Almost all the world’s greatest empires were started on the banks of rivers. These rivers would help feed and water these cities and its outlying principalities. One of the biggest engineering challenges that astute city administrators of old faced was in bringing water to the cities and suburbs through reliable technologies that would serve their purpose well. The Aqueducts of Rome are a standing testimony to these marvels of planning and construction. 

​

It was no different in India. The great river systems of the Indus, Saraswati, Ganga and Yamuna were the lifeblood of great Indian kingdoms and their splendid capitals located upon their banks. Excavations at the sites of the great cities of the Indus valley civilisation show evidence of advanced water and sanitation systems that were in use by the citizens of these towns in those early days. ​

​

The splendid kingdom of Vijayanagara, founded in the 14th century in southern India with its renowned capital of Hampi, was also known for its thoughtful visioning and construction of canals that assured its citizens of plentiful water for daily needs and agriculture. Built on the shores of the perennial Tungabhadra River, Hampi and its environs were marked by an elaborate system of canals that were designed thoughtfully to carry water from this river to outlying villages that depended upon them for irrigation. Such has been the practicality of their design and the robustness of their build that, astonishingly, some of these canals continue to serve the villages around Hampi to this day.  Many, however, have been destroyed in wars or have collapsed with disuse. 

​

Hydrologists and other experts who have studied these water systems of Hampi closely observe that they are marvels of engineering that reveal a deep understanding of hydrology combined with the most effective way to transport this water to various points through painstakingly built stone aqueducts, its flow guided by gravity and the fullness of the seasons.​

​