Harappan irrigation
Topic: Harappan (Sindhu-Sarasvati) Civilisation · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 1 "Bricks, Beads and Bones"
Meaning
Most Harappan sites lay in semi-arid lands, where little rain falls. Farming there probably needed irrigation, which means bringing water to the fields. Evidence for canals is rare. Water was mostly drawn from wells and stored in reservoirs (large water tanks).
Example
Traces of canals have been found only at Shortughai in Afghanistan. No canals have been found in Punjab or Sindh, perhaps because old canals filled up with silt long ago. Dholavira in Gujarat had at least six large reservoirs, made of stone or cut into rock, and linked by underground drains. The largest was 73 m long, and its water may have been used for farming.
Don't confuse with
- Harappan drainage: Drains carried dirty water away from houses into covered street channels. Irrigation brought water to fields.
Related concepts
- Harappan subsistence
- Harappan agriculture
- Harappan cotton
- Rangpur
- Terracotta plough
- Cholistan
- Ploughed field at Kalibangan