The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t5.2

v2.c15.s3.t5.2

Before the time of the Kākatīyas the tanks were small, the irrigation facilities were quite inadequate, and the area under cultivation was usually very limited in extent. The Kākatīyas were the first to realize that the red and sandy soil of Teliṅgaṇa, lying on a bed of granite and crystalline rock, was extremely fertile and eminently suitable for wet cultivation, though its porous character demanded a plentiful supply of water to make it fruitful and to yield sufficient grain to feed the people. They also saw that if the waters flowing down the many rivers and streams in the country could be conserved and utilized for the purposes of agriculture, wet crops could be raised on a large scale, and the economic wealth of the country greatly increased. They accordingly conceived the idea of constructing large tanks or dams in which water sufficient to irrigate vast areas of land could be stored up. The kind of tank constructed by them became very popular in later ages on account of its suitability for the country; and the rulers who succeeded them followed their example by repairing old tanks and constructing many new ones in places where they did not already exist.