Water management and fortification in vijaynagar
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Answer:
A great fortification of Vijayanagara was accomplished in the fifteenth century. It also encircled the agricultural heartland and forests. ... (i) It enclosed agricultural tracts, cultivated fields, gardens and forests.
(ii) It had an elaborate canal system which drew water from the Tungabhadra.
The first example taken, is that of the Anantraj Sagar built by the son of the minister of Harihar. The lake is still in use and there are inscriptions on stone near it which provide a thumb rule to constructing lakes. Construction of this lake began in 1369 and was completed in 2 years. The paper states that the length of the dam was 5000 dand, width was 8 dand and the height was 7 dand (One dand is about one metre).
The second example taken is that of the Krishnadeva Sagar. The author discusses how the king diverted the Tungabhadra river, which resulted in increase in agriculture and revenue for the state. There is also mention of how ancient Portuguese travellers to this kingdom, may have misrepresented the technical prowess of the kingdom in the use of limestone, in their recordings to show the kingdom in bad light due to their vested interests.
The author ends by providing proof that ancient India was well versed in the use of limestone in a variety of structures.
This paper was presented at the National Seminar on Water and Culture organised by Kannada University and Sahayoga in 2007.
What were the main features of the water resources that the Vijayanagara Empire had.
· Vijayanagara was located in the natural basin formed by the river Tungabhadra
which flows in the north-easterly direction and the landscape that surrounded the city
with granite hills.
· Many embankments were built along these streams to create reservoirs of
different sizes. Since Vijayanagara was one of the most arid zones of the peninsula,
perfect arrangements were made to store rainwater to be used in the city.
· Kamalapuram tank is the best example for such a tank built in the early years of
the fifteenth century. Water from this tank was used not only for irrigating fields but
was also conducted through a channel to the “royal centre”.
· According to the historians, the Hiriya canal was one of the most prominent
waterworks. This canal drew water from a dam built across the Tungabhadra and
irrigated the cultivated fields that separated the “sacred centre “from the “urban core”.
This canal was built by kings of the Sangama dynasty.
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PDF icon Water management in the Vijaynagar empire - Paper presented at the National Seminar on Water and Culture (2007)
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