Ancient hydraulic structures of India
Topic: Water Resources of India: Availability, Use and Conservation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 3 "Water Resources"
Meaning
Ancient hydraulic structures are old water works such as dams, reservoirs, embankments, tanks and canals. People in India built them long before modern engineering, to store water, irrigate fields and control floods. They show that managing water well is an old Indian skill. Many were built of stone rubble and made to suit the local land and rain.
Example
- At Sringaverapura near Prayagraj, a system from the 1st century BCE channelled Ganga floodwater.
- The Mauryan period saw many dams and irrigation works. Others stood at Kalinga, Nagarjunakonda, Bennur and Kolhapur.
- Bhopal Lake dates from the 11th century.
- Alauddin Khalji built the Hauz Khas tank in Delhi in the 13th-14th century.
Related concepts
- Kallanai
- Traditional water harvesting systems
- Guls and kuls
- Inundation channels
- Khadin
- Johad
- Taanka
- Kund
- Ahar-pyne
- Eri