Saturday, September 12, 2015

Water Tax in ancient India / Tamilnadu

An article that I recently read about water tax collected in Turkey of the 2nd century CE made me curious to know whether similar types of taxes were collected for use of water in ancient India.

This article is about an excavated marble block that contains ‘water laws’ in force 1900 years ago in the Turkish province of Denizli..


As per this excavated block, those who damaged the water channel or polluted water or broke the seal of the water pipes or drew water illegally were fined. The interesting part of it is that those who used water for personal use were also fined. This makes it appear that the water under consideration of the water law is not meant for all and sundry but might have been meant for some specific purpose such as maintaining a fountain ( mentioned in the edict).  This water was flowing from the nearby Karci Mountains. These waters were either polluted or used without permission. So the strictures were laid by means of these water laws. 

There is also a rule mentioned in these inscriptions that those who denounced the polluters will get 1/8th of the penalty (to polluters) as reward. Two citizens had been appointed to safeguard the water pipes and water. And strangely enough, the water was not supposed to be used by the farmers. The inscription says that “nobody who has farms close to the water channels can use this water for agriculture.”

This shows that water from this source was indeed abundant enough to irrigate the fields and at the same time, the need for water also had existed for cultivation purpose in this area. Though Turkey is served by the two famous rivers Euphrates and Tigris, I am not sure about the water availability in this specific province of the then empire. But the excavated edict seems to indicate that water theft was common.

In that sense, I think our ancient land particularly Tamilnadu was wise enough to find ways to get water for all the people and for all types of water needs. The very emergence of the river Cauvery itself was a case in point as the actual geological implication of the story of Cauvery is that a spring restricted within the peak of Kodagu hills was made to flow down by making a hole in the mountains. The story of Cauvery being held in the Kamandal of sage Agastya and getting released by the toppling of it by Lord Ganesha in the form of a crow seems to indicate a deliberate (or manual) work of tapping of the mountain to release Cauvery which was flowing within the kamandal shaped mountains after it left Talakaveri.


Talakaveri – Cauvery at its birth place as a spring!

From then onwards, until it reaches the Bay of Bengal, the river had offered its bounties without fail which is made out from an expression வான் பொய்ப்பினும் தான் பொய்யாக் காவேரி. (The rains may fail, but Cauvery never fails).

Perhaps Karikal Cholan was the first prominent king to have laid the ‘water laws’ 2000 years ago by building a dam across the river but not to restrict the use of water as in the Turkish edict but to facilitate the use of water for large purposes such as irrigation.

When I scurried through the inscriptions for water tax, I found many terms for water distribution through canals, channels etc. Taxes were of course collected, for maintenance of the water channel and water bodies.

There was something called “Neer nilaik kaasu” (நீர் நிலைக் காசு) that was collected for the maintenance of lakes and tanks. Perhaps this was not paid by everyone but only by those who drew water for their use. The cultivators had to pay “Neer nilaik kaasu” (நீர் நிலைக் காசு) based on the proportion of water they drew from these water bodies.

There was another type of water tax levied on cultivators. It was calculated on the basis of time that water was drawn. Time was measured in Nadi (naazhigai) in those days (like minutes and hours now). Based on the Naazhigai, the tax was collected. It was known as “Vaddi Naazhi” (வட்டி நாழி  ).

Sometimes entire water bodies were leased out to cultivators who paid “KuLavadai” (குளவடை). At some places, the maintenance of water bodies was funded not by taxes but by donation of lands. Such land grants to take care of maintenance of water bodies were known as “Eri-p-patti” (ஏரிப் பட்டி ). There was a water board to manage these kinds of water bodies. Those who used the water from these water bodies paid the tax by means of the produce from their cultivation. Such payments were known as “Eri aayam” (ஏரியாயம்). Those who wanted to fish in these water bodies had to pay “Eri meen” (ஏரி மீன்).

In general someone who wanted to use the common water body had to pay a tax  as money or by means of the produce they made using the water. The tax amounts were used for the upkeep of these water bodies. This also shows that common folks who drew water for household use were not taxed. But polluting the waters was something unheard of and everyone knew their responsibility in keeping the water bodies free of pollution. The absence of mention of any penalty or fine for misuse or pollution of the water bodies testifies this.  

