvesting Systems

the persons involved were foreigners. The
inscription is thus, not only a record of the
dam but also about the lake. It underscores
the fact that people knew how to construct
dams, lakes and irrigation systems even in
the 4th century BC.
Three hundred years later, after repairs
had been carried out, the embankment of the
Sudarsana lake burst again as a consequence
of excessive rain in 455-456 AD. The massive
breach was repaired and the embankment
was renewed under the orders of
Chakrapalita, after two months work in
456 AD. Another inscription at Junagadh, at
the time of king Skandagupta (455-467 AD),
records the repairs to the embankment of the
Sudarsana lake by Chakrapalita.¢
The two inscriptions have several
common features. Both mention the name of
the lake as Sudarsana tataka or tadaka. The
inscriptions also mention that the lake was El:
created by setubandhana or embankment ¢
across the river Palasini (Rudradaman’s Ei
inscription also mentions Suvarnasikata) and 3
other streams. Kautilya also uses the term 8 g
setu for embankments. The term setu or 3|
setubandhana is commonly found in several é
Sanskrit texts. The other terms that have
A stretch of the 11th century embankment of the Bhopal lake as it stands today —
been used in the inscription of Rudradaman from wonder to disrepair. The lake, an outstanding feat of medieval engineering, was
are pranali for canal, parivaha for waste weir, created by the Bhopal king Bhoja, by constructing an embankment across two hills. It
and midhavidhana for removal or clearing of 'was fed by 365 streams.
silt from the bottom of the lake. Each of these
inscriptions gives detailed measurements of the breach Chittaurgarh, all the rest are fortresses/If there is a king,
caused, and the time taken to repair and restore the he is Ramachandra, all others are petty chiefs.”)
embankment which originally had an earthen core and That the Bhopal Take was indeed large is amply borne
stone facings on both sides. This time-tested method of out both by archaeological and historical evidence.
construction was followed throughout the country until According to tradition, Bhoja created the huge lake called
cement and concrete started replacing it. During the Bhojapala by constructing an embankment across two
course of his work on the Sudarsana lake, eminent ‘hills. The traditional belief about the creation of this lake is
historian R N Mehta, located the waste weir which had Very interesting. Historian and archaeologist W Kincaid,
been cut across the Joganiyo hill, locally called the who surveyed the lake, quotes the legend that Bhoja was
Dungars5 It is still possible to see similar waste weirs cut stricken with a severe illness which the court physicians
across the hills in the construction of several artificial failed to cure. A holy recluse prophesied that the king
lakes. The Sudarsana lake perhaps fell into disuse “would die of the disease, unless he was able to construct a
sometime in the 8th or 9th century AD due to destruction lake so great as to be the largest in India, and fed by 365
of the embankment and was never restored again. It, thus, streams.
had a fairly long life of over a thousand years. Skilled engineers were then sent along the valleys of
the Vindhyan range to explore the region and report upon
the feasibility of such a lake being constructed. A valley
was ultimately discovered and subsequently enclosed,
The Bhopal lake is ascribed to Bhoja, the Paramara ruler which included the headwaters of the river Betwa. But the
who ruled from 1010-1055 AD. The lake created by the engineers found, much to their disappointment, that only
great Bhoja must indeed have been vast. It still 356 springs and streams fed the waters flowing through
exists in a somewhat diminished form and is immortalised the valley. The difficulty was eventually overcome by
in the verse: Kalia, a Gond chief, who pointed out a missing river
“which, with its tributaries, made up the requisite number
“Tal to Bhopal tal aur sab talaiya and was accordingly named Kaliasot or Kalia’s river, a
Rani to Kamalapati aur sab ranaiya name it carries to this day.”
Garh to Chittaurgarh aur sab garhaiya According to Kincaid, this legend preserves two
Raja to Ramachandra aur sab rajaiya.”s important facts: That the drainage area of the sources of
Betwa was insufficient to fill the lake; and that the lake thus
(“If there is a lake, it is the Bhopal tal, and all others are formed was of an unusual size. A study of the local
but small ponds/If there is a queen, she is Kamalapati, all topography and the remains of the civil works, in Kincaid’s
others are minor queens/If there is a fort, it is analysis, clearly proves that the engineers of those days

Multi-millennial Mission 17
 another river, which rises
skillfully turned the watofers
32 km to the west, into the Betwa valley. This was
“accomplished by creating a magnificent, cyclopean dam in
Bhopal. From the storage lake thus obtained, a river flowed
at a right angle to its former course around the hills and
into the Betwa valley; it became a valuable feeder. The
Kaliasot river carried its surplus waters into the larger lake
for three full months after the rainy season had ended.
