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HERITAGE STRUCTURESNARRATE

HISTORY OF INDIAN ENGINEERING

R.N. IYENGAR

JAIN UNIVERSITY, BANGALORE

WORLD HERITAGE DAY. IITM CHENNAI 18TH APRIL, 2013

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ENGINEERING & STRUCTURES ARE WELL UNDERSTOOD.

BY ENGINEERING I AM TAKING THIS TO BE CIVIL ENGINEERING

STRUCTURES ARE BUILDINGS, BRIDGES, DAMS, ROADS,….

I CAN SLIP AWAY FROM DEFINING ‘HERITAGE’. WE ALL UNDERSTAND IT IN OUR OWN WAY!

BUT IT IS SOMETHING WE INHERITED FROM THE PAST. FROM OUR SENIORS, TEACHERS, PARENTS, G-G-PARENTS,…… BY GONE

GENERATIONS .

WHAT IS MEANT BY HISTORY THAT TOO OF INDIAN ENGINEERING?

THIS I HAVE TO STRESS SINCE I HAVE HEARD IN MANY FORUMS THAT ‘INDIAN CIVIL ENGINEERING’ STARTED AT GUINDY ENGINEERING

COLLEGE OR ROORKEE UNIVERSITY , OR SHIBPUR,…

BY HERITAGE & HISTORY I LIKE TO REFER TO THE MORE ANCIENT PERIODS: HARAPPAN, VEDIC, MOURYAN, MAGADHAN, GUPTA, CHOLA,

CHALUKYA, HOYSALA, PALLVA,…..

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Heritage like beauty is an abstract concept which we can feel and experience to differing levels of intensity and depth. It is the other face of Heritage that is history which makes it descriptive and gives a temporal and spatial form in terms of centuries, regions, styles, economics, social and religious aspirations.

Several aspects of this cultural history of India including architecture are well studied and recorded. However when we talk of History of Civil Engineering there are not many systematic studies that have looked into what we as engineers consider to be the primary topics.

By governmental practice HS are classified under Architecture. I have no dissent so long the spirit of engineering which made it possible to

convert the mental vision of the proponent to a 3-D reality, is recognized.

Then what is engineering, what are the topics or subjects under which the history can be traced? One can prepare a long list but for the time being I will jot down the following:

Planning, site selection, marking & measurements, drawings, scales, implements, models, trial & error experiments, building materials, construction practices, regulations, labour, management, maintenance, protection,…

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MAP SHOWING LOCATION OF INDUS-SARASVATI VALLEY CIVILIZATION (ISVC) SITES.

1.5 million sq km

>1056 sites. About 96 have been excavated

Pre-Harappan: 7000-3300 BCE

Early Harappan 3300-2600

Mature 2600-1900

Late: 1900-1300

6Some photos are from the web. Others are courtesy R.S. Bisht

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2450 BCMature Harappan period. 1 well per 3 houses! More than 700 wells in Mohenjodaro. Each house had its own bath and toilet

Corbelled culvert for drainage. Surprisingly they did not use arches even though the wells were circular

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Dholavira is in Khadir island, Rann-of-kutch. In ancient times Rann was a sea. The city was surrounded by a series of square walls, with a "Citadel" which rises 15 meters above the "Middle Town" and the "Lower Town".

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A signboard with ten huge Indus signs found on the floor of a room at the North Gate was probably originally displayed above the gateway. Although the Indus script written on the signboard is still undeciphered, it is likely that the inscription represents the name of the city or the name of a god or a ruler.

Northern gateway of the Citadel.

Artist recostructionof Dholaviradwellings

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2000-2500 BCSome of the Shilpa Shastrabooks recommend founding cities between two rivers.

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Rock cut water tanks to store rain water brought into the city. Bronze age tools. Only copper was known. No iron tools

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MOST REMARKABLE HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING IN THE BRONZE AGE ! THE WELL WITHIN THE TOWN WAS CONNECTED TO THE RESERVOIR OUTSIDE

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Kalibangan , Rajasthan Radial Stiffeners for a well.

