History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c32.s2.t2.1

v1.c32.s2.t2.1

Reservoirs are constructed to impound water to irrigate large tracts of arable land in the absence of rivers and dependable channels leading off from them. Usually a reservoir is surrounded on three sides by earthern embankments and the fourth side is open to the catchment area from which water flows down to collect in the basin of the reservoir. The water reaches the fields by gravity flow, below the embankments through openings or sluice gates or valves. The reservoirs which are fed by channels from rivers are known as “system tanks”. These types of reservoirs were constructed mostly in the southern region to augment irrigation needs. The artificial reservoirs, usually referred to in Anglo-Indian jargon as ‘tanks’, were variously known as *śarasi* (Sanskrit), *ayam*, *eri*, *taṭāka*(Tamil), *samudra*, *sarovara* (Kannada) and so on. The reservoirs were named after the benefactors, royal dignitaries, rulers, dynasties, deities with the above mentioned names as suffixes. To indicate the variation in size and economic importance of tanks, *eri*, *samudra*, *sarovar* applied to very big water formations. Lesser formations, artificial or natural, were also designated by such names.