A presentation by Michel Danino

March 2016

 This presentation offers a brief introduction to the topic and has been designed
as an educational
d ti l module.
d l It claims
l i no completeness,
l t and
d the
th student
t d t wishing
i hi to
t
study the topic further is invited to consult the resources listed at the end.
 Credits for images have been supplied as far as possible; suggestions for
additions or corrections are welcome.
 Not for publication or any commercial use: for private circulation and educational
purposes only.
 Technology?
 “Technology” was not initially “the application of scientific knowledge
to the practical aims of human life” (our current definition). Rather
technology generally came first, and science followed (not always).
 First technology in South Asia: stone artefacts dated in the Soan valley
of Potwar plateau (northern Pakistan) at 2.2 MYA; at Bori, Maharashtra
(1.4 MYA) and at Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu (about 1.5 MYA).
 Earliest evidence of modern Homo sapiens in South Asia: Fa Hien cave
in Sri Lanka, 35,000 BP. Stone tools get perfected in the Upper
Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. The “Neolithic revolution” follows:
agriculture
i lt appears att Mehrgarh
M h h (Baluchistan)
(B l hi t ) around d 7000 BCE

Courrtesy Rakesh Tewari

(barley, millets).
 Possibly earlier in the Ganges valley:
d
domesticated
ti t d rice
i dated
d t d to
t 7477 BCE
at Jhusi (Allahabad dist.); and at
Lahuradewa (Sant Kabir Nagar dist.)
in the 7th millennium BCE (photo).
(photo)

1
 First pottery: hand-made at
Mehrgarh (Baluchistan)
kesh Tewari

between 6000 and 5000

BCE. Shortly afterwards in
the Ganges valley: Jhusi,
ourtesy Rak

Hetapatti (both near

Allahabad), Lahuradewa
(left: coarse corded ware).
Co

2
 Construction technology

Courtesyy Michael Janssen

 (Previous slide) Great Bath at
Mohenjo-daro, with alternating
runners of bricks lengthwise
and widthwise, thanks to their
proportions 1:2:4.
(This slide) Sanitation at
Jansen
n

Mohenjo-daro: private well,

Courtesy Michael

drain (private, then in a public

lane) and sump for maintenance
M

by a municipal force. All made

of kiln-fired bricks.
4
 Kenoyer
urtesy J.M. K
Cou

A brick-built well at Mohenjo-daro. The pressure of infiltrations must have

been high owing to the city
city’s
s proximity to the Indus
Indus, but the trapezoid or
wedge-shaped bricks would have “locked together”, in effect acting as a
horizontal arch to prevent inward collapse. 5
 Transport Technology

(Top)) Typical
(T T i l Harappan
H toy
t cart,
t and
d
terracotta models of wheels from

All courttesy ASI

Banawali and Rakhigarhi (Haryana),
suggesting spokes.
spokes (Right) Sketch of
such wheel models from Bhirrana
(Haryana), with “spokes” modelled in
relief. No actual wheel has however
been recovered (almost all wood
artefacts having decayed).
6
 Ship‐making and sailing technology

Courtesy ASI

(Top) A river boat depicted on a Harappan tablet. (Bottom) A brick-built

basin at Lothal ((216 x 36 m,, with 1.5 to 1.8 m-thick walls),
), identified by
y S.R.
Rao as a tidal dockyard on the basis of its vertical walls, absence of steps,
presence of stone anchors and marine shells, connectivity (at high tide)
with a tributary of the Sabarmati river, and proximity to a large warehouse. 7
Metallurgy Copper / Bronze
Technology

 The first evidence of copper in

India is from Mehrgarh
(Baluchistan): a small copper
bead about 6000 BCE,
probably native copper
copper.
 Beginnings of copper
metallurgy around 4500 BCE
in the Northwest.
Northwest
 (Left) Bronze tools from
Mohenjo-daro. Copper was
alloyed with tin (producing
bronze), arsenic, nickel (both
of which harden bronze) and
y gp
lead in varying proportions.
p
(Courtesy ASI)

8
Vessels from Harappa & Mohenjo-daro

Tools from Dholavira

(Left) Bull from Kalibangan (a

few cm long). Harappans made
few such bronze figurines,
preferring stone or terracotta.
All courtesy ASI
9
The so-called “dancing girl,” a
bronze statuette from Mohenjo-
daro: continuity in the wearing
of bangles and in the bronze-
casting technique ((“lost
lost wax
technique”), still used by
traditional bronze casters in
India.

