1899.] 
SOIL AND CLIMATE OF THE VALLEY. 
121 
and the trouble of their construction must have been so considerable 
that only a far greater demand for irrigation than the present one can 
account for their existence. 
In the earliest traditions recorded by Kalhana the construction of 
irrigation canals plays already a significant part. The Suvarnamcini- 
hulya which is ascribed to King Suvarna and which still brings water 
to a great part of the AdSwin district, has already been noticed. 1 The 
reference to the aqueduct by which King Damodara is supj)Osed to have 
attempted to bring water to the great Udar named after him, though 
legendary in the main, is also characteristic. 2 Lalitaditya is credited 
with having supplied villages near Cakradhara (Tsak a dar) with the 
means of irrigation by the construction of a series of water-wheels 
(araghatta) which raised the water of the Vitasta. 3 
To Suyya, however, Avantivarman’s engineer, is ascribed the 
merit of having on an extensive scale secured river-water for village- 
lands. From .Kalhana’s detailed description it is evident that Suyya’s 
regulation of the Vitasta was accompanied by systematic arrangements 
for the construction of irrigation channels. For these the water of 
various hill-streams was utilized as well as that of the main-river. The 
size and distribution of the water-course for each village was fixed on a 
permanent basis. He is thus said “ to have embellished all regions 
with an abundance of irrigated fields which were distinguished for ex¬ 
cellent produce.” The increase in produce consequent on these measures 
and the reclamation of new lands from the river and marshes is said to 
have lowered the average price of a Khari of rice from two hundred to 
thirty-six Dinnaras. 4 
The importance of irrigation from a revenue point of view must 
have always been recognized by the rulers of the country. Hence even 
in later times we find every respite from internal troubles marked by 
repairs of ancient canals or the construction of new ones. The long 
and peaceful reign of Zainu-l-‘abidin which in many respects revived 
the traditions of the earlier Hindu rule, seems in particular to have 
been productive of important irrigation works. Jonaraja’s and S'rivara’s 
Chronicles give a considerable list of canals constructed under this 
king. 6 Among these the canal which distributed the water of the 
Pohur River over the Zain^gir Pargana, and the one by which the 
1 See above, § 64. 
2 See Rdjat. i. 156 sq. note. 
8 See Rdjat. iv. 191 note. 
4 See Rdjat. v. 109-112 and note. 
6 See Jonar. (Bo. ed.) 1141-55, 1257 sqq. ; S'rtv. i. 414 sqq. For repairs of old 
canals, see Rdjat. viii. 2380. 
J. i. 16 
