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Introduction
recreation and diversion to the citizens of Girinagara, and the pilgrims from the rest of India. It is worthwhile emphasizing this point; for it was a regular feature of the ancient civic life of this land. The tradition of having a large and beautiful lake near a city for irrigational, religious and recreative purposes was maintained in Gujarat through the munificence of its kings and merchant - princes who thought it an act of religious merit to construct such 'abodes of waters'; and one may say, in the Lake Siddhasaras or Sahasralinga of Siddharaja Jayasimha, near Apahilavaḍa Pataṇa, the tradition was revealed in its most magnificent and beautiful form.
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The following remarks of Vincent Smith gives a good idea of the irrigation works in the time of Chandragupta Maurya:--
"The proper regulation of irrigation is a matter of prime importance in India; and it is much to the credit of Chandragupta that he maintained a special Irrigation Department charged with the duty of measuring the lands and so regulating the sluices that every one should receive his fair share of the life-giving water. The allusion to the measurement of lands as part of the duty of the Irrigation Department indicates that a water-rate must have been levied, and the reference to sluices implies a regular system of canals.
The inscription of Satrap Rudradaman,............ bears direct testimony to the care bestowed by the central government upon the question of irrigation, even in the most remote provinces. Although Girnar is situated close to the Arabian Sea, at a distance of at least 1,000 miles from the Maurya capital, the needs of the local farmers did not escape the imperial notice." (E. H. I. p. 132)
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