10
The Harappans sourced copper from several regions: Rajasthan’s
Aravalli Hills (above: a copper-smelting furnace at Khetri, from a
19th-century British report), Ambaji in Gujarat, possibly Oman also.
11
 A bronze figure of
Buddha. Found at
Sultanganj (Bhagalpur
dist.), Bihar, it was
made between 500 to
700 CE by the lost
wax technique. At
2 3m high and 1m
2.3m
wide, it weighs over
500 kg. Now at
Birmingham Museum.
(Courtesy Wikipedia)

12
 y A.V. Balasubramanian
Courtesy n
The Indian bronze-casting tradition
produced outstanding art: (left) a
statue N t āj a Pallava
t t off Natarāja, P ll
innovation (7th to mid-9th century)
adopted and expanded by the
Cholas; (above) A polished bronze
Photo Michel Danino mirror from Aranmula, Kerala.
13
 Jakhera Atranjikhera
(1100 BCE)

Lohra Dewa
Dadupur (1200 BCE)
h Tewari

(1700-1500 BCE)
Courrtesy Rakesh

Jhusi (1100 BCE)

Malhar (1800 BCE)

Raja Nala-Ka-tila (1300-1400 BCE)

Beginnings of iron metallurgy in Ganga plains in the 2nd millennium BCE.

14
 Courtesy Rakesh Tewari

Iron-smelting furnace and

artefacts dated c. 1800 BCE,
Malhar (Distrist Chandauli,
Chandauli
Uttar Pradesh).
15
 Courttesy National Science Centrre, New Delhi
Iron smelting furnace at Naikund (Maharashtra,
Iron-smelting (Maharashtra Megalithic
period, c. 1000 BCE). Air is forced through the tuyère to
raise the temperature.
16
 Metallurgy in Arthashāstra

Access to and control of sources of metal was an important

element of the State, according to Kautilya:
“The Superintendent of Mines should possess knowledge of the
science dealingg with copper
pp and minerals,, he should have
experience in the art of distillation and condensation, and testing
of gems. Aided by experts in mineralogy and provided with mining
labourers and necessary instruments, he shall examine mines
which, on account of their containing mineral wastes, crucibles,
charcoal and ashes, may appear to have been once exploited, or
which may be discovered nearby on plains or mountain slopes
possessing
i mineral
i l ores, the
th richness
i h off which
hi h can be
b ascertained
t i d
by weight, depth of colour, piercing smell and taste.” (2.12)

17
 Although iron melts at a higher
t
temperature
t th
than copper, it is
i easy
to smelt and forge and offers more
possibilities for tool-making than
bronze.
bronze
 India is rich in iron ore, especially
the Vindhyas and Himalayas.
 IIn the
th late
l t 1600s
1600 shipments
hi t off ttens
of thousands of wootz* ingots
would leave the Coromandel coast
for Persia.
Persia ((* See next slides)
 India’s iron and steel industry was
intensive till the 18th century; it
revived in the 20th century.
century

Gilded wrought-iron statue of Buddha

(c. 600 CE, Lucknow State Museum)
Courtesy R. Balasubramaniam
18
 Produced in the Deccan (see next
slide), wootz steel was famed in the
Mediterranean world for its ability to
be worked into thin blades; it was
fashioned into swords and other
weapons att Damascus.
D “D
“Damascus
swords” were renowned for their
sharpness and toughness. India’s
wootz industry died during the 19th
century.
(Left) An artist’s depiction of
Alexander the Great receiving from
King Porus a tribute of wootz steel
Courtesy Sharada Srinivasan & S. Ranganathan (as recorded by a Roman historian).

Metallurgists in England (Pearson, Stodart and Faraday), France (Bréant),

Russia, Switzerland and Italy tried to master the secrets of wootz from the
18th century onward. These researches led to the understanding of the role
of carbon in steel and promoted new techniques in steel-making.

19
South Indian sites where
wootz steel was
manufactured.
f t d A mixture
i t
of iron ore and charcoal
with glass was sealed
and heated in crucibles
in a furnace. (Typical
carbon content is 1.5%.)

Map & photo courtesy Sharada

Srinivasan & S. Ranganathan

20
 Indian weapons made
of wootz during the
medieval era. The
first British experts
who studied wootz
steel found it “better
than the steel
produced anywhere
else in the world”.

Courtesy Sharada Srinivasan & S. Ranganathan 21

 Living traditions of iron smelting:
the Agarias of U.P. and M.P. are
famous metal workers; there are
many other
th communities iti across
Jharkhand, Bihar, West-Bengal,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu....
These metal-working
Th t l ki
communities played a crucial role
in India’s economy. Iron made by
such metal workers in the 1960s
was comparable to that of the
Delhi Iron Pillar. (See Slide 24)
(Top left) Collecting the ore-
ore
bearing soil. (Bottom) Preparing
the smelting furnace.

Courtesy A.V. Balasubramanian 22

 (Left) Increasing the heat
by pumping in air through
b ll
bellows.
(Bottom) Clay crucibles
and the end result.

Courtesy A.V. Balasubramanian

23
The Delhi Iron Pillar (Kutub
Minar Complex, Delhi), at 6 tons
a manufacturing marvel made
by horizontal forge welding. A
thin layer of a compound of
iron, phosphorus and oxygen
makes it rust-resistant. (Precise
f
formulal worked
k d out by
b R.
R
Balasubramaniam, IIT Kanpur,
in photo left.)

