UPSC Prelims 2025 Q13: Araghatta Irrigation Device — Explained
The irrigation device called 'Araghatta' was
- a water bag made of leather pulled over a pulley
- a large wheel with earthen pots tied to the outer ends of its spokes
- a larger earthen pot driven by bullocks
- a large water bucket pulled up by rope directly by hand
Answer: (b) a large wheel with earthen pots tied to the outer ends of its spokes
Statement-wise explanation
- a: incorrect — A leather bag pulled over a pulley is the charas, also called mot or pur. A rope runs over a pulley and is pulled by bullocks walking down a ramp. Each pull lifts only one bagful, so the work is in batches. The araghatta lifts water nonstop with a ring of pots.
- b: correct — 'Araghatta' joins two Sanskrit words: ara (spoke) and ghatta (pot). The name describes the device: a large wheel with pots tied to its spokes or to a rope chain on its rim. As the wheel turns, the pots dip into the well, fill, rise and empty into a channel at the top. The later Persian wheel (rahat or saqiya) used the same idea but added gearing so a bullock could drive it.
- c: incorrect — The araghatta does not use one large pot. It uses many small earthen pots in a continuous chain. Bullocks powered the geared Persian wheel version, but the pots are what lift the water. 'A larger earthen pot driven by bullocks' matches no standard Indian water-lifting device.
- d: incorrect — A bucket pulled up by rope by hand is the simplest way to draw water from a well. It needs no wheel or spokes, so it cannot match a name built on 'ara' (spoke). The hand-worked lever-lift is a separate device, the dhenkli.
How to eliminate
Mostly a recall question, but the word itself gives you the answer. Split 'Araghatta' into ara (spoke, as in the spokes of a wheel) and ghatta (pot, as in ghata). 'Spoke + pot' fits only the option that has both a wheel with spokes and earthen pots. A bag, one large pot and a hand-pulled bucket have no spokes. Remember: araghatta = pot-garland wheel, the forerunner of the Persian wheel (rahat).
Know more
Water-lifting devices of pre-modern India
Wells and tanks irrigated much of India's land, so the method of lifting water mattered. Sources call the main devices by different names:
| Device | What it is | Power |
|---|---|---|
| Araghatta / ghati-yantra | Wheel with a garland of pots on its rim or spokes | Human or animal |
| Persian wheel (rahat, saqiya) | Pot-garland wheel with gearing | Bullocks, camels |
| Charas / mot / pur | Large leather bag on a rope over a pulley | Bullocks walking down a ramp |
| Dhenkli / shaduf | Lever with a counterweight and a bucket | Human |
Araghatta to Persian wheel. Early Sanskrit and Prakrit texts and early medieval inscriptions from Rajasthan and Gujarat mention the araghatta. In its simple form, a person or animal turned the pot-wheel directly. Historians such as Irfan Habib argue that the right-angle gearing arrived later, probably in the Sultanate period. That gearing lets a bullock walking in a circle turn a vertical pot-wheel. It made the device much more efficient, and the geared version came to be called the Persian wheel.
Babur's description. The NCERT Class 12 chapter Peasants, Zamindars and the State quotes the Baburnama. Babur says that in Lahore and Dipalpur people irrigate with a wheel. Two circles of rope, set as long as the well is deep, carry wooden strips with pitchers fastened to them. Gearing links this pitcher-wheel to a second wheel turned by a bullock. Around Agra, Chandwar and Bayana, he says, people instead draw water with a large bucket on a rope over a roller, pulled by a bullock.
Exam tip. UPSC often tests the meaning of Sanskrit or Persian technical terms. Splitting the word into its roots often solves the question.
NCERT Concepts to Revise
- Persian wheel: The Persian wheel is the later geared form of the water-lifting device this question asks about.
- Baburnama: The Baburnama gives the best-known description of wheel irrigation in Lahore and Dipalpur, which NCERT quotes.