History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c32.s2.t9.6

v1.c32.s2.t9.6

The water-rates (*udakabhāgam*), according to the *Arthaśāstra* varied with the modes of irrigation, which were four in number, viz., (1) *Hastaprayartimam* - that is drawing water with the hands and carrying it to the fields in pitchers, etc.,(2) *Skandhaprāvar timam* - by carrying water on the shoulders or the necks of bullocks (*water-lifts worked by bullocks*); (3) *Srotoyantraprāvar-timam* - a mechanism for lifting water from the channels (*kulya*); and (4) *Udghāṭam* - the water-wheel for raising water from rivers, lakes, tanks and wells, *nadīsarasaṭātakakūpadghāṭam* (AŚ. II. 24.41; see also Kangle, 1963, p. 173). These four types of irrigation as mentioned in the *Arthaśāstra* must have been classified for the convenience of taxation and a close study of them would prove how methodically Kautilya had arranged on the basis of their merit, efficiency and the extent of the area of irrigation. Bhoja’s *Samarāṅgaṇa-sūtradhāra* describes a few types of water machines, *vāri-yantras*, but the text does not give a systematic classification of all the *yantras* (Shukla, 1960, I. p. 382).