24
 The broken rust-
resistant Dhar iron
pillar (Madhya
Pradesh, 13th
century),) about
15m in length.
Courttesy R. Balasubramaniam

25
A few of Odisha’s large temples made use of rust-resistant
iron beams to reinforce their structure. 26
Iron beams at Konarak
Konarak’s
s Sūrya temple.
temple (Courtesy R
R.K.
K Mohanty)

27
 Photo Miichel Danino
Indian cannons often used rust-resistant iron
(top: Thanjavur fort, Tamil Nadu). 28
Research by R. Balasubramaniam: possible use in construction and
railways of phosphoric iron of the Delhi Iron Pillar kind.

29
 Lead‐zinc extraction: the Khetri belt in the north of the
Aravallis and Pur‐Banera in the south

Underground mining at Zawarmala

(depth about 185 m).

Deep shaft at Hiran Magra

(35 km south of Udaipur) for
lead-zinc ore.
30
 al Science Ce
esy Nationa
Courte Delhi
entre, New D
Zinc having a low boiling point (907°C) tends to vaporize while its ore is
smelted; pure zinc could be produced only through a “downward
distillation” technique, in which the vapour was captured and
condensed in terracotta retorts. 31
 Gems and minerals
enoyer
Courrtesy J.M. Ke

Harappan bead
bead-making
making involved many technologies: grinding,
grinding
cutting, carving, incising, polishing and drilling. Drilling long
carnelian beads (above: found in Mesopotamia) was a delicate and
time-consuming exercise; bits were made of a modified hard stone
called “Ernestite” (in honour of Ernest Mackay), whose origin and
composition is not yet fully understood.
32
 noyer
esy J.M. Ken
Courte

Harappans also mastered the techniques of bleaching (left) and

faience making (right). Faience is a synthetic, glass-like material
made from ground quartz after melting and grinding it again.
again

33
 Beads and bangles from
Kopia (Uttar Pradesh).

Courtesy Alok Kanungo

Glass technology was perfected

in the second half of the 2nd
millennium BCE. It soon spread
to all parts of India.

34
 The Navaratna or nine precious gems
 Diamond (vajra).
 Pearl (muktā)
 Ruby (mānikya)
 Sapphire (indranīla)
 Emerald (marakata)
 Coral (vidruma)
 Jacinth (gomeda)
 Topaz (pushparāga)
 Lapis lazuli (vaidūrya)

This lists appears in classical texts (other lists

go up to 36). All of the above minerals have
been documented in the archaeological record.

35
 Chemical Technologies

Praphulla Chandra Ray was a renowned

teacher, researcher of chemisty and
historian of Indian chemistry.
chemistry He also set
up several chemical industries in Bengal as
part of his commitment to Swadeshi. 36
 Traditional chemical practices in India

 Pottery: involves prolonged heating, fusion,

evaporation, treatment of minerals and pigments
 metal-working: gold, copper/bronze, tin, brass, lead,
silver, iron, zinc
 preparation of mortar and cement: limestone, gypsum
and their modified forms
 preparation
p p of fermented juices
j
 extraction of essential oils
 production of pigments for dyeing
 production
d ti and
d treatment
t t t off glass.
l

37
 Indian principles of alchemy

 Chemistry-cum-alchemy = rasashāstra, rasavidyā or dhātuvāda.

Rasa = essence, taste, sap, juice, semen, nectar, also mercury.
 An esoteric symbolism: mercury = the male principle (Shiva);
sulphur = the female principle (Shakti). An interplay with Tantrism.
(In Chinese alchemy, mercury is female and sulphur male.)
 Transmuting base metals into gold and the pursuit of the Elixir of
Life appear in India around the 5th century CE (Gupta age).
 Mercury is seen as divine in the alchemical practices,
preparations and processes
processes. It is believed to bestow occult
powers, including invisibility.
 Mercurial preparations are said to give
long life and youthful vigour.
vigour As a result,
result
some Ayurvedic and Siddha medicines
are mercury-based, but undergo complex
processes so as to reach non
non-toxic
toxic
mercury compounds (next slide). Native cinnabar (mercuric
sulphide, HgS) 38
 18 processes for the preparation of mercury
Texts of chemistry list these processes, but without precise descriptions:
1. svedanam: steaming or heating using a water bath
2. mardanam: grinding or trituration
3 mūrchanam: “swooning”
3. swooning or making mercury lose its form
4. utthāpanam / uddharana: revival of form
5. patānam: sublimation or distillation
6. rodhanam / bodhanam: potentiation
p
7. niyāmanam: restraining
8. sandīpanam: stimulation or kindling
9. gaganabhaksanam or abhrakagrāsa: consumption of “essence” of mica
10. chāranam: amalgamation
11. garbhadruti: liquefaction — internal
12. bāhyadruti : liquefaction — external
13 jāranam: digestion or assimilation
13.
14. ranjanam: coloration
15. sāranam: blending or preparation for transformation
16. samkrāmanam: acquiring power of transformation
17. vedhavidhi: actual transformation or transmutation
18. sharīra yoga: becoming fit for internal use
39
 Examples of chemical apparatus

Drawings
g courtesy
y National Science Centre,, New Delhi,, based on P.C. Ray
y

(Right to left) Koshthi yantra, dolā yantra, ādhana yantra, dhūpa yantra,
respectively for (1) for the extraction of “essences” of metals, (2) to absorb
a liquid’s vapours, (3) to let vapours descend into the lower vessel and
combine with substances kept there, (4) for fumigation of gold leaves or
silver foils with fumes of sulphur or other substances.

