Food Sources: Earth, Water, and Air - Food Culture and Health in Pre-Modern Islamic Societies - page 66

but Ibn Baūā's reference to the cultiva-
tion of the seasonal fruits and vegetables
at its sides during the summer shows
that the water was used for irrigation
also. Ibn Baūa also informs us that it
was two miles long by half that breadth.
Iāmī alludes to the Ča ª mā-yi āftāb (“sun
spring”, i.e. the famous Sūra ¡ Kūnd near
Dihlī) as its source of water. The details
furnished by Sultan Fīrūz- · āh and the
compiler of the Sīrat-i Fīrūz- · āhī about
its repair contain reference to the origi-
nal channels that were led off from the
river ⁄ amunā to the lake. These chan-
nels supplemented the rain water which
sufficed for the whole year.
Like Iltutmi ª , his nobles also evinced
keen interest in public utility works. Evi-
dence from contemporary epigraphic
sources shows that, during his and his
successors' reigns, a number of lakes and
tanks were constructed in the provinces.
In Palwal (in Haryānā State) a tank was
excavated in 608/1211. Another inscrip-
tion found at Bārī ‡ ātū (in the District of
Nāgawr in Ra ¡ asthān) mentions the con-
struction of a lake by the officer Masūd,
son of Amad ‡ al ¡ ī, in 629/1232. It
must have provided relief both to the cul-
tivators and travellers in the torrid climate
of the desert.
Little information is available about the
excavation of lakes and tanks in Dihlī as
well as in provinces during the ‡ al ¡ ī
and the Tu ∞ luid periods. Sultan Alā
al-Dīn ‡ al ¡ ī is credited with having
taken an interest in developing irrigation
in his empire for the progress of agricul-
ture. By the time he occupied the throne
of Dihlī (695/1296), the aw-i · amsī
had silted up and the city had expanded
considerably. Therefore, he had the
aw cleared of silt and its embankments
repaired. Moreover, he ordered the con-
struction of a new lake, larger in area than
the aw-i · amsī , outside the wall of his

new capital of Sīrī (near Dihlī), and this
came to be known as the aw-i ¶ ā.
Baranī's reference to the bālā-band-i Sīrī ,
contained in his account of the construc-
tion of the beautiful buildings by Sultan
Fīrūz- · āh (752-90/1351-88) thereon,
tends to suggest that the dam was built
with lofty embankments for the storage of
rain water in the nearby area. The con-
struction of these royal lakes considerably
raised the water level in the area, and thus
reduced the depth of the irrigation wells
in the area around.
The Tu ∞ luid period is marked by
much improvement in irrigation facilities
in the empire. The number of lakes and
tanks increased, not only in Dihlī but in the
provincial towns also. The contemporary
Persian epigraphs mention the construc-
tion of lakes in Bihār · arīf (Bihār State),
Gaŕh Mu ¶ taar (Distr. fi āzīābād, U.P.)
and Manglore (Distr. Sahāranpūr, U.P.).
An inscription at Nāgawr informs us
that the mua (governor), Malik Fīrūz b.
Muammad, constructed a large lake in
Nāgawr and named it Fīrūz Sā ∞ ar (Hindi
sagar “sea”).
The lakes constructed in Dihlī are
important as reflecting the progress being
made in civil engineering on the one
hand, and the concern of the succeeding
sultans in causing to be constructed more
beautiful lakes and tanks than those built
earlier on the other hand. For instance,
Sultan fi iyā º Dīn Tu ∞ lu constructed
aqueducts over the lake in Tu ∞ luābād,
whose traces can still be seen. References
are also found to the lakes built during the
reigns of Sultan Muammad b. Tu ∞ lu
and Sultan Fīrūz- · āh. The anonymous
author of the official history, Sīrat-i Fīrūz-
· āhī , and hagiographies, mention the
famous lakes of Dihlī, such as the aw-i
Tu ∞ lu- · āh, aw-i utlu ∞ ‡ ān, aw-i
· ahzāda Fat ‡ ān and aw-i · ahzāda
Mubārak ‡ ān. In the provinces, the lakes