Supplying the City: The Role of Reservoirs in an Indian Urban Landscape

Abstract

A class of agricultural facility, the reservoir or "tank," has played an important role in the development of South Indian urban centers. The form and operation, patterns of integration with other facilities, and modes of investment in reservoirs are discussed in the context of the pre-Colonial city of Vijayanagara (c. A.D. 1300-1600). In spite of their general morphological similarities, reservoirs played diverse roles in the organization of Vijayanagara agricultural production and in its pattern of change through time. KEYWORDS: Irrigation, South Asia, urbanism, agriculture.