40
 Writing Materials

 Initially, materials such as birch bark (bhūrja patra). (Bottom left) A

birch-bark manuscript from Kashmir, 17th century.
 Also palm leaves (bottom right), more suited to south Indian scripts.
 The ink was often made of finely ground charcoal powder in a
medium of gum, or soot from oil lamps.
 Writing and preservation of manuscripts involved considerable skills.

Courtesy Wikipedia
41
 Paper as filtered pulp shaped into thin sheets (originally
manufactured in China in the 2nd c. CE) appeared in India in the
12th century. It is not know whether the technique was indigenous
p
or imported.
 The earliest Indian paper manuscript (in the Ashutosh Museum,
Kolkata) is datable to 1105 CE; it was made from the fibres of a
mountain plant.
p
 Paper manuscripts retained the shape of palm-leaf manuscripts for
some time.
 In A Voyage to Suratt in Year 1689,
1689 J.J Ovington describes long
scrolls of paper, 3 m in length and 30 cm in width, which were
smooth, slick and shining. Several other European visitors from
the 15th to the 18th century,
y, testify
y that Indian p
paper
p was of high
g
quality and even exported to countries like Persia.
 In the 19th century, Indian hand-made paper declined after the
emergence
g of paper
p p mills.

42
 Manuscript of
the Rig-Veda
( l 19th
(early
century), inked
on Indian paper

Courtesy Wikipedia 43
 Textile & Dyeing

 Spindle whorls of terracotta found in Harappan settlements testify to

hand spinning of cotton. In addition, minute fragments of dyed woven
cotton found stuck to a silver vase at Mohenjo-daro: one of the two
earliest known example of cotton in the world (the other being Peru).
 Evidence of weaving through clay impressions (below).

Courtesy J.M. Kenoyer

44
 Microscopic analysis of thread
fragments found inside copper-
alloy ornaments from Harappa and
steatite microbeads (bottom) from
Chanhu-daro have yielded silk
fibres dating to 2450–2000 BCE.
 Earliest evidence in the world for
any silk outside China (and from
the same period as the earliest
Chinese silk).
 This renders obsolete the
established view that sericulture
was an exclusively Chinese
technique.

Courtesy I.L. Good et al.

45
 The late Vedic literature refer to
clothes, cotton (kārpasa),
weaving and looms.
 From Budhist literature: when
Amrapali, a courtesan from the
kingdom of Vaishali met Gautama
Buddha, she is said to have worn
a richly woven semi-transparent
sari, which testifies to the
excellence of weaving.
 The Ajanta paintings (right),
among others, are a rich source
of information on clothes worn
some 2 2,000
000 years
ears ago and on the
techniques of weaving, including
different dyes, which have been
related to vegetal as well as
mineral pigments.
46
 India was a major exporter of
textiles during the Roman trade
(cotton and silk) and right up to
th colonial
the l i l era.
 Hoards of fragments of cotton
material from Gujarat were found
in Egyptian tombs at Fustat,
Fustat from
the 5th century CE (left).
 India exported cotton to China,
silk to Indonesia
s do es a a
and
daall tthe
e way
ay
to the Far East.
 India’s textile industry was
ruined by the colonial rule and
the mechanization of weaving.

47
 A few Indian specialties (apart from silk)
 Muslin: a thin, loosely woven cotton fabric suitable for
hot climates (introduced into Europe from Bengal in the
17th century). “The most common method of testing the
fineness of the muslin was to determine if the piece of
woven cloth could be passed through a lady’s finger
ring.” Useful as gauze too.
 Calico: a plain-woven textile made from unbleached
cotton, resulting in a slightly coarse cloth (originally
from Kozhikode or Calicut, in Kerala, hence the name).
 Chintz is a form of Calico printed with floral and other
colour patterns (from 1600 CE, first brought to Europe
by Portuguese and Dutch traders). Chintz became so
popular
l ini Europe
E (this
(thi was known
k as th
the “Calico
“C li
Chintz from the
craze”) that its mills suffered. It was banned from
Coromandel
import by France (1686) and England (1720). Coast, 1710-25.
 IIndian
di made
d extensive
t i use off hard
h d fibres
fib such
h as hemp
h
(from cannabis), flax (or linen) and jute (from Bengal).
48
India has a long tradition of sophisticated handlooms;
(above) a pit loom from Odisha. 49
 Description and sketch adapted from Lotika Varadarajan and Krishna Amin Patel

A sketch of a pāṭolā loom used in many parts of India. Its parts are:
(1) pole for fastening the loom; (2) warp beam; (3) ditto; (4) stick; (5),
(6), (7) cross-mechanism with indented stick; (8) shed rod; (9)
pressure bar with handle; (10) heddle rod mechanism and heddles;
(11) sword; (12) breast beam; (13) shuttle.
50
 Dyes
 India produced numerous dyes from vegetal and
mineral sources. Two examples of vegetal dyes are:
 Madder: a vine that yields a red dye.
 Indigo:
g p planted on a wide scale in the late 18th
century in eastern India. The dye was mostly
exported to Europe. Peasants were induced to
switch from food crops to indigo and trapped by
loans. They were treated cruelly and revolted in
1859-61 (the “Indigo rebellion”); the revolt was
brutally suppressed.

