THANJAVUR DISTRICT : A POLITICAL HISTORY

International Journal of Trend in Research and Development, 2016

Tamilnadu is one of the economically well equipped state in the nation with major core industries and agro based industries. Tamilnadu also considered as agriculture consists state with the adequate cultivatable lands and irrigation facilities. Cauvery delta place of Tamilnadu is considered as "Nerkalanchiyam" (Land of Paddy cultivation). With this aspect, the present study is describing the wealthy profile and the highlights of the Cauvery delta region of Tamilnadu.

India of the past was known to the entire world as a land that was filled with prosperity. Agriculture stood and still stands as the major part of the civilization. With the surplus supply of water, cultivation and irrigation of crops flourished. There was a growth in trade and commerce as waterways were being used as an indispensable mode of transport. In those days when the innumerable mysteries posed by the universe were to be solved, and technology was yet to be born, the art of resource engineering was already in practice, taking into consideration the geographical and environmental conditions. If we take a glance at the Indus valley civilisation which flourished in India, their hydraulic engineering is way beyond their time. Their urban planning included highly efficient sanitation systems, engineered watersheds, water tapping and seeping methodologies. This shows us that priority was given for a hygienic environment. Individual houses withdrew water from a common well in the town and waste water was directed into closed drains which lined the main streets. These sewage and drainage systems were far efficient than those which are employed in cities at present. One city that stood out in the entire Indian history is Thanjavur. As the river Cauvery enters the southern land, its delta gives life to one of the thriving rice bowls of India. This place also known as the ‘Temple City, has its unique culture, tradition and various forms of art out of which Thanjavur paintings have their own significance. “It is a landmark in the evolution of building art in South India." quoted the historian Percy Brown.

history.ac.uk

Indian Economic & Social History Review, 2013

This is an unusual book in terms of the range of its discrete and varied chapters. Its strongest continuing themes are ecology and the Sundarbans. Despite an occasional lack of context and connection, each section is of interest, and some are original and thought-provoking. We start with the ecology of the Gangetic delta, and the ways Indian rural populations have been discussed by others. Dynamism is a consistent theme, in particular the importance of shifting, alluvial land-forms. Other key issues include features of colonial agrarian policy and the importance of its initially slight but increasing knowledge and reach, and, secondly, the possibly-related emergence of rich peasants, particularly the prehistory of their alleged prominence after the 1930s depression. Later, worsening communal feeling around the same time is briefly discussed (pp. 187-8). The argument hinges partly on 'anomalies' produced by variations in effective state knowledge and capacity. Iqbal thinks this idea gives insufficient weight to Indian agency. But one might see that as central; and, more important, anomalies imply rules and trends. As I have previously claimed (1), indeterminate zones of authority and a panoply of exceptions existed, over different peoples, practices and areas, despite British claims to absolute sovereignty; and yet the trend was towards standardization. This is relevant to Iqbal's second chapter, on state policy towards wasteland and alluvial lands, and the favourable revenue or rental terms used to encouraged land reclamation, both for 'actual cultivators' and for superior landholders (hawaladars). Such arrangements were very common, from the earliest expansions of cultivation in the eastern delta; but here is an important addition to our understanding of land-management. However, the Sundarbans are presented rather as the norm. Examples, on policy, include a preference on diara (alluvial) lands for temporary settlements and for khas (state) management through contractors; a general desire (p. 25) to bring as much land as possible under direct government control; and an emphasis on maximizing land revenue. This book links such policies to a political-ideological rejection of the permanent settlement, and a lack of attention to existing rights. My understanding is that, though much of this is true, its broader contexts need more nuance. First, diara lands, often rich and cultivable, were managed according to prevailing conditions, including existing rights. This book notes the lack of powerful intermediary groups in the eastern delta; arrangements were different where such groups dominated the countryside. Secondly, it is true that diara, created and taken away by the

In 1945 more than half of the government-owned perennial canal irrigation lines in British India were situated in the North-west (United Provinces, Sind and the Punjab). The Madras Presidency, in the South, possessed a modest 25 per cent of such works, while the Eastern provinces (Bihar, Bengal and Orissa) accounted for a paltry 5.8 per. The causes underlying the sharp discrepancy in the performance of canal systems in the semi-arid doabs, against those located in the wet Eastern deltas have, thus far, received little attention. In this essay, I will go against the grain of the explanations outlined above by discussing the failure of canal irrigation in Orissa outside the narrow context of accounting or financial reckoning. I argue instead that the Orissa Scheme was botched following the colonial government’s inability to achieve the objectives of flood control and irrigation, through the commodification of the delta’s hydraulic regime.

