The salutary influence
The people of Funan, which is now
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Irrigation S E Asian Agri-history 2005, Hist. Geog Dimensions India’s Interaction S E Asia, Hist. Geog Dimensions India’s Interaction S E Asia, Hist. Geog Dimensions India’s Interaction S E Asia
| The people of Funan, which is now called Cambodia, acquired from the Indians especially the Tamilians of southern India various ideas and techniques including the art of irrigation that ensured economic prosperity necessary for expanding their empire in the lower Mekong during 3 rd to 5 th centuries AD. by Indravarman (877–889), all his successors considered the irrigation as a no mere act of piety, but a practical measure for providing irrigation supplies during the dry season (Coedes, 1966) and a device for controlling the floods as well (Tate, 1971). Yashodhara tataka (reservoir, which ensured regular irrigation supplies, was an enormous reservoir (4 miles × 1 mile) to the northeast of capital of Yashodharapura, so designed (by Yashovardhan, 889–900) as to be fed by the river flowing down the hill Phnomkulen. A reservoir was constructed by Jayavarman II (921–941) to provide irrigation facilities around his new capital, Chok Gargyar, of Angkorian Kingdom. If Suryavarman (1010–1050) granted land concessions for the purpose of maintaining irrigation works, his successor Udayadityavarman II (constructed a western baray (reservoir) (5 miles × 1 mile) to the west of his capital to meet the growing demand for irrigation (Coedes, 1966). Underlining the significance of these irrigation works, Hall (observed A network of dams and bunds diverted and retained the receding floodwaters of the Great Lake after the rainy season. Khmers depended on a network of Asian Agri-History Vol. 9, No. 4, 2005 283 small simple earthworks on minor streams to retard and spread floodwaters into clay- based ponds.” The well-planned and elaborated irrigation system which was analogous to the tanks of peninsular India (Fisher, 1966), facilitated both the extensive and the intensive agricultural practices and ensured power and prosperity of the Angkorian rulers who made regular endowments to the religious establishments (Hall, 1992). This system of water utilization, as revealed from the study of aerial photography by Bernard Phillip Groslier, was designed to solve the problem posed by too much and too heavy monsoon rain within too short a time A renowned historian, D GE Hall, who quoted the findings of Groslier’s study in his authenticated historical account, further referred to the storage tanks (barays) one of which, had the capacity of 30 million m 3 , capable of conserving enough water to meet the requirements of irrigation and drinking water around the Angkorian city. This region measuring about 12.5 million acres (about 5 million ha) was divided into square paddy fields, which were capable of yielding three, and even four harvests a year (Hall. Besides preventing soil erosion, the waterworks regulated the annual inundation and provided an efficient and effective means of travel and transport all through the year. The vast intricate system of reservoirs and canals, besides ensuring economic prosperity, supported about 4 million Khmer population (Ng Shui Meng, 1974). The frequent Thai invasions and the disenchantment of the public with the rulers led to the breakdown of Khmer irrigation system which in turn culminated in the decline of Khmer political power from the beginning of 15 th century (Munirathnam Reddy, 1998). The end of Angkorian history, as Taylor (1992) lamented, came not with a dramatic collapse but rather as a reorientation of Khmer policy which grossly neglected the rice fields. Download 158.72 Kb. Share with your friends:
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