(Left)
(L ft) Silk b
brocade,
d early
l
Mughal period (16th century)
51
Cosmetics

From ancient times Indian

perfumes were reputed in
I di and
India d beyond.
b d
Varāharamihira’s Brihat
Samhitā describes the
manufacture
f t off perfumes
f
(especially for the royalty
and the harems): scented
water for bathing
bathing, scented
hair oil, scent to
aggravate passion,
perfume for cloths,, for
p
mouth, scented tooth
sticks... (Left) A matrix-
based method used to
mix 16 basic components
in 1820 combinations.
52
 Ice Makingg

India developed some unexpected technologies.

 An example is ice making in pre-refrigerator times! It is
documented during Moghul times: the rulers were fond of ice and
stored it in an “ice house” each year from November.
 A large hole 6 to 7 feet deep was dug, with raised sides, filled with
dry straw for 4 to 5 ft, over which new terracotta plates (3 to 4
inches deep) were placed.
 The dishes were filled with water in the evening. Ice would form
two to three hours later. Ice production was renewed two to three
times in a single night. Plates were then broken and ice lumps
welded together with water and stored in ice rooms for the rest of
the year. (Adapted from the testimony of French traveller Legoux
de Flaix, 1788)

53
 W th P
Weather Prediction
di ti

 Any agrarian society develops weather

prediction methods. In India, they were often
based on folk traditions related to the
observation of the blooming patterns of wild
flowers (e.g. the Todas of the Nilgiris, left).
 Varāharamihira’s Brihat Samhita has
habra
y Tarun Chh

chapters on weather prediction based

mostly on the dominant types of clouds.
 Pañchāngas (traditional almanacs) give
Courtesy

yearly predictions for weather, generally

based on astrology.

54
 Rocket Making

From the 16th century onward,

rockets began being used in
warfare
f in
i India.
I di Hyder
H d Ali,
Ali the
th
18th-century ruler of Mysore,
and his son and successor,
Tipu Sultan,
Sultan used rockets to
great effect in the Anglo-
Mysore Wars against the
p y,
British East India Company,
with a “rocket corps” of
thousands of men. The British
took a few rockets to England
for closer study, which ended
A painting by Charles Hubbell depicting Indian up boosting rocket technology
rockets raining down on East Indian Company
soldiers in the 1780 Battle of Guntur. (Courtesy in European warfare. (Study by
http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/rocketry/11.html) R dd
Roddam N
Narasimha)
i h )

55
 W t Management
Water M t

The Indian subcontinent

subcontinent’s
s monsoon-driven regime of rainfall
compelled the early development of a variety of techniques of
water management, especially for agricultural purposes. By
water management is meant:

 Water harvesting
 Water storage
 Water distribution

Except for the basic pond and check-dam, water management

techniques rarely applied to all regions of India; they differed
depending on the local climate, topography and social customs.
Let us review a few of them.

56
 enoyer
urtesy J.M. Ke
Cou
Where the water table was high, this brick-built Harappan well acted
as the main water source ((see Slide 5).
) Mohenjo-daro
j had an
estimated 700 such wells, most of them in private houses. In the
Lower Town, the average distance between wells was about 35 m.
57
 In the Rann of Kachchh,
today a very arid area,
were found the ruins of
Dholavira, a major
H
Harappan site
it (2600–1900
(2600 1900
BCE). To feed its extensive
hydraulic system,
rainwater was diverted
from two seasonal nullahs
(in blue) through a series
of dams and stored in
interconnected reservoirs.
One-fourth to one-third of
the city’s fortified area was
earmarked for water
harvesting and
distribution.
Adapted from Archaeological Survey of India’s plan

58
 ASI
Courtesy A
Remains of a dam on one of the nullahs.
59
Computer
reconstructions
of Dholavira and
its water storage.

60
 Photos Michel Danino
Stepped reservoirs in the “Castle”, interconnected
through underground drains (red arrows). 61
 no
Photo Michel Danin

(Above) Circular stone well in

Dholavira’s “Castle”. (Right)
Underground
g stormwater drain in
the “Castle”, leading to one of the
reservoirs; the intention was clearly
to capture every drop of rainfall.

Courtesy ASI

62
 Danino
hotos Michel D

Courtesy ASI
Ph

The colossal reservoir

east of the Castle
((73 x 29 m),
), with two
stairways for access.
(Above right) It had a
small stepped well at
the bottom (see red
arrow for location).
63
 Photos Michel Danino
(Left) A rock-cut reservoir (33 x 9 m) south of the Castle, with a secondary
reservoir (15.5 x 5.7 m) at the bottom. (Right) Underground drain connecting
two reservoirs, ensuring equalization of levels and a better distribution.

