[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989) › v1.c19.s14.2 # An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c19.s14.2 An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c19.s14.2 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c19.s14.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c19.s14.2) In peninsular India much of the irrigation right from the Neolithic period \[4.6.7-10\] was by means of rainwater ponds and water-reservoirs, while in the n. the stress was more on ‘regulation canals’, linked to the rivers, which were largely perennial but were also perilous. In the s. one notices a sudden emergence without any antecedents of such traits as the construction of megaliths and reservoir irrigation \[4.17\]. The farming systems crystallized in the n. in the early part of the second half of the 1st millennium B.C., as seen from the references to dams (\*setu\*) in the \*Dharma-śāstras\* and \*Artha-śāstra\* and evidenced by the existence of a large rain-fed reservoir of the NBPW period \[4.16\] at ROPAR. They descended deep into the s. and set a model to the early rulers like the Cera-Coḷas, Pāṇḍyas and Pallava-Kadambas, not to speak of the Sātavāhanas. Site 93 of NAGARJUNAKONDA, under the Ikṣvākus, ‘had two ornamental tanks, provided with underground drains, besides a number of wells and paved cisterns .... The square stepped tank with arrangement for overflow of water—the extra water was diverted through a passage on the top joining a very long underground drain—had originally a wooden superstructure adorned internally with lamps, hooks, and so on .... Close to it on the s. was a tortoise-shaped tank connected with an underground drain on either side with two square wells and soak-pits.’ (Sarkar and Misra, 1972, p. 20). - [Previous: v1.c19.s14.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c19.s14.1) - [Next: v1.c19.s14.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c19.s14.3) - [Up: v1.c19.s14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c19.s14) ## Linked texts (2) - [Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.niti.artha.kautilya) — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit - [Nāgārjunakoṇḍa](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.nagarjunakonda) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c19.s14.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c19.s14.2) · Pramāṇa