The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c11.t14.9

c11.t14.9

The Sudarśana reservoir was built by damming up a small stream. The civil engineers of the Tamils conceived another idea in irrigation. Theirs was the plan of controlling a river at the head of its delta. The principle of anicuts is the distinctively original contribution of the Cholas to mankind’s economic development. Their scheme of dealing with deltaic land has since been accepted everywhere. No nation has been able to improve upon it yet.³ The hundred-mile embankments on the Kâverî and the main channels for irrigation were constructed by Kârikâla (*c* A. C. 150). Râjendra (1018—1035) excavated a large artificial reservoir at his new capital, Gangâikonda Śolapuram. The embankment was sixteen miles long and was provided with several substantial sluices.⁴