A History of Water Management and Hydraulic Technology in India (1500 B.C. to 1800 A.D.)

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About the Book The present work is a comprehensive study of all aspects of ancient and medieval hydraulic technology as well as social management of water resources. Starting with the earthen bund at Inamgaon (Maharashtra) claimed by the excavators to belong to Circa 1500 B.C, the work reviews archaeological remains all over the subcontinent coming down to the eighteenth century. These represent remains of facilities for storage and distribution of water for agriculture as well as urban consumption. Epigraphic records support and supplement this data. Literature of the ancient period such as Arthashastra, Manusmriti and Shilpa texts that lay down rules and regulations for storage and equitable distribution of water as also the responsibility of the state in the matter has been reviewed. Structures and devices used for raising and distribution of water have been taken note of and information from coins and paintings utilized to the full.

About the Author M.S.Mate was formerly Professor of Proto and Ancient Indian History at the Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune. He has been teaching history of ancient India and history of Indian art to the postgraduate classes and has participated in a number of protohistoric and early historic excavations.

However, his field of special interest was art and culture of the medieval period and has several books to his credit: Maratha Architecture, Islamic Architecture of the Deccan, Deccan Woodwork, Jamoda Jaina Murals and Temples and Legends of Maharashtra. From 1980 to 1990 that is upto his retirement he directed the historical and archaeological investigations undertaken by the Institute at Daulatabad, ancient Devagiri. This work aroused in him interest in medieval technology, mainly hydraulic technology. He is currently working on 'Urban Culture of Medieval Deccan'.

Preface The present study is more or less a sequence of my work at Daulatabad. The extensive and intricate water supply system uncovered there aroused my curiosity regarding water, water-supply, hydraulic technology and social management of water in ancient times. I formulated a proposal for undertaking such a study and sent it to the Indian Council of Historical Research. Prof. Irfan Habib, the Chairman of ICHR is a keen student of medieval. technology and his encouragement in this project needs to be mentioned with gratitude. The Deccan College authorities have kept up the long tradition of active encouragement to research. It was at the suggestion of Prof. Dhavalikar, the then Director, that I sent the proposal to the ICHR. Prof. V.N. Misra, the present Director has made all research facilities available to me in the prosecution of this project. Special mention has to be made of Prof. P.B. Rao, Head of the Department of Linguistics, Deccan College, for making available all facilities at his disposal. I thank these authorities.

Shri M.K.Kulkarni, the Librarian and his staff have been extremely helpful and deserve my grateful thanks.

My student Shri Ravindra Thipse assisted me in my surveys while Dr. Usha Ranade helped me with Sanskrit texts. To them I owe my sincere thanks.

Introduction The importance of water to human, animal and vegetal life can hardly be overemphasised. Yet its significance in human evolution and history was not always recognised. One of the earliest statements comes from Grahame Clark. Writing in 1944, his statement is the most succinct and is quoted here in extensor.

The Basic importance of food in the daily lives of both Individuals and of communities, and the all pervading Influence upon outlook and social structure exercised by the methods adopted to ensure its adequate supply have become more and more widely recognised among students of ancient society during recent years. Rather less attention has yet been paid to water, that other necessity of life, bound up so intimately with the distribution and density of human settlement, and linked at the same time with Man's exploitation of his physical environment. Yet water-supply merits the closest attention not only to those who approach prehistory from a functional point of view but of all those whose studies are in the last resort based on archaeological material.

The relations between water-supply and human settlement through the ages have not by any means been simple; on the contrary, they have been essentially reciprocal subject to perpetual readjustment. If on the one hand settlement may be restricted by shortage, on the other human requirements may lead to an increase in the supply of water made available. Nature imposes certain limits, but within these there is scope for a wide range of adjustments."

**Contents and Sample Pages**