There were exclusive water channels for drinking purpose. They were known as “Chenneer podhuviLai” (செந்நீர் பொதுவிளை ). Chenneer means clear water. For the maintenance of these clear water bodies, a tax was collected by name “Chenneer vettti” (செந்நீர் வெட்டி ).

Apart from Chenneer from fresh water flows or rivers, common wells and wells in individual houses fulfilled the need for drinking water. Womenfolk had used rivers for bathing purposes which is made out from the last verse of the Thiru-p-palliyezhuchi verses of Thondar adi-p podi Azhwar. 

So far I have not come across water tax for drinking and household purposes. Water conservation by means wells and tanks had been a norm everywhere. The protection and growth of trees that help to detect underground water veins is also a feature we come across in ancient Tamil texts. The scenario of the ancient Tamil lands gives an appearance of an informed society that protected and worshiped water.

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From
Marble block inscribed with 'water law' found in Laodicea

A marble block, considered the “water law” from 1,900 years ago, has been unearthed in the ancient city of Laodicea in the western Turkish province of Denizli.


The marble inscribed with the 'water law' found at ancient Laodicea [Credit: AA]

The block, which is 90 centimeters in height and 116 centimeters in width, has revealed the use of water in the city had been managed by law, which involved a penalty ranging from 5,000 to 12,500 denarius. The “water law” marble block dating back to 114 A.D. included strict measures regarding the use of water coming from the Karcı Mountain through channels to the city, as well as the use of a fountain dedicated to Roman Emperor Traianus.

The rules were prepared by Anatolian State Governor Aulus Vicirius Matrialis. The excavation works, led by Pamukkale University and supported by Denizli Municipality, have continued on Stadium Street in the ancient site. Excavations head Professor Celal Şimşek of Pamukkale University, said, “The Laodicea Assembly made this law in 114 A.D. and presented it to a Roman governor in Ephesus for approval. The governor approved the law on behalf of the empire. Water was vital for the city.

This is why there were heavy penalties against those who polluted the water, damaged the water channels or reopening the sealed water pipes. Breaking the law was subject to a penalty of about 12,500 denarius.” Şimşek said the 1,900-year-old rules to prevent water pollution had a very special place, adding, “The fine for damaging the water channel or polluting the water is 5,000 denarius. The fine is the same for those who break the seal and attempt illegal use. Also, there are penalties for senior staff that overlook the illegal use of water. They pay 12,500 denarius. Those who denounce the polluters are given one-eighth of the penalty as a reward, according to the rules.” Some of the rules, written in Greek, included the following:

“Those who divide the water for his personal use, should pay 5,000 denarius to the empire treasury; it is forbidden to use the city water for free or grant it to private individuals; those who buy the water cannot violate the Vespasian Edict; those who damage water pipes should pay 5,000 denarius; protective roofs should be established for the water depots and water pipes in the city; the governor’s office [will] appoint two citizens as curators every year to ensure the safety of the water resource; nobody who has farms close to the water channels can use this water for agriculture.”

 In the last seven years, excavation work in the ancient city of Laodicea has unearthed some 2,300 artifacts as well as the Laodicea Church, the monumental columns of North Sacred Agora and Central Agora and half of Stadium Street, along with others.

The Laodicea site’s excavation work was also known as the largest systematic excavation organization in Turkey and has hosted thousands of tourists in the last seven years, in addition to inspiring hundreds of scientific articles along with six scientific books.

Source: Hurriyet Daily News [August 21, 2015]


6 comments:

Unknown said...

Namaste Jayasree ji,
Sorry to post an off topic comment but just want to bring to your notice.

There is Maori(Natives of New Zealand) game called Ruru http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/40830/maori-children-playing-ruru

In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana there is a game called Kaccha Kaaayala Aata.Watch this video from 2:10 onward. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye2hB713RY0

These two games are eerily similar.Both games use 5 stones.Same method of play.Would like to know whether the flow is from India to New Zealand or vice-versa.Have you done any research on cultural similarities between Indians and Maoris?

A Senior Citizen said...