FIRST TIME MANKIND ACHIEVED VERTICAL TRANSPORT OF WATER WAS IN THIS PART OF GREATER INDIA WHERE ISVC FLOWERED.

BANAWALI, HARYANA

14LOTHAL, GUJARAT. NOW LANDLOCKED.BUT AN ANCIENT PORT EXPORTING GOODS TO MIDEAST

Artist Reconstruction of Lothal, Near Ahmedabad.

DOCK YARD 218mX17m

BOATS BROUGHT TO DOCK THROUGH 17 m WIDE CANAL DURING HIGH TIDE LINKED WITH THE BHOGAVO RIVER JOINING BAY OF KHAMBAT.

DESTRUCTION OR SLOW DETERIORATION FROM 1900 BCE, CORRELATED WITH DRYING OF THE SARASVATI RIVER.

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THESE HERITAGE SITES & CITIES, MANY STILL AWAITING EXCAVATION, ARE SHINING EXAMPLES OF WHAT MODERN ENGINEERS CAN STILL LEARN

FROM HISTORY

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HOW DID BOATS FROM LOTHAL REACH DHOLAVIRA?

MOST PROBABLY THEY HAD SMALL CANALS OR NATURAL DEPRESSION CONNECTING GULF OF KHAMBAT & GULF OF KUTCH.PRESENT DAY AHMEDABAD IS ON THIS DRIED UP TRIANGULAR BASIN. 5000 YRS AGO SAURASHTRA WAS NOT CONNECTED WITH THE MAINLAND. SEA LEVEL WAS SOME 4-6 M HIGHER THAN NOW. THIS HAS IMPLICATION FOR SEISMIC SAFETY.

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KAUTILYA’S ARTHASHASTRA (~400 BC)

RAINFALL MEASUREMENTS. DESCRIPTION OF THE MEASURING VESSEL. QUANTITY OF RAINFALL.

FIRE SAFETY REGULATIONS IN THE CITY AND ITS ENFORCEMENT

CITY OF PATALIPUTRA

~500 BC

PICTURE FROM THE WEB

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At Sringaverapura near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, India, there exists an extraordinary example of hydraulic engineering dating back to the end of the 1st century BC.

It comprises three percolation-cum-storage tanks, fed by an 11 m wide and 5 m deep canal that used to skim the floodwaters off the monsoon-swollen Ganga.

Water from the canal first entered a silting chamber where the dirt settled. This clean water was then directed to the first brick-lined tank then on to another Tank through a stepped inlet (which cleaned the water further). This tank constituted the primary source of water supply. Next, the water passed to a circular Tank, which had an elaborate staircase. An waste weir, consisting of seven spill channels, a crest, and a final exit, ensured that the excess water flowed back into the Ganga.

RAMAYANA & MAHABHARATA SITES EXCAVATED BY B.B. LAL

CULTURAL LAYERS BELONGING TO ABOUT 1500-1000 BC UNEARTHED. NO CITY CULTURE YET FOUND IN THIS PERIOD

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BRICKS BURNT & DRIED.

GEOMETRY CONCERNING BRICKS IN VEDIC LITERATURE

KNOWLEDGE OF THE SO CALLED PYTHAGOREAN RELATION OF RIGHT ANGLE TRIANGLES TO PRODUCE

RIGHT ANGLES IN CONSTRUCTION DESCRIBED IN VEDIC TEXTS

THIS LITERATURE BELONGS TO ~4000-500 BC IN ORAL FORM. AS FIXED WRITTEN TEXTS AFTER 500 BC

SHRINKAGE OF BRICKS SPECIFIED IN THE VEDIC LITERATURE CALLED SHULBA SUTRA

BRICKS OF VARIOUS SHAPES: RECTANGLE, SQUARE, TRIANGLE, WEDGE.

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Vedic Altar built out of burnt bricks. 50’x40’x5’(approx). HimalayasPurola, Uttarakhand. 1 cent BC.

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LARGE LITERATURE OF VASTU SHASTRA.

