The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c15.s3.t5.3.1

v2.c15.s3.t5.3.1

It must, however, be noted here that the State undertook no direct responsibility for the construction and maintenance of irrigation works. No mention of a public-works department or of officials directly appointed with the duty of carrying out irrigation projects is to be found in any of the records of the period. The construction of a tank was regarded as an act of charity which would acquire great religious merit, and as a matter of fact the building of such tanks is included as one of the sapta-saṃtānas or seven acts of righteousness which would perpetuate the name of the doer and establish his fame permanently in the world.¹ The merit accruing from the construction of such tanks is clearly set forth in an inscription of the early 16th century which is of much interest in this connexion: ‘the Gods, men, pitṛis, the gandharvas, uragas, rākṣasas, and the permanent bhūtas, all depend on a tank. The person in whose tank men, beasts, and birds quench their thirst by drinking its water acquires the same merit as attaches to the performance of an aśvamedha. The pita of the excavator of a tank rejoices, the pitāmaha dances (with delight), and even the pitṛis of his cognates join him.’² Influenced profoundly by this belief, the kings and the sāmantas, the nobles and officials, religious leaders, merchants, and wealthy men in general all busied themselves in the construction of tanks, and thus the whole country was provided with an adequate irrigational system.