Food Sources: Earth, Water, and Air - Food Culture and Health in Pre-Modern Islamic Societies - page 55

neglect or destruction of irrigation works,
land went out of cultivation and the area
under grain crops expanded relative to
that under cash crops, as appears to have
happened in the early period of Mongol
domination. Be that as it may, agriculture
up to modern times was the major source
of the revenue of the state. It was also the
basis of the wealth of the ruling classes
and of the livelihood of the majority of
the population. The well-being of the state
and the people was thus dependent upon
a well-maintained irrigation system, and
prudence, if nothing else, demanded that
attention should be given to the upkeep
of irrigation. · arī law recognises this,
and permits the expenditure of ¶ arā ¡ on
the upkeep of irrigation works (even if, in
practice, funds were often not available,
or not made available, and the work was
done by corvées). Treatises on the theory
of government recognise, in general, that
the economic foundation of the state was
a flourishing agriculture and that the
upkeep of irrigation works was therefore
incumbent upon the ruler. The sources
do, in fact, frequently mention, in gen-
eral terms, the efforts of individual rulers
and their ministers to spread and foster
agriculture, to make anāts and to repair
irrigation channels; and they also mention
the decay and destruction of irrigation
works in time of war and insecurity.
This dependence of the state and soci-
ety upon agriculture and of agricultural
prosperity upon an irrigation system
which was inherently fragile had certain
consequences. In the first place, it pro-
duced a certain caution towards experi-
ment and change (whether in the political
or the economic field) among those whose
income and livelihood depended upon
agriculture. The maintenance of irrigation
works demanded regular care. This could
only be given in conditions of political
security. Canals, if not cleaned, silted up
and dykes, if not repaired, were breached

by flood-water. If the destruction brought
by flash floods and storms was not imme-
diately made good, irrigation water de-
creased. Similarly, without some degree
of political security there was no invest-
ment in anāt s, the digging of which was
a highly-skilled operation and the upkeep
of which demanded constant attention.
There was thus a general tendency to
seek security in stable and orderly gov-
ernment backed by coercive force. Sec-
ondly, the rotation system of the water,
fixed in advance and determined by rules
observed by the users, imposed the accep-
tance of a common discipline. Usurpation
and the illicit diversion of water brought
strife into the life of the local community
and disaster to those who were deprived
of their due turn and share of the water.
This, too, led to an appreciation of order,
and since the responsibility for the distri-
bution of water, except in the case of the
great rivers (which were controlled by the
state), rested upon the local community,
who appointed their own water officials,
it fostered the cohesion of local groups
and communities and encouraged local
particularism.

Drinking water
The right to use water for drinking pur-
poses according to the · arīa has been
set out above under the right of thirst.
The drinking water of villages and towns
comes mainly from springs, anāts and
wells. In the villages, springs are the main
source, and from them water is fetched by
the users in skins and earthenware water-
pots. In the towns, as for example Ifahān,
many houses had their own wells from
which drinking water was drawn. Large
houses in many towns had a storage tank
( āb-anbār ), built of fired bricks and lined
with water-proofed mortar ( sārū ¡ ), in the
basement and an open tank ( aw ) in the
courtyard. These were filled whenever
the householder's turn to water from the