History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c32.s1.6

v1.c32.s1.6

In the pre-Mauryan period, irrigation from rivers and canals were practised as before. Construction of irrigation works was considered to be an act of religious and social duty. In the *Sabhāparva* (Section V) of the *Mahābhārata* (Roy, p. 14), we find Nārada asking Yudhisthira thus: “Are large tanks and lakes constructed all over thy kingdom at proper distances, without agriculture being in thy realm entirely dependent on the showers of heaven? The interesting part of the Hāthigumpha inscription (*EI*, XX, No. 9, pp. 86-87) of Khāravela (1st cen. A.D.) is the extension at great cost of an ancient canal from the Tosali road. The canal was originally dug by king Nanda of Magadha who conquered Kalinga even before Aśoka and the Mauryans.