Food Sources: Earth, Water, and Air - Food Culture and Health in Pre-Modern Islamic Societies - page 67

constructed in Dawlatābād and iār
Fīrūza are worth mentioning. Sultan
Muammad b. Tu ∞ lu's aw , built
on a considerable height in the fort of
Dawlatābād, can be seen today. In iār
Fīrūza, Sultan Fīrūz- · āh also had a cis-
tern built in 754/1353 on a raised plat-
form. It was originally constructed for
supplying water to the ditch excavated
around the fort, but after water from the
newly-constructed canals became avail-
able, its water was used in the gardens
and flower beds inside the fort.
In the 9th/15th century, cisterns appear
to have been constructed by the rulers of
the regional kingdoms that arose in the
wake of Tīmūr's invasion of India (800/
1398). The construction of fountains in
⁄ awnpūr, Gu ¡ arāt and other cities in
the plains led to the construction of cis-
terns, as their water, flowing through nar-
row channels from a height, could make
the fountains work. Bābur's description of
lakes in the Pan ¡ āb also testifies to the
fact that old lakes were kept under repair,
while new ones were excavated in the
new towns. As the iās assigned by the
king to nobles in lieu of cash salary and
allowances were hereditary, at least in
practice during the pre-Mu ∞ al times,
the assignees constructed tanks in their
lands for the extension of cultivation and
horticulture.
Later on, the Mu ∞ al emperors, and
the Dakanī sultans of Bīdar, Golkonā,
Bi ¡ āpūr and Amadnagar, established
reservoirs. Allusions to these reservoirs in
contemporary inscriptions provide insights
into the skill employed in their construc-
tion. The Muammad-Nād, a reservoir
built at Bi ¡ āpūr in 1165/1751-2 by
Afal ‡ ān, is a great feat of engineer-
ing. Similarly, the huge tank-like well with
rooms was built with the money of Tā ¡
Sulān, the wife of Sulān Ādil · āh in
Bi ¡ āpūr. The Pānī-Maall (water-palace)

at Nādrūg and the tank of Mā-āibā at
aydarābād are notable exemples.
In the 12th/18th century, the amīrs of
Sind and the two rulers aydar Alī and
Tīpū Sulān of Mysore maintained the
traditions of the early rulers. Tīpū Sulān
took special interest in irrigation ques-
tions, building new tanks and repairing
old ones. The huge tank built by him in
Dora ¡ i possesses a huge embankment
about 2½ miles long, and at places is 45
feet high. He also rewarded other people
who constructed tanks. The āmil s (rev-
enue collectors) were entrusted with the
responsibility of maintaining the tanks in
the kingdom. All these lakes and tanks
from mediaeval times existed till the
beginning of the 20th century, but with
the modern expansion of the towns and
cities many of them have been filled in
and the land used for residential purposes.
In South India, however, they still survive
and are used as picnic spots.
As for the construction of wells, they
are mentioned in our sources either as čāh
or baīn or bāolī. The baīn and bāolī are
step-wells, meant for the use of men and
animals. Evidence available about the čāh
is interesting in so far as it reflects on the
use of the Persian wheel to lift water from
the deep wells in areas around Dihlī dur-
ing the early Sultanate period, indicating,
from its comparative costliness, consider-
able local prosperity. Only fairly opulent
farmers could afford the installation of
this water-lifting machine.
Sources from the 8th/14th century refer
to the sāiya and the čar ¶ set up on the
wells that were owned both by the state
and by the cultivators. Al-Umarī in his
Maālik l-abār was informed by an Indian
traveller in Arabia, · ay ¶ Mubārak
of Cambay (Gu ¡ arāt), at some time in
the beginning of Sultan Muammad
b. Tu ∞ lu's reign (725-52/1325-51),
that people in and around Dihlī set up