I am forced to compare this portion of your research "Those who divide the water for his personal use, should pay 5,000 denarius to the empire treasury; it is forbidden to use the city water for free or grant it to private individuals; those who buy the water cannot violate the Vespasian Edict" with the Free Water to the extent of 700 litres per day per individual in New Delhi ordered by the Chief Minister of New Delhi. Dr.Guru.Raghavan

Anonymous said...

Respected Maam,
Your articles are truly enlightening. I had the following queries. It will be so nice if you can clarify them.
You had mentioned that They were Daityas (today's Chinese), Danavas (Europeans), Manavas (Indians and Australoids)and Asuras (Negroids)who all originated from Sundaland.

Now how are

1. Pandiyan kings related to the above?
2. How do Rama/Krishna related to the above?
3. How does Ravana and ancestors arrive in the above lineage.

Kindly clarify.

Sincerely,
Sudarsan.D

Jayasree Saranathan said...

@ Anand Kishore.

I too believe that Maoris and Indians had pre-historic connection. It is by way of common origin or co-existence in the Indian ocean dwellings - most of which were islands or peaks of submerged ranges of the Ninety East ridge (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety_East_Ridge) that run upto Nagaland in the Indian mainland in the north and is closer to Australia in the south. I would link Mayuris with Lord Muruga cult as the peacock people. That part of the globe had Rohitas - the red skinned people according to Valmiki Ramayana narration (V.Ramayna - 4-41-42). Muruga was red skinned and that is why he is known as Senthil and SevveL. The earliest period of Sangam age of 10,000 yrs BP covered those areas.

To justify this we can quote the Maori tradition of poetry-singing as an integral part of their culture. The earliest bards ( PaaNan) belonged to this region. They had a tradition of genealogical recital which is common in Indian mainland as is noted in similar recital at the time of Rama's marriage.

The 'Marae' or 'malae' grounds of Maoris bear close resemblance to Manru or mullai lands of sangam age. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marae)The Marae are forest lands cleared for making space. The Mullai lands of Tholkappiyam fame are also same by nature. (kaadu azhitthu naadaakki). That this Marae is known as Malae by Tongan (thenga naadu of 2nd sangam age?)justifies my claim that their regions were visible parts of the mountains (malai) in the ocean).

Remember the Pandyan king, the father of Meenakshi was known as Malaya-dwajan - the one having the flag of malai (mountain). Malai is Tamil word (idu kuri-p-peyar) which is malayam in sanskrit. The early Pandyans lived on the islands of peaks of mountains and justifiably had malai in their flag. The fish in their flag came later after the 3rd deluge when the Pandyans decided to settle down in Madurai which was until then called as Irunthaiyur (read my Tamil blog http://jayasree-saranathan.blogspot.com/)

What I am coming to say from all these is that the oldest habitat of current Indian population was in the south, in the Indian ocean which got decimated due to various reasons during various times in the past. The last such dispersal happened 3500 yrs ago which saw a group of sea-faring survivors going eastward forming what is Polynesia, another group of elites (Pandyans) accompanied by cattle rearers entering South India via Alwaye and Kollam, and a third group of fisherfolks entering Bay of Bengal and going up to the Gangetic plain.

It is this 3rd section that comes closer to the commonality of practices in the bay of Bengal bound regions (east India) with far away Australasia. The game of Kaccha kayalu is common in Tamil nadu also. We call is 'Anjhaangai' (5 kaai) and 'Yezhangai' (7 kai). Even I have played it in my childhood days. This game is very much a rural game where kids or even cowherds used to collect fine stones and play with them in leisure time. This five stone game played by kids and girls in particular must have been a common game 1000s of years ago. Even the link you have given relates this game to knucklebone game of Europe. But I am not sure if it is the 5 stone game. There is a possibility that games such as these was spread by travelling traders. But in the eastern section of India, I would relate this to a previous coexistence or connection between the people in the Indian ocean.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

@ Sudarsan.

I think the above reply by me to Mr Kishore clears your doubts. My earlier blog gives more details -http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2013/01/asians-indians-chinese-shared-same.html

One correction I would like to make in your comment is that these four-fold people were localized in Sundaland and not "originated" in Sundaland. The co-existence of these 4 types was there in South east India too as is known from the dental study of Adhichanallur remains (http://jayasreesaranathan.blogspot.com/2009/02/tamilnadu-home-for-negroids-australoids.html#uds-search-results).