64
 Thousands of stone
gabarbands (“Zoroastrian
dam”) were built in Sindh
Kohistan Kirthar and
Kohistan,
Baluchistan (the ancient
Gedrosia region), some
going back to the 3rd
millennium BCE. They were
built to divert (not impound)
water and let alluvium build
up, creating small, fertile and
naturally watered fields.

Courtesy G.L. Possehl

65
 In Vedic and late Vedic thought
thought, water is seen
as life-giving and purifying, therefore sacred:

“The divine waters that flow whether in channels dug or self-

born, whose movement is towards the Ocean —may those
divine waters foster me!”
Rig-Veda, 7.49.2

“It is the waters which pervade everything, big or small, the

earth, the atmosphere, the heaven, the mountains, gods,
men, animals, birds, grass, plants, dogs, worms, insects,
ants. All these are water indeed.”
Chhandogya Upanishad, 7.10.1

66
 Ganga and
Yamuna
(Ahichhatra, U.P.)
continue a
al Museum

tradition initiated
by Sarasvati in
the Rig-Veda,
which sees rivers
Courttesy Nationa

as fostering
mothers. Indian
civilization has
indeed been
river-based.
67
 The Arthashāstra and Irrigation
g Works

 In his Arthashāstra, Kautilya (300 BCE?) mentions water divining,

water-lifting devices and various irrigation techniques.
 Farmers had to pay for water: the lowest rate for water “from their
own water works”, the highest “when set flowing in channels by a
mechanism”.
 Tanks were built for common use by pooling resources from local
inhabitants. Tax exemptions of varying durations were granted for
new or renovated tanks.
 Fines were prescribed for obstructing or diverting a water course,
failing to cooperate in the building of an irrigation tank, damaging
embankments, or causing a lower tank to dry up by constructing a
tank on a higher level.
 Overall, such measures reflect a far more responsible use of water
resources than what we practise today.

68
 Water Structures in Inscriptions

 Numerous inscriptions record constructions of tanks (tatāka) and

ponds (vāpi), also their maintenance: desilting, repair of
embankments, sluices, irrigation channels.... Irrigation with well water
was also prevalent.
 Taxes paid by water diviners are acknowledged in some inscriptions.
 Perur,, Pattisvara temple
p (Coimbatore),
( ), 13th century
y CE: an inscription
p
records the Konguchola king Vijayabahu’s orders regarding water
management on the Noyyal River: a new dam must not affect an older
one, which should be allowed to fill first. The new dam was designed
to store water in times of excess.
 A 16th-century inscription from Andhra Pradesh: “Even gods, men,
ancestors, celestial beings, reptiles, immovables, demons and spirits
depend on the water of the reservoirs and the water impounded in
such works will quench the thirst of the animals, birds, human beings
and others. As a result, those who construct such reservoirs will earn
th punya off performing
the f i the
th ashvamedha
h dh sacrifice.”
ifi ”

69
 Perhaps as a
continuation of the
Harappan concept of
interconnected
reservoirs (at
Dh l i ) we find
Dholavira), fi d att
Sringaverapura
(Allahabad dist., U.P., 1st
century y BCE,, excavated
by B.B. Lal), a series of
reservoirs, some of
them with wells at the
bottom The system
bottom.
diverted water from the
Ganges, with any
excess returned to the
river. Such well-
conceived and effective
systems could still be
highly useful today.
today
Courtesy Dying Wisdom, Centre for Science and Environment
70
 urtesy ASI
Cou
In the 1st millennium BCE, the well of trapezoid
bricks gave way to terracotta ring wells (above:
Rupnagar; below: Mamallapuram, Pallava
period). One advantage was that while the brick
(or stone) well had to be built from bottom up,
which was often unsafe
unsafe, the ring well could
generally be built from top, allowing the
column of rings to descend gradually.
71
 Classical and early medieval era

nino
o Michel Dan
Photo
Kallanai or Grand Anicut on the Kaveri River,
River downstream of the
Srirangam island. Its initial structure (restored here) is said to have been
built by Karikala Chola some 1800 years ago: 320 m long, 20 m wide. It
was a water-diverting device intended to keep the Kaveri waters from
flowing into the faster and steeper Kollidam (Coleroon), thus allowing a
much larger region to receive the waters of the Kaveri for irrigation.
72
5
 Courtesy Chitra Krishnan & Srinivas Veeravalli

The red arrow points to the Grand Anicut, which keeps

the Kaveri and the Kollidam apart.

73
Courtesy Dying Wisdom, Centre for Science and Environment

Water management at Burhampur (M.P., Mughal era). Groundwater

from the Satpura hills is captured through a network of collection
chambers (jali karanj) and channelled to the town. (The air shafts
are required to equalize the pressure levels.)