Kincaid ran a line.of levels from the waste weir
discovered by him to the Bhopal railway levels. When
plotted on the Bhopal-Malwa topographical survey maps,
it was found that the ancient lake covered 65,000 hectares
in
(ha). It must have then formed the largest artificial lake
the Indian peninsula — one unbroken sheet of water with
islands adding to its beauty. It was, in places, more than
30 metres (m) deep, and was surrounded by high hills on
all sides.
The waste weir cuts through the solid rock of one of
the lower hills. It is situated at the apex of a triangular
valley, and is probably 3 km from the great dam in a direct
line. Its position, so far from the dam, according to
Kincaid, provides further proof of the practical ability of
the engineers of the time. Any error in levels would have
quickly destroyed the dam which, though stone-faced on
both sides, was filled in by earth and could not have
withstood heavy overflows for long. The second bund
was thrown across the only other opening of the valley,
which turned the Kaliasot off its course at right angle into
the Betwa.
The destruction of this lake, sometime in 1434 AD by
Hoshang Shah (1405-1435 AD), is described by
contemporary historian Sahib Hakim in Ma'asir-e-Mahmud
Shahi One can clearly see the evidence of destruction of
the embankment at a place called Mendua, not very far
. from the Siva temple at Bhojpur. The dam across the
Betwa was also destroyed by the armies of Hoshang Shah.
The embankment at Bhopal is still preserved and so are
the two lakes in their present constricted size. In fact, the
higher and lower lakes in Bhopal are reminiscent of the
tanks on the higher and lower levels mentioned in
Kautilya’s Arthasastra. It is said, following the destruction
of the embankment and drying up of the lake, the climate
of Malwa underwent a change, and the town of Vidisha
became more prone to floods.”
Chronicles of Kashmir
Another important source is Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, the
chronicle of the kings of Kashmir, composed from
1148-1150 AD.S It is replete with information on canals,
irrigation channels, émbankments, aqueducts, circular
“dykes, barrages, wells and water wheels. According to
umerous canals from the Dal and
“historian Aurel Stein,
Anchar lakes that intersect the suburbs of Srinagar
‘pass into the centre of the city bear testimony to
evidence from Rajatarangini. In fact, according to him,
the earliest traditions recorded by Kalhana,
construction of irrigation canals plays a significant part.”
Aurel Stein could identify quite a few of the canals which
Kalhana claimed were built during the reigns of different
kings:One of these canals is the Sunmanikul, which is
mentidned in the Rajataranginbyi its ancient name,
ngarnamanikulya‘fand can be ascribed to antiquity.
‘Another old canal that Stein could identify is called&gd.h
18 Traditional Water Harvesting Systems
whose name is perhaps connected with that of Nandaka
s
village, referred to in the context of Avantivarman
drainage operations.
the many works mentioned in the
Among
Rajatarangini, the more significant ones include the huge
embankment called the Guddasetu, built by Damodara II;
controlling of the waters of the Mahapadma lake (Wular
lake) by a network of canals; and, diversion of waters of
the Vitasta and construction of series of water wheels for
distribution of water in different villages by Lalitaditya
Mukiapida (around 725760 AD) of the Karkota.dynasty.
However, the most important evidence of sophisticated
waterworks in the Rajatarangini is about the irrigation
works carried out during the reign of Avantivarman of the
Utpala dynasty (855-883 AD) by Suyya.l? Having drained
off the water of the Vitasta, he controlled it by constructing
a stone dam and clearing its bed. Suyya also displaced the
confluence of the rivers Sindhu and Vitasta and
constructed stone embankments for seven yojans along the
Vitasta for damming the Mahapadma lake.
The system of irrigation established by Suyya was
designed in such a way that everyone was supplied with a
fair share of water. Lalitaditya Muktapida is also credited
with having supplied villages near Chakradhara (now
called Tsakdhar) with irrigation by constructing a series of
araghatta (water wheels), which raised the waters of the
Vitasta. The arid plateau of Martand, with its magnificent
Martanda temple, the flourishing township that
surrounded it, and his capital Parihasapura (which now
suffers water scarcity), through these methods, had a
system which ensured a perennial water supply.