Coming to your questions,
1. Pandyans were either Manavas or a mix of Manavas and Negroids. Red or black or a mix of both. Most people of Tamilnadu have the mix of this with modified negroid features. Pandyans claiming their lineage from Meenakshi (Gowriyar)must have had Rohita colour by genes.

2. Krishna was black in colour. The skin colour is genetic and also due to latitudinal location in a particular place for 100s of generations. Both Krishna and Rama were Manavas - of Manu's lineage. Malayadwaja PAndyan of Meenaskhi times (and therefore Muruga or KArthikeya) pre-dates Rama and Krishna. Perhaps his lineage can be linked to Ancient South Indian gene pool whereas the Rama - Krishna and of the Ikshwaku came from Ancient North Indian gene pool. They both had common ancestry in the Indian ocean some 25,000 years ago when Sundaland submerged in large parts and the legend of Daksha ended with a massive destruction by fire. The survivors who fled for safety settled down in the extended regions into west of Western ghats in the Arabian sea. They were Dravidians of whom Manu was the leader. About 15,000 years ago the first flash flood in the Indian ocean pushed the waters into the Arabian sea and with that Manu and his men entered Saraswathi river at Dwaraka (of that times). They spoke olden - non- grammatical Tamil or Apa-brahmsa and had 'zha' sound in their talks. They recited Rig vedas with 'zha' sound. Eg Agnimeezhe and not Agni meele. Zha was written in Sanskrit like this ळ

The possibility exists of another branch of the Manu's people entering the Perian gulf (being pushed by the floods) and settling down in Mesapatomia with identical practices which were any way lost or modified with times due to loss of memory and contact with Vedic people who went with Manu in sizable numbers.

3. Ravana was a negroid by his colour, features and size. He inherited these features form his mother. Mix of races had been common in those days. Ravana's half brother Kubera also must have shared some of his features, though not huge in size (he was short), but he moved to the northern latitudes and came to be known as an Deva. Asura or Deva were originally related to the location.

Jayasree Saranathan said...

A recent study of the aboriginal stories of Australia on flood myths indicated that they were real. In 21 places around Australia similar memories of escape from sea floods are documented and were found to be of memories of the last flood in that area that occurred around 7000 years ago. Read here http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2015/09/study-shows-aboriginal-memories-go-back.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheArchaeologyNewsNetwork+%28The+Archaeology+News+Network%29#.VhWkOvlVikp

Nearly half of the size of Australia around it and particularly in the north of it was submerged. The number 7000 yrs BP is very striking. The 1st Sangam age ended 7000 yrs BP when Then-Madurai, the capital city of the 1st Sangam age was lost into the seas. Thiruvalluvar belonged to that place and that period but moved to Mylapore later. Mylapore was founded by the Pandyans at that time - perhaps driven by a desire to glorify Mayuri / MAori - the peacocks of Muruga - Kumara. The Divya Prabhanda pasuram on Triplicane by Thirumangai aazhwar mentions Thennan and Thondaiyar kOn as the builders of Mylapore. Thennan refers to Pandyans of the 1st and 2nd sangam age only. It is possible that Thennan Padyan of the 1st Sangam age (pre-7000 yrs BP) ruled a vast stretch from Australasian islands and upto South India and set up Mylapore on the shores. This also throws possibilities of spread of culture and games like Kaccha Kayala atta in this stretch between East India and Australia.

The Agananuru -70 song on reference to Rama's exile during Gowriar's period (Pandyan)

வென்வேற் கவுரியர் தொல்முது கோடி
முழங்குஇரும் பௌவம் இரங்கும் முன்துறை
வெல்போர் இராமன் அருமறைக்(கு) அவித்த
பல்வீழ் ஆலம் போல
ஒலிஅவிந் தன்(று)இவ் அழுங்கல் ஊரே". (அகநானூறு:70:5-17)

This is fine cross reference to historicity of Ramayana at that period. Another cross reference comes from Setu which shows submergence around 7000 yrs ago. It was built by Rama before crossing the seas, but he found it partially submerged on his return. The current sea level around that region ( as also around Australia) was reached around 7000 years ago.