Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century: Some Contemporary European Accounts c20.36

c20.36

These works were not always executed at the expense of Government; they were often defrayed by the zeal of wealthy individuals, and sometimes by women. The names of these benefactors are still preserved; but they frequently serve only to commemorate a dry spot, and to point out where a tank had been. Perhaps no circumstance can more strongly show the decline of India than the decay of those works, which were at one time necessary to supply with food an abundant population. The bottoms of many of the tanks are now converted into rice fields, and the waters of others run waste. The dry bottoms still retain moisture, and as they are enriched with the alluvial deposits of a former age, they are eagerly seized by the Husbandman, who is sure to be rewarded by an abundant crop. The ruin of these beneficent labours cannot but give to the traveller in passing, melancholy and unpleasant reflections.