The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c18.76

c18.76

The proper regulation of irrigation is a matter of prime importance in India; and it is much to the credit of Chandragupta that he maintained a special Irrigation Department charged with the duty of measuring the lands, and so regulating the sluices that every one should receive his fair share of the life-giving water. The allusion to the measurement of lands as part of the duty of the Irrigation Department indicates that a water-rate must have been levied, and the reference to sluices implies a regular system of canals.¹