74
An example of
horizontally dug
tunnel
75
Courtesy Dying Wisdom, Centre for Science and Environment

The system has all but collapsed because of uncleared

sedimentation, disappearance of tree cover on the hillsides,
contamination of groundwater by industries, etc. Air shafts
were eventually
t ll used d as wells
ll (top
(t right),
i ht) then
th fell
f ll into
i t disuse.
di

76
 S
Suchh systems
t off “horizontal
“h i t l wells”
ll ” have
h existed
i t d in
i many parts
t off
India, perhaps of Persian origin (qanat).
 In Kerala, they are called surangams and may extend up to 300
metres into the hillside; the water thus collected is usually collected
in a tank. The tunnels are dug over a generation or two (photos).

Courtesy Dying Wisdom, Centre for Science and Environment

77
 The khadin
system of 15th-
century
Rajasthan: the
bund acts as a
check-dam,
which
i
impounds
d
water and
feeds the well
downstream.
downstream
Courtesy Dying Wisdom, Centre for Science and Environment
78
 esy Wikipediaa
Courte

Reservoir collecting waters from a local spring at Chittor,

Chittor Rajasthan,
Rajasthan
a fort atop a 152 m-high hillock. Indian forts had efficient water-
harvesting systems, a essential condition to sustain a siege.
79
Courtesy Dying Wisdom, Centre for Science and Environment

Water harvesting at Jodhpur, capturing runoff water from the plateau

as well as seepage water through wells and step-wells.

80
 ce and Environment
sy Dying Wiisdom, Centre for Scienc
Courtes

Jodhpur s water supply scheme was much developed under Maharaja

Jodhpur’s
Jaswant Singh II (19th century): an integrated system of lakes, bunds,
canals, etc.
81
 sdom, Centre
y Dying Wis
Courtesy onment
ce and Enviro
e for Scienc

Flood irrigation in Bengal: a side canal is created by breaching the river’s

embankment Useful specially with shallow rivers
embankment. rivers. The floodwaters
floodwaters, rich in
silt, are used for irrigation.
82
 Sahasralinga system of
tanks and channels near
Patan (Gujarat), diverting
water from the nearby
(now seasonal) Sarasvati
river through a network of
channels.

The first reservoir (top)

Danino
also served as a settling
tank, the level of its

otos Michel D
outlet (red arrow) being
higher than the level of
the inlet.

Pho
83
 no
Michel Danin
Photo M
Shrines to Gangā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī at the end of a channel in
Patan’s Sahasralinga system: a reminder that water and rivers are sacred.
84
 hotos Michel Danino
Ph

Rānī Ki Vāv stepwell at

Patan,, Gujarat:
j a civic
water structure but also a
wonderful masterpiece of
sculptured panels.

85
 Rānī Ki Vāv: sculpted
panels of Varāha (right) or
Shiva (below) with apsaras
( t nymphs):
(water h ) a civic
i i
structure enriched with
sacred art.

Michel Danino
Photos M

86
Photo Michel Danino

(Top) A temple tank at the Modhera Sun

temple (Gujarat). (Right) A stepwell at Chand
Baori (Rajasthan), built in the 9th century:
3500 narrow steps in 13 levels, designed to Courtesy Wikipedia
minimize exposure to sunlight and loss of
water
ater thro
through
gh e
evaporation.
aporation Stepwells
Step ells are
specially common in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
87
Photo Michel Danino
P

A pushkarini in the palace area of Vijayanagara (Hampi):

combining usefulness and aesthetics.
88
Photos Michel Danino

Aqueducts in the palace area of Vijayanagara

(Hampi), bringing water from a distance to the
pushkarini (previous slide).

89
 vas Veeravalli

Anangpur Dam in
Haryana (built during the
reign of King Anangpal in
the 8th century).
century) It
urtesy Sriniv

intercepts a stream
flowing from the Aravalli
Hills and stores rainwater
Cou

during the monsoon

season (103 x 20 m and
12 m high, built with
quartzite stones).

90
 Simple but efficient and low-
maintenance irrigation
networks made of slit
bamboos in the Northeast,
carrying
i springi watert
kilometres away for
irrigation of fields under
cultivation.
cultivation
Courtesy Dying Wisdom, Centre for
Science and Environment 91
A series of tanks on the Palar
river basin of Tamil Nadu
(Chillapanahalli sub-series)
showing the relative sizes of
the tanks and their
interconnections. The tanks’
networking ensured more
effective water-harvesting and
distribution. (See next slide)
(Courtesy & study by Chitra Krishnan
& Srinivas V Veeravalli) 92
 More than 1500 tanks have been built in the basin of this river. The
connectivity is complex and the variation in sizes is considerable. The
11 largest tanks (capacity over 1 Mm3) can hold 60% of the total
storage, while the remaining 187 tanks can hold only 40%. Small tanks
were so numerous probably forf a more decentralized and effective
ff
distribution.
 In northeast Karnataka, a similar water management system collapsed
with the coming off the Bahmani kingdom in the 14th century, leading to
the region’s impoverishment (study by S. Nagaraju).
 Most of these structures were maintained by specific communities.
However, under the colonial rule, the administration took over their
management, entrusting it to the Public Works Department. Neither the
officials nor the PWD engineers understood their functioning, or even
if they did
did, could effectively maintain them.
them
 Lesson from the past: large irrigation projects can easily fail (because
of silting, evaporation, loss in transport etc.); small-scale,
decentralized water management can be very successful if local
communities participate.
93
 Concluding remarks
 In many fields India perfected advanced technologies early on.
 Europeans practised “reverse engineering” in the case of wootz
steel, zinc distillation, Sushruta’s rhinoplasty and Tipu Sultan’s
rockets.
 Some ancient technologies remain relevant today: metallurgical
techniques, water management and irrigation, textile, crafts,
Ayurveda, organic agriculture, etc.
 There is still much scope for documenting, assessing and
streamlining some of those traditional knowledge systems.
 India’s
d a s ancient
a c e t water
ate management
a age e t techniques
tec ques and a d st
structures
uctu es
remain highly relevant in our present times of growing water
crisis. Let us learn from them before it is too late.