In south India, construction of lakes and ponds was
considered to be an act of piety. This is not only borne out
by the large number of artificial reservoirs and tanks built
from time to time but also from inscriptional evidence.}*
In Kannada-speaking areas, the word kodage is used for
the land, the income from which is used to construct or
maintain tanks and reservoirs. Several inscriptions give
detailed information about the provision made for
removal of silt from tanks and the manner in which the
tanks were maintained and supervised. Usually, in Tamil-
speaking areas, there used to be a six-member body for
the supervision of tanks. Interesting information is found
in an inscription dated 1388 AD, which mentions a
hydraulic engineer, Singaya-bhatta, son of Rudrya.? The
term used for hydraulic engineer in the inscription is
jalala-sutrada.
Dholavira excavation
Of particular historical significance is the evidence that
has come to light in recent years from Dholavira, a major
site of the Harappa or Indus Valley Civilisation, dating
and back to the third millennium BC. The site is located on the
the northwestern end of the Khadir island in the Great Rann
“in of Kutch, and was one among the five largest Harappan
the cities. Discovered in the 1960s by Jagatpati Joshi, it is being
excavated by a team of archaeologists headed by R S Bisht
of the Archaeological Survey of India. This arid area has, if
at all, an average of 260 mm annual rainfall. There are no
perennial sources of water in the form of lakes or rivers.
Subterranean water is, by and large, brackish and saline
and, therefore, unfit for drinking or even cultivation. The
quantity of sweet, potable water is extremely limited and
 Indus Valley:
French archaeologists working in Afghanistan have
discovered Harappan settlements in the province of Bactria,
near the Russian border. In the Ai-Khanum region they have
come across several large canals, each about 25-30 km long,
some 30 m wide. These canals were first traced from maps and
their dating has been done on the basis of the Bronze Age sites
in the vicinity, belonging to the first half of the third
millennium BC. Excavations carried out in the area along the
hypothetical route of the canals have unearthed pottery which
confirms the Harappan date. This irrigation technology either
emerged locally or was brought by the Harappan settlers
migrating northwards from India.
Inexplicably, the Harappans seem to have built an efficient
irrigation system in the outer areas of their influence, whereas
there is no evidence of such a system in the core area. Of
course, the lack of evidence may be due to the fact that
archaeologists have concentrated more on prosperous, urban
centres like Mohenjodaro and Harappa, and have neglected
small rural settlements, Moreover, it is possible to build dams
in hilly areas but not in the Indus plains. Rivers like the Indus
flooded twice a year, providing adequate silt and water,
obviating the need for artificial irrigation.
Wells are a distinguishing feature of the Harappan
civilisation and have been found at most house sites. A recent
architectural survey of Mohenjodaro has revealed that every
third house had a well. Over 700 wells have been counted. In
fact, wells were probably a Harappan invention.! Recently,
wells have also been found in Oman, a region which had come
into contact with the Harappans.
Did the Harappans use wells for irrigation? Excavations at
Allahdino, a small Harappan settlement not far from Karachi,
have revealed a well which may have been used for irrigation.
A large vessel, resembling a bathtub, is attached to it on the
southern side. The well stood 1.25 m higher than the
surrounding area which was paved with stones. The excavator
is of the opinion that the diameter of the Harappan wells was
purposely kept small “so that the water level could rise higher
and would overflow in an artesian fashion.”2 The location of
the well in the central and highest part of the site, appears to
‘e intentional. This facilitated channeling of water to the fields
in the surrounding area. The Allahdino site is 5 m or more
above the Malir river and, hence, water had to be raised for
cultivation. The excavator has observed: “On the face of it, 1
believe that the argument for well-water itrigation is
plausible. In the light of the Allahdino evidence, it may not be
farfetched to credit Harappans with well irrigation.”
Harappan wells came into being from the middle of the
third millennium BC as the Mature Harappan phase is
believed to have started about 2600 BC. These can, therefore,
be taken to be the earliest wells of their kind. If we leave aside
a pictograph denoting a well occurring on an archaic
Sumerian seal, which looks more like a cistern, the earliest
evidence of wells comes from Egypt, where these were
referred to in inscriptions dating back to about 2000 BC. They,
however, may also have been cisterns rather than wells
because their size was rather small. It is, therefore, likely that
digging wells for water was a Harappan invention. It is
remarkable that during the recent drought, one well at
Dholavira in Kutch had enough water for the entire village.
There is more interesting evidence from other Harappan sites.
