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An investigation into the age and origin of Suranga in the foothills of the Western Ghats of India

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Abstract

This paper presents the evidence for determining the age and origin of suranga irrigation found mainly in southern Karnataka and northern Kerala in the foothills of the Western Ghats of south India. It draws on on-going research that has attempted to use an interdisciplinary approach to date the system using Indian Archives, British and Portuguese colonial archives, etymology, oral testimony archaeology, phenology and palaeo dating techniques. The results from this study put the origins of the system at around 1900–1940 CE. These results are compared with the current academic discourse that supports the view that the system originates from ancient Persia and qanat technology, because of the long established trade links with Persia and the Arabian Peninsula in the Malabar region. We argue that a new ‘origin discourse’ should be framed around these much more recent dates. The methodological constraints behind both theories are discussed throughout to enable the reader to appreciate the limitations of both arguments.

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Archives consulted

India

  • Karnataka state archives, Vidhana Soudha – Madras catalogue – forest and settlement reports

  • Tamil Nadu State Archives in Chennai – Revenue, agriculture, and irrigation catalogue

  • Goa State Archive Panaji – Ponda

  • Murva Mahabal Bhat personal archive

UK

  • British Library India Office Records and Private collection Madras

  • National Archive, Kew - Maps and Plans

  • Kew Gardens Archive – Madras Records

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Acknowledgments

We thank and are extremely grateful to Sue Rouillard at the University of Exeter for producing figures 1 and 2.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Human and Environmental Sciences, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK

    Darren Crook & Sudhir Tripathi

  2. School of Geography, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK

    Richard Jones

Authors
  1. Darren Crook
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  2. Sudhir Tripathi
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  3. Richard Jones
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Correspondence to Darren Crook.

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Crook, D., Tripathi, S. & Jones, R. An investigation into the age and origin of Suranga in the foothills of the Western Ghats of India. Water Hist 7, 253–270 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12685-015-0125-y

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