"A Cultural History of Famine" ed. Ayesha Mukherjee, Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, London and New York, 2019

The author observes that rivers in the region of Bengal, by the nature of their seasonal flooding, and volatile change in their courses of flow, determined the scale of ecological impact on agrarian society. Changes in the direction of river flow altered ecological zones, creating new deltaic spaces for expansion of agriculture, rendering the older zones moribund. He identifies that channels of the Damodar in 1770 and the Teesta and Karatoya in 1787–89 had gone through rapid changes in character, causing significant ecological shifts in western and north- eastern Bengal, and argues that long- term changes resulting from the considerable impact of inundations and the system of watercourses were crucial for food security and the evolution of new agrarian settlements.

This paper will discuss how land as private property was constituted as the conceptual opposite of rivers-as-flow in colonial Eastern India. It will discuss how colonial notions about landed property were treated as the legal terrain of ownership, while river flow regimes became the subject of technical intervention. The Eastern deltas’ through the course of the nineteenth century were re-plumbed by the colonial dispensation through a combination of irrigation, drainage and flood control practices. Alongside or paralleling this reworking of the region’s fluvial pattern was the simultaneous production of an entirely new set of conceptions about the delta as a hydraulic phenomenon. In the colonial land-centred imagination, I argue, the delta now appeared as a collection of isolated fluvial elements rather than as a dynamic organic process. In sum, this paper suggests the possibility for an environmental history of the Permanent Settlement Regulations of 1793.

Damodar River basin plays a vital role for ecological balance and provides the life supporting system of large number of flora and fauna since millions of years. From prehistoric time human civilization evolved along this river basin. In the upper catchment plateau area was cover with dense tropical forest where tribal societies lived for thousands of years. The upper catchment is also rich in terms of coal, minerals etc. The lower catchment and the Damodar delta is part of Ganga basin having vast track fertile land. Since time immemorial the Damodar basin upper and lower catchment has supported various livelihood practices of millions of people. The geological structure and geomorphologic character of Damodar basin is such that flooding is a common phenomena in the lower Damodar basin. With increasing population over centuries, floods during monsoon turn out to be the major natural disaster, which require human intervention. On the other hand the exploration of coal and mineral resources started during the colonial phase of industrialization began the destruction of the dense forests ecosystem of the upper catchment of the Damodar Basin. Mining and destruction of forests since last two hundred years causes soil erosion resulting heavy siltation in Damodar which distrubes the sediment water balance of the river eco-system. The soil erosion also results vast track of non-productive wasteland. The development and ecology are in the crossroads in Damodar basin. The presence of coal and mineral belts helps in initiating mining and industrial operations in the basin since last 150 years. Damodar Valley Corporation was formed in 1948 to manage water resources and sustainable development of the basin. All these activities have displaced large numbers of tribal population at the upper catchment areas. It also changed the livelihood pattern of large numbers. of people over the decades. The fast unplanned economic development with rapid industrialization as well as urbanization is destroying the Damodar River ecosystem. As a result it affects the life and livelihood of a large number of habitants in the basin. A new basin management strategy needs to be followed up in the present vulnerable situation to save the river and the people of the basin area from the evident environmental degradation.

The frequent monsoon fluctuation in the coastal region of Thanjavur city of Tamil Nadu, which is known to be the rice bowl of southern India, has been imparting increasing insecurity in the yield of the crops, but even the very living conditions of the population, who are mostly dependent on agriculture. Road-expansion (NH-67) of the recent years involving mass-removal of thousands of trees located at the roadside have led to micro-climatic variation over the years. Since most of the agricultural land of the area depends on the irrigation as well as water from canals of Cauvery river, the precipitation (with respect to quantity, duration, and periodicity) has been the lifeline of progress and sustenance of this zone. To track the baseline morphological and lithological regimes of Thanjavur city of Tamil Nadu (India) precisely, which forms the heart of storm-water modeling, the present study was carried out. The digital elevation modeling (DEM) was developed, using the topsheet and satellite imageries so as to evaluate the basis for hydro-geological modeling.

2014

Mahanadi delta is a large depositional basin of about 9000 Sq. Km., created by both sea and river, situated in the state of Orissa, India. The geological development in the area dates back to pre-cambrian eon but mostly developed and shaped during upper Cretaceous to Cenozoic period. This coastal tract between Eastern Ghats (highland) in the west and Bay of Bengal in the east created fertile land and ecosystem with rich biodiversity. The main river Mahanadi branches into many distributary channels, which have been depositing sediment and forming broad, flat alluvial plain. The coastal geomorphology has been created by different agencies such as fluvial, fluvio-marine, marine and aeolian forces. This delta has always provided favourable condition for human habitation because of its rich productive soil and extensive water resources. Being one of the major sedimentary basins occurring along the east coast of India, it originates from the hills of the Bastar district of Madhya Pradesh and reaches the Bay of Bengal after travelling east for about 800 Km. Mahanadi delta falls under tropical climate. The area could be divided into Mahanadi deltabroad, flat, alluvial plain; lower delta plains and Eastern Ghats mobile belt (orogenic belt) on the west. The area is situated within 60 km from the coast line and holds the highest density of population in the state. Mahanadi delta is receiving wide attention due to its morphology, evolution, present day use and further exploration for natural resources.