DESCRIBES SITE SELECTION, SOIL TESTING FOR FOUNDATION

MORE PRESCRIPTIVE THAN DESIGN

SPECIAL RATIOS ARE SPECIFIED WHICH MIGHT HAVE BEEN IN VOGUE FOR A LONG TIME

NARADA SHILPAM A TEXT IN PROSE DESCIBES WATER STORAGE WORKS. FOUNDATION LAYING,

SLUICE GATES OF METAL.

CITIES WHICH HAVE SOME VAGUE RESEMBLANCE TO HARAPPAN TOWNS

DIFFERENT WATER STORAGE STRUCTURES

VAAPI KUUPA TATAAKA

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KING’S PALACE IS OF FIVE KINDS: WIDTH OF 108, 100, 92, 84, OR 76 CUBIT

LENGTH HAS TO BE GREATER THAN THE WIDTH BY A QUARTER. THAT IS THE RATIO OF 4:5. A PROPORTION FOUND IN SOME HARAPPAN CITIES!

DIMENSIONS OF HOUSES ARE PRESCRIBED.

HEIGHT OF THE FIRST FLOOR OF PALACE = (WIDTH/16)+4

SUBSEQUENT FLOOR HEIGHTS REDUCED BY 1/12TH OF THE PRECEDING FLOOR

PILLAR WIDTH AT BOTTOM: (HEIGHT*9/80) WIDTH AT TOP= REDUCE BY 1/10TH

ARCHITRAVE ABOVE PILLAR OF SAME WIDTH. BEAM WIDTH= (3/4) OF ARCHI..

RAFTER THICKNESS= (3/4) OF BEAM

ELABORATE DETAILS ON SOIL TESTING. THEY HAD DEFINITELY IDEA OF LOAD BEARING CAPACITY !

NON-POROUS SOIL PREFERRED!

GOOD SOIL: DENSITY TEST ONE ADHAKA OF SOIL SHOULD WEIGH 64 PALA.

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MANY SHILPA BOOKS DISCUSS BUILDING MATERIALS AND DURABILITY OF CONSTRUCTION. THEY ALL SAY THAT JOINTS SHOULD BE AVOIDED FOR

MAXIMUM DURABILITY. CAVE TEMPLES AND MONASTERIES ARE EXCELLENT EXAMPLES OF THIS PRINCIPLE

Courtesy S.Jadhav

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DESCENT OF GANGA MAHABALIPURAMMONOLITHIC CONSTRUCTION

GREATEST REGARD FOR EARTH & WATER.THIS IS A RECURRING IDEALOGY IN ANCIENT TEXTS

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RANI KI VAV PATAN, GUJARATH

STEP WELL CHAND BAORI, RAJASTHAN

STEPPED WELLS, GHATS, TANKS ARE SEEN ALL OVER INDIA. SPIRIT OF PUBLIC BATHING IN SPECIAL PLACES IMBIBED FROM IVC TIMES!

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CITY TEMPLE COMPLEXES: SRIRANGAM, TIRUVANAIKKAVAL!

ANY ONE VISITING THE BRHADISVARA TEMPLE OR

THE KONARAKA TEMPLE WOULD WONDER HOW SUCH GIGANTIC STRUCTURES WERE BUILT IN THE

10-13TH CENTURY.

WHAT SKILLS & PRINCIPLES OF ENGINEERING THEY EMBED?

HOW DID THEY FIRST ENVISION?

DID THEY MAKE DRAWINGS, MODELS, TRIAL & ERROR EXPERIMENTS?

HOW DID THEY HAUL SUCH HEAVY STONES HORIZONATALLY & VERTICALLY?

31KONARKA TEMPLE MASTERPIECE OF ENGINEERING NOT JUST ARCHITECTUREA CHALLENGE FOR THE NATION TO PRESERVE THIS HERITAGE STRUCTURE.

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Alice Boner (1889-1981) was a Swiss-trained sculptor and artist who lived in the ancient Indian city of Varanasi (a.k.a. Benares) from 1936 until 1978.

Her passion was oriental art, particularly the art of India. India’s rich cultural history goes back at least three millennia, although sadly much of its art is lost