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History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c32.s2.t1: Dams

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c32.s2.t1

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English

Dams

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Dams are barriers, natural or artificial, to hold back flow of waters. They were in existence from time memorial. Such prehistoric dams, now called Gebr-band, are still to be found on many water-courses in the Western parts of the region. The pre- Aryan method of agriculture depended upon natural flood and flooding the lands on the banks of smaller rivers by means of seasonal dams without regular masonary to obtain the rich alluvial deposit of silt to be stirred by the barrow. These artificial barrier dams broken by Indra are mentioned in the Rgveda (2.15.8, vide Kosambi, 1975, pp. 74-75) in connection with the Vṛtra myth. Here the term Vṛtra stands for ‘obstacle’, ‘barrage’ and so on. Such artificial dams are mentioned in the Rgveda as ‘rodhas’. These mountainous dams had flood gates which are described as the soft belly of the mountain from which the waters flowed. The flood gates are mentioned as bila, ūdha or dūra (RV. 5.32.11, vide Shendge, 1990, p. 255).

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The bridge-cum-dam are generally mentioned in Sanskrit literature as Setu. The word ‘aṇai’ in Tamil denotes a dam which we find mentioned in Tamil literature and inscriptions. Hemadri in the Dānakhaṇḍa of his Catur-varga-cintāmaṇi quotes from Devipurāṇa which says “The measurements of a superior type of Pālibandha are given as 200 cubits by the specialists in their treatises” (Satya Srava, 1953, p.5). The term Pālibandha possibly denotes a dam or embankment. Another term Vipāli mentioned in the Devipurāṇa must be smaller in dimension or subsidiary to Pāli. So the system of damming the rivers was practised for the purpose of irrigation.

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The Kunāla Jātaka (prior to 4th cent. B.C.) mentions a dispute between the Sākiya and the Koliya tribes for the distribution of water from the dam across the river Hohini (Cowell, p. 19; Gupta, 1933). The earliest known reservoir with a dam is the famous ‘Sudarśana’ lake in Kathiawar (c. 300 B.C. - 457 A.D.) (EI, VIII, No. 6, p. 46). This lake was formed by a natural dam and furnished with well-provided conduits and drains. An important fact about this reservoir-cum-dam is that it continued to serve the Saurashtra region for about 400 years without any major repairs. The masonary work must have been very strong. However, the lake suffered heavy damage by a storm during the region of Rudradaman I in 150 A.D. The restoration work was carried out by his governor. After a gap of 300 years the lake again burst out during the reign of Gupta Skandagupta whose governor carried out the repairs and restoration of the embankment in 456 A.D.

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In a late Tamil literary work, Cola-maṇḍala Śatakam (verse 28) we find a reference to the construction of a great dam known as Kal-Aṇai or the Grand Anaicut across the river Kaveri (Nilakantha Sastri, 1932, p. 36). This anicut was not made of earth but of brick and stone. These is no conclusive proof to ascribe the still existing ‘Grand Anicut’ to the early Cola king Karikalan. So the speculation is still rife as to the ruler who was responsible for this great work. Probably the greatest achievement of ancients in executing a large dam-cum-reservoir was the Bhojapur lake near Bhopal built in the 11th century by Bhoja Paramāra (died A.D. 1055-56), the King of Dhārā. This lake was created by carefully erected dams of moderate size and covering an extensive area of 250 square miles. They consisted of an “earthern central band faced on both sides, outer and inner, with immense blocks of stone laid one on the other without mortar, but fitting so truly as to be watertight, the two faces sloping inwards from the base. The lesser opening (barrage) was closed by a band 87 feet in height, and 300 feet thick at the base, or even more the greater (barrage), by one in places 40 feet high, and about 100 feet broad on the top; and, though the first mentioned band is now a complete wreck, the latter is intact and still continues to turn the river Kaliasot into Betwa, and from its top the old bed of the stream is recognisable” (IA, XVII, p. 350ff). The lesser but higher barrage was breached by Shah Hussain (Hoshang Shah) in the 15th century, and has never been restored.

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