Irrigation Practices and Norms in Sri Lanka by the 5th Century CE: A Survey based on the Samantapasadika

Abstract

Attached

O ne o f th e k ey elem en ts o f w a te r h erita g e in Sri L an ka is th e a n cien t w a te r r e la te d infrastructure, g e n e ra lly re fe rre d to a s th e ‘an cien t irrigation system ’. The p r e s e n t stu d ies on this system began in th e c o lo n ia l era, e sp e c ia lly d u rin g the D utch a n d la te r B ritish tim es. That en cou n ter w a s not lim ite d to review in g the ex istin g situation, but a tte m p te d to resto re it to the o rig in a l fu n ctio n o f the a n cien t system . In th e a b sen ce o f c lea r eviden ce, to iden tify the o rig in a l fu nction, c o lo n ia l d esig n ers began to co n cep tu a lise a new system w ith inputs f o r th eir ow n “c o lo n ia l” kn ow ledge. This p a p e r a ttem p ts to resu rrect the norm s a n d p r a c tic e s o f th e a n cien t system , not b a s e d on th e c o lo n ia l in terp reta tio n s bu t b a se d on the 5 th cen tu ry B u d d h ist co m m en ta ria l work, the S am an tapasadika. Its v a lid ity a s a so u rce in this en d ea vo u r w ill b e d isc u sse d in the study. A s the S am a n ta p a sa d ik a w a s b a s e d on p re v io u s S in hala com m en taries (S ih a la t t hakatha), the con ten ts o f w hich m a y c o v e r a p e rio d , a t le a st fr o m the 3rd cen tu ry B C E to th e 5 th cen tu ry CE. The irrig a tio n r e la te d co n ten ts a s d e p ic te d there, a re d iscu sse d u n d er fo u r k ey elem ents, (1) P h y sic a l (h ydrau lic infrastructure, w a te r sou rces, flo w s, a p p lica tio n s), (2) A g ro - p ro d u c tiv e (soils, crops, tech n ology, capitol, labour, know ledge, skills), (3) O rg a n iza tio n a l (hum an o rg a n iza tio n to g o vern , o p e ra te a n d su stain the system ) a n d (4) N o rm a tive (rules a n d rights, a n d o b lig a tio n r e la te d to access).