94
 Further reading
Anil Agarwal & Sunita Narain, (eds), Dying Wisdom: Rise, Fall and Potential of
India’s Traditional Water-Harvesting Systems, Centre for Science and
Environment, New Delhi, 1997
DP A
D.P. Agrawal,l Ancient
A i t Metal
M t l Technology
T h l and
d Archaeology
A h l off South
S th Asia
A i (A Pan-
P
Asian Perspective), Aryan Books International, New Delhi, 2000
D.P. Agrawal, Harappan Technology and its Legacy, Rupa & Infinity Foundation,
New Delhi,, 2009
T.R. Anantharaman, The Rustless Wonder: A Study of the Iron Pillar at Delhi,
Vigyan Prasar, New Delhi, 1996
A.K. Bag, ed., History of Technology in India, Vol. 1: From Antiquity to c. 1200
AD Indian
AD, I di National
N ti lS
Science
i A
Academy,
d N
New D Delhi,
lhi 1997
R. Balasubramaniam, Delhi Iron Pillar: New Insights, Indian Institute of Advance
Study, Shimla & Aryan Books International, New Delhi 2002
R. Balasubramaniam, Marvels of Indian Iron through the Ages, Rupa & Infinity
Foundation, New Delhi, 2008
R. Balasubramaniam, The Saga of Indian Cannons, Aryan Books International,
2008
Arun Kumar Biswas, Minerals and Metals in Ancient India, D.K. Printworld, New
Delhi, 1996
95
Fredrick W. Bunce: The Iconography of Water: Well and Tank Forms of the
Indian Subcontinent,
Subcontinent DK Printworld
Printworld, New Delhi
Delhi, 2013
Kalyan Kumar Chakravarty, Gyani Lal Badam, & Vijay Paranpye, (eds),
Traditional Water Management Systems of India, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya
Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal, and Aryan Books International, New Delhi, 2006
D. J. Davison-Jenkins, The Irrigation and Water Supply Systems of
Vijayanagara, Manohar & American Institute of Indian Studies New Delhi,
1997
Dharampal Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century,
Dharampal, Century Academy
of Gandhian Studies, Hyderabad, 1971, republ. Other India Bookstore, Goa,
2000
Nitya Jacob, Jalyatra: Exploring India's Traditional Water Management Systems,
Penguin Books, 2008
Morna Livingston & Milo Beach, Steps to Water: The Ancient Stepwells of India,
Princeton Architectural Press, 2002
K V Mital,
K.V. Mital ed.,
ed History of Technology in India
India, Vol.
Vol 3: From 1801 to 1947 AD,
AD
Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, 2001
Acharya Praphulla Chandra Ray, A History of Hindu Chemistry, 1902, republ.,
Shaibya Prakashan Bibhag, centenary edition, Kolkata, 2002
P. Ray, History of Chemistry in Ancient and Medieval India, Indian Chemical
Society, Calcutta, 1956
96
B.N.
B N Seal
Seal, Hindu Chemistry
Chemistry, 1911,
1911 republ.
republ Bharatiya Kala Prakashan
Prakashan, New Delhi
Delhi,
2008
Uma Shankari & Esha Shah, Water Management Traditions in India, PPST
Foundation, Chennai, 1993
Rina Shrivastava, Mining and Metallurgy in Ancient India, Munshiram
Manoharlal, New Delhi, 2006
Sharada Srinivasan & Srinivasa Ranganatha, India’s Legendary Wootz Steel: An
World, 2nd edn,
Advanced Material of the Ancient World edn Universities Press
Press,
Hyderabad, 2014
T.M. Srinivasan, Irrigation and Water Supply: South India, 200 BC – 1600 AD,
New Era Publications, Madras, 1991
B.V. Subbarayappa, ed., Chemistry and Chemical Techniques in India, Project of
History of Indian Science, Philosophy and Culture, & Centre for Studies in
Civilizations, New Delhi, vol. IV, part 1, 1999
Vibha Tripathi,
Tripathi The Age of Iron in South Asia: Legacy and Tradition,
Tradition Aryan
Books International, New Delhi, 2001
Vibha Tripathi, History of Iron Technology in India: From Beginning To Pre-
Modern Times, Rupa & Infinity Foundation, New Delhi, 2008

97