Historians hold that the Harappans must have had some
method of irrigation because they cultivated winter crops like
wheat and barley.3 This water could have come from wells
and not rivers. According to some scholars, the Harappans
probably dug ditches for diverting the water from rivers. At
The Indus Valley Civilisation had excellent water harvesting and
drainage systems. Wells were one of its distinguishing features.
the Amri culture site of Kai Buthi, an archaeologist noticed
“the diversion of springwater to ‘prepared’ agricultural fields,
similar to the technique used on river plains of the lower
Indus Basin,” where water is channeled into fields through
small and shallow ditches.¢ Yet another Harappan site, Nuka
in Sind in the Kirthar-Kohistan region, provides evidence of
artificial irrigation similar to the gabarbands of Baluchistan.
However, the most convincing evidence of artificial
irrigation in pre-historic India is that from Inamgaon, a
Chalcolithic (Copper Age) settlement near Pune,
Maharashtra.® The excavation revealed a sequence of three
cultures — all post-Harappan — from about 1600-1400 BC to
about 1000-700 BC. The people practised a mixed economy of
subsistence farming, stock raising, hunting and fishing. They
cultivated barley, lentils and peas. Of the three cultural
periods, the second (1400-1000 BC) was the most prosperous,
perhaps because of a congenial climate. Studies based on
pollen grains collected in Rajasthan indicate that the climate in
the latter half of the second millennium BC was marked by a
wet phase throughout western India.6 Of the four cereals
grown in Inamgaon, the principal crop was barley. Wheat
occurred only in the second cultural period, which is also
indicative of a wetter climate, since wheat requires winter
rains, unusual in Maharashtra which even today grows wheat
only in those areas with artificial irrigation.
The Inamgaon excavations revealed heaps of stone that
formed a massive wall of stone rubble set in mud mortar.
Only eight stretches of this wall survived. It is likely that the
upper part of the wall was earthen. The existing wall is 240 m
in length with an average width of 3 m. The surrounding area
is a relatively low-lying area. A most noteworthy feature n
the area is a zone of unconsolidated dark brown soil which
runs almost parallel to the wall. The dark green colour of the
vegetation in this zone distinguishes it from its surroundings.
‘The green patch was apparently a channel and the stone wall
was its embankment or a guide bund. It appears that the
channel fell into disuse and became silted by the stream which
fed it. The water from the stream to the north of the
embankment, which still exists, was in all probability diverted
into the channel during the monsoon to protect the main
habitation area. The diverted water could also have been
utilised for irrigating fields close to the channel. Due to more
regular rainfall, the stream may have contained water for a
longer period than it does today and, thus, supported crops
like wheat. The embankment has by now been destroyed by
farmers. But aerial photographs still show traces of the
irrigation canal and support the hypothesis that the canal
received water from the stream.
M K Dhavalikar
~ Multi-millennial Mission 19
 An artist's impression of Dholavira, one of the most recent archaeological discoveries. This ancient Harappan settlement, dating back to the
third millennium BC, was laid out on a sloping terrain between two stormwater channels. The gradient between the higher
lower west of Dholavira is 13 m, which is ideal for reservoirs. There is a series of water reservoirs, which almost entirely surround
The intricate Harappan drainage system at Dholavira achieved an
unusual degree of engineering sophistication. This picture shows a
large storm drain with an aperture for air flow to ensure easy
passage of water.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF INDIA
20 Traditional Water Harvesting Systems
east and the
the city.
is available only in a few pockets.
The inhabitants of Dholavira, therefore, created several
reservoirs to collect the monsoon runoff flowing in the
flanking streams of the Manhar and Mansar. Stone bunds
were raised across them at suitable points in order to
divert the flow of water through inlet channels into a
series of reservoirs which were dug out in the sloping
areas between the inner and outer walls of the Harappan
city. Water reservoirs were separated from each other by
bund-cum-causeways, which facilitated access to different
divisions of the city as well. Likewise, a network of drains
crisscrossing the citadel was also laid out to collect
rainwater.
The bunds or dams that were raised across the streams
are reminiscent of the gabarbands of Baluchistan. Evidence of
such dams can still be seen near the outer wall of the city.
Dams of Zoroastrians
Gabarbands, as the name implies, are “dams of the
Zoroastrians or fire-worshippers.”1 The solidity and size
of these stone dams is generally proportionate to the
steepness of the slope. Those built across ravines are
solid and high, whereas those built on gentle slopes are
narrow and low. The object of these gabarbands was
mostly to collect a “layer of alluvial soil over dry and
barren rock, combined with the retention and economic
control of the distribution of floodwater.” In a few
instances, the object may have been to retain water as
in a reservoir. In Baluchistan, there also existed
the system of gobrikarez (underground water channels)
which provided abundant water supply and are
also ascribed to the Zoroastrians. (See box: The Mystery
of Gabarbands).
 Baluchista
The earliest evidence of irrigation in the Indian subcontinent
goes back to the beginning of the third millennium BC, when
farming communities in Baluchistan impounded rainwater
and used it in their fields. Dams built of stone rubble have
been found in Baluchistan and Kutch, and brick bunds are
seen in Karachi. There are similar structures in Sabarkantha
and Bhavnagar districts of Gujarat. All these date back to the
pre-historic period.
The structures found in arid Baluchistan are known as
gabarbands. They are found throughout the state. There are
several methods of construction, the most common being a
series of platforms which are about 60-120 cm high. They
rise in successively receding steps, gradually narrowing
towards the top. Dams of this type are common in the Hab
valley. While some of these dams are small, there are others
‘which are as long as 1 km or even longer. The construction
of these dams involved immense skill in labour and
engineering. These dams were probably used for the control
of floodwaters and for retaining the alluvium coming down
the hills.! It is likely that some functioned as reservoirs for
retaining water. But archaeologist Aurel Stein feels that
only a few were dams.? According to geologist Robert
Raikes, they were terraces for the conservation of water and
alluvium.? Archaeologist Gregory Possehl has observed that
gabarbands rarely occur singly in Baluchistan.* They form a
series of stairs, resulting in the formation of fields rich in
alluvium and water. The insides and the upper sides of
these structures are filled with rubble. It is quite likely that
this rubble came down the hills. However, it is also possible
that the rubble was intentionally piled up by the builders of
o o0 £ HUGHES BULLER, ASIAZ 190304
Dams built of stone rubble are called gabarbands in Baluchistan, which have been assigned to the pre-Harappan period. These are a
series of platforms which are about 60-120 ¢cm high and rise in receding steps, gradually narrowing towards the top. These were used
for controlling floodwater and retaining alluvium coming down the hills. The sketch shows the Pir Munaghara gabarband of
Baluchistan.
the gabarbands. The rubble lessens the force of the gushing
water, thus avoiding damage to the structure.
Of pre-Harappan tomes
The dating of the gabarbands is very difficult. They have been
assigned to the pre-Harappan period based on the evidence of
the pottery found there. Raikes believes that these dams may
go back to the end of the fourth millennium BC. This dating,
however, has recently been challenged. The word gabarband
specifically means a Zoroastrian (Iranian or Parsee). Local
tradition, thus, suggests that these dams were built by the
Zoroastrians.
India came into contact with Iran when Darius of the
Achaemenid dynasty of Persia, annexed Sind and Punjab in
526 BC. Contact with Iran became more intimate during the
Mauryan period (about 323-189 BC). The first convincing
proof of a dam and an irrigation system in India has been
dated to the Mauryan period. The Junagadh inscription of
king Rudradaman makes a specific mention that a dam was
built here by Pushyagupta, the governor of Chandragupta
Maurya (about 323-300 BC) and canals were provided by one
Tushaspha under Ashoka the Great (about 272-232 BC). The
name Tushaspha suggests that he was a Zoroastrian, Hence, it
is likely that gabarbands may belong to an early historical
period but not of the high antiquity that is assigned to them.
They may belong to a post-Harappan period instead of a pre-
Harappan period.
M K Dhavalikar
s a0 = oam standing
% am vashed awey
Dircton of gener sope
- - Multi-millennial Mission 21
Hauz Khas tank
Construction of reservoirs continued to be the practice for
a long time in India. In this respect, Feroz Shah Tughlaq
(1351-1388 AD) stands out for his public works, more
particularly for building five irrigation canals, several
dams across rivers, reservoirs for irrigation and repairs to
earlier works.1*
After finding the city of Hisar Ferozah, Feroz Shah
Tughlaq, “perceiving that there was a great scarcity of
water, resolved to bring a supply there.” He, accordingly,
conducted two streams (jui) into the city from two rivers:
one from the river Yamuna, the other from the Sutlej. That
from the Yamuna was called Rajiwah and the other
Alaghkhani. Both these streams were conducted through
the city of Karnal and after wending through a length of
about 80 kos (about 258 km) discharged their waters by one
channel into the town.14 Shams-e-Siraj Afif narrates in his
Tarikh-e-Feroz Shahi how numerous watercourses were
brought into Fatehabad and Hisar Ferozah and how
80-90 kos in these districts, which included many towns
and villages, were brought under cultivation.’s In lieu of
this, Feroz Shah charged the rental istikamat-i-amlak as his
sharb.15 Feroz Shah also appointed officers “to examine the
banks of all watercourses and how far the inundations
extended” during the rains.! Hauz Khas in Delhi,
originally called the Hauz-e-Ala’i and excavated by
Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316 AD) for the use of the
inhabitants of Siri, was desilted and restored by Feroz
Shah Tughlag. In his own words, Feroz Shah says in
Futuhat-e-Feroz Shah:
“The Hauz-e-Shamsi, ot tank of Iltutmish, has been deprived
of water by some graceless men, who stopped the channels of
supply. I punished these incorrigible men severely and
opened up the closed channels. The Hauz-e-Alai, or the tank
of Alauddin, had no water in it and was filled up. People
cartied on cultivation in it and had dug wells, from which
they sold water. After a generation (karn) had passed, T
cleaned it out, so that this great tank might again be filled
from year to year.”15
He also built embankments for storage of water
in the close vicinity of his hunting lodges, Malcha Mahal,
Bhuli Bhatiyari-ka-Mahal and Kushk Mahal.®6 Shams-e-Siraj,
while describing the buildings created by Feroz Shah,
mentions several other bunds, “Fath Khan, Malja (into which
he threw a body of freshwater, ab-i-zamzma), Mahapalpur,
Shukr Khan, Salaura, Wazirabad, and other similar strong
and substantial bunds.”15 Feroz Shah also repaired the
Surajkund, believed to have been constructed in the 10th
century by king Surajpal of the Tomar dynasty.1
Incidentally, close to Surajkund is Anangpur dam with
sluice openings ascribed to Anangpal, also of the Tomar
dynasty. This dam is still in use.
Irrigation in Bengal
In Bengal, the system of overflow irrigation was very
popular. It made full use of the abundant waters of the
Ganga and Damodar floods, and the monsoon rainfall.
According to William Willcocks, who studied the system
in the early part of this century, it perfectly suited the
special needs of Bengal.” The distinguishing features of
22 Traditional Water Harvesting Systems
this system of irrigation were:
Q the canals were broad andshallow, carrying the crest
waters of the river floods, rich infine clay and free”
coarse sand; -
Q i:l'ie canals were long, continuous, fairly parallel to each
other and the right distance from each other for
purposes of irrigation;
0 irrigation was performed by cuts in the banks of the
canals, which were closed when the flood was over.
These artificial cuts are today called kanwas in
Bhagalpur. e S
This system of overflow irrigation was ptoperly
controlled. It not only enriched the soil and ensured a
supply of water to every individual field, but also checked
malaria. Willcocks, in fact, suggested restoration of this
ancient system to tackle the modern problems of
agriculture and recommended their revival from the point
of view of public health.
Willcocks writes, on the basis of his field study, that
every canal which went southwards, whether it joined a
river, like the Bhagirathi, or remained a canal, like the
Mathabhanga, was originally a canal. They were lined and
dug fairly parallel to each other, and were spaced and
placed just about the distance apart that canals should be
placed. He further added: “I remember quite well when I
began to line out a system of canals for irrigation of the
country, I was astonished to find everywhere that a so-
called “dead river’ on the map was just where a canal
should be placed.” Willcocks, in his lecture delivered at the
University of Calcutta in 1923, said: “The ancients have left
us all works we need, and we have to enter into possession
of them and make them once again fit for service.”1s
Ingenuity in Sri Lanka
In his foreword to the book, Ancient Irrigation Works in
Ceylon, by R L Brohier, published in 1933, D S Senanayake
wrote:
“In these modern days of mighty empire-states, the
achievements of little people are apt to receive but scant
attention. The people themselves adopt a defeatist attitude, as if
they were capable of no great achievement. Yet, a knowledge of
the stupendous monuments of our past greatness should surely
prove a sound corrective, When we have evidence before our
eyes, of a bund of over 17 million cubic yards, which at ordinary
rates of labour in this country must have cost 1.3 million UK
pounds, a sum which would be sufficient to form an English
railway 120 miles long and we remember that this bund is but
one of a number of embankments that held together immense
reservoirs in the country; when we have the testimony of a
modern engineering expert that, as one whose duties permitted
him to gain an intimate acquaintance with the ancient works,
he could never conceal his admiration of engineering
Kknowledge of the designers of the great irrigation schemes of
Ceylon and the skill with which they constructed the works;
when we know, as a matter of fact, that flaws, where discovered
in these works by our modem experts which eventually were
proved to be not flaws, but the result of an imperfect
understanding of the designs; when we contemplate that the
construction of these works implies a vast expenditure of
labour, which was not exacted under the lash of the taskmaster
as in the building of the pyramids of Egypt but was rendered
under an organised system of determined cooperative efforts
An epigraphic evidence of the benevolent acts of ancient
Indian rulers, relating to the development of irrigation
facilities, is provided by the Hathigumpha inscription
(2nd century BC) which relates that in the time of the first
Nanda, Mahapadma (c343-c321), the founder of the Nanda
dynasty of Magadha, a canal was dug in Tosali division, not
far from the capital city of Kalinga (ancient territorial
subdivision of east-central India, corresponding to northern
Andhra Pradesh, most of Orissa and a portion of Madhya
Pradesh). The excavation of irrigation canals naturally
invested the state with the duty of their maintenance and
repair. In the time of the Mauryan emperors, there was a
regular class of officers to superintend the rivers, measure the
land (as was done in Egypt) and inspect the sluices by which
water was let out from the main canals into their branches.
In addition to canals, wells and tanks were also dug
through state initiative for irrigation purposes. The
Mahabharata narrates that while advising Yudhishthira on
administrative principles, sage Narada laid particular
empbhasis on the excavation of large and swelling lakes so that
cultivation should remain independent of rainwater. The
eagerness of the early rulers to maintain dams is also reflected
in the Kuntagani plates which state that the Kadamba king
Ravivarman ordered a tank-bund to be constructed in the
village of Variyaka (the Kadambas ruled an area northwest of
Mysore city between 4th and 6th century AD) Great merit
was attached to such pious deeds. Like repair work, the
digging of tanks and wells was also a matter of pride. A
Nagarjunakonda inscription, while recording the installation
of a temple of Ashtabhiyasvamin on the Setagiri by a number
of nobles, refers to the excavation by them of two tanks, one
each at the Setagiri and Mudera. A Gunda nscription records
the digging of a tank by an Abhira general named Rudrabhuti
at the village of Rasopodra. Besides persons of aristocratic
birth, humbler folk are also known to have dug tanks and
wells in order to achieve religious merit.!
Recent archaeological excavations in India have brought
to light some traces of ancient canals. At Nagarjunakonda,
traces of a canal with an average width of 50 feet (ft) and a
depth of 16 ft have been found. It is situated in the southeast
corner of the valley which is enclosed by lofty hill ranges on
all sides. The embankments of the canals were constructed
with a hard lime gravel mixed with kankar (chips of stones)
and stones which were rammed to withstand the rush of
water. They are 5o hard that even today forceful digging with
a crow-bar or pick into the embankments proves futile.
As the canals and tanks were considered vital for
agricultural pursuits, the state took precautions to safeguard
the right of the farmers to use them even if they lay in others’
fields. Thus, when Ganga king Devendravarman — the Gangas
ruled Mysore state from about 250-1004 AD — granted to a
certain Brahmin a piece of land including the watercourse and
the house-site, he was clearly instructed to share the water
during the summer (grishmodaka) “equally with the (other)
families”. The use of such watercourses and tanks laid out
and/or constructed by the state, however, required previous
for the common good; when we recall that our decline was due
to causes which wasted the organisations on which the fabric
of society rested and interfered with the system of obtaining
combined labour of the whole local community; when, and if,
we remember these things, and leam from the lessons of the
past, we surely need not despair our future.”18
permission of the state authority. Hence, the Brahmin of a plot
of land in the village of Siddharthaka had to extract from the
donor the specific permission of utilising water from the nearby
rajatataks for irrigation purposes.
Causing damage to irrigation works was considered a
heinous crime, comparable to the destruction of a child in
embryo, and the destroyer was liable to be punished by being
drowned with a stone tied around his neck. Manu, the first
man and the legendary author of an important Sanskrit code
of law, the Manu-Smrtt, lays down that a person causing a
breach in a dam shall be drowned or killed and, even if he
repairs it, he shall be punished with a fine of one uttamasahasa.
Moreover, he prescribes prathamasahasa donda for one who
defiles a tank meant for common use. The villagers
themselves were also aware of the need of protecting
irrigation works. Instances are not rare where they drew up
agreements that they would not cause any damage to trees,
wells and tanks, and any breach of agreement was punished
by confiscation of a portion of land of the offender, which was
transferred to the local temple
The Bennur grant of Kadamba Krishnavarman II
(Kadamba king Kakusthavarman’s younger son) makes us
acquainted with a term, rajabhaga-dasabandha. In the medieval
mscriptions of south India the term occurs in the sense of a tax
or an allowance of land or revenue as compensation for
construction of a tank, well or channel. Dasabandha is a
deduction of one-tenth of the revenue towards compensation
for some public work, like construction of a tank.
Irrigation wells, tanks and canals were, therefore, not
always constructed by the rulers to gain religious merit. These
also brought revenue to the royal exchequer. These
dasabandhant imams were granted as a recompense to private
individuals, who constructed tanks, wells and river channels,
by means of which the revenue of the state was augmented
The extent and value of the 1nam were in proportion to the
capital expended on the work and the revenue obtained.
Buckets, waterhfts, pecottah (device to Lift water) and palm-
leaf baskets were widely used for irrigating fields with water
from canals, tanks and wells. The use of mechanised devices
for this purpose was so popular in the Deccan that many
guilds of people working as hydraulic engineers
(odayamtrikas) developed. In the Gathasaptasatr (or
Gathasattasat, consisting of 700 gathas or verses, is regarded as
the oldest anthology in Maharashtri Prakrit), reference is
made to a waterlifting machine called rahatta-ghadiya (that is,
araghatta). 1t is a contrivance for lifting water from wells and
lakes by working at ara (spokes). According to Himanshu
Prabha Ray, the eminent archacologist and ancient Indian
historian, araghatta was a current-driven waterlift, consisting
of a series of earthen pots lashed to the periphery of a wheel
revolving in a stream. The araghaita was not worked in the
same way everywhere. Under the name of udghatana, it
comprised a drum-shaped wheel, turning in a vertical plane
over water, encircled by ropes (in the nature of a conveyor
belt), with ghata or earthen pots tied to them at equal
distances.!
This review clearly shows that the people of south Asia
had developed an extraordinary richness and diversity of
technologies. The water harvesting tradition started several
thousand years ago and sustained human survival and
growth in the region over a millennia.
B M Pande
Multi-millennial Mission 23
Indians, over centuries, developed a range of technigues to harvest every possible form of water
— from rainwater to gmundwaler, siream to river water, and floodwater. India can be divided
into 15 ecological regions. —-from the dry, cold desert of Ladakh to the > dry, hot desen of
Rajasthan;-from the sub-temperate hlgh mountains_of the Himalaya to the tropical high
mountains of the Nilgiri, etc.

In'the western and central Himalaya, diversion channels called &uhls or guhls were built to draw
water from hill streams_or. springs..The fength-of these channelsWarigd from 1-15 km, and
carried.a-discharge of 15-100 litres per second.

In Meghalaya, a 200-year-old system of tapping stream and spring water for irrigating planis by
using bamboo pipes is prevalent. About 18-20 litres of water enters the bamboo pipe system,
gets transported over hundreds of metres, and finally reduces to 20-80 drops per minute at the
site.of the plant, Tike @ modern drip irrigation system.

The zabo system of cultivation is practised in Kikruma village of Nagaland. It is a combination of

forestry, agriculture and animal care with a soil erosion control.

The ahar-pyne system of irrigation was used in south Bihar. Ahars are.rectangular catchment
basins, and pynas’are channels constructed to utilise the water flowing through hilly rivers.

Kunds, found in the sandier tracts of the Thar Desert, are covered underground.tanks with an
artificially prepared catchment area to increase runoff. It was developed to supply drinking
water. Khadins, an.example of runoff farming, were developed by the Paliwal Brahmins of
Jaisalmer around the 15th century.

Karnataka has been a forerunner in managing traditional water harvesting structures, like
arakere, volakere, devikere, katte, kinte and kola. Seme have the same structure and purpose
but still carry different names. The most numerous were tanks — 40,000 tanks still exist today.

Kasaragoddistrict of northern Malabar hias a special water harvesting structure called surangam,
a tunnel dug through a laterite hillock fram the periphery of which water or moisture seeps out.

One-third of the irrigated area of Tamil Nadu is watered by ancient tanks called eris, which have
played several important roles in maintaining ecological harmony — flood- control preventing
suil erosion; reducing wastage of runoff and recharging groundwater.

The Shompen and Jarawa tribals of Nicobar Istand make extensive use of split bamboos in their
water harvesting systems. The split bamboos are placed along a slope with the lower end
leading into a shallow pit. These serve as conduils for rainwater which is collected, drop by
drop, in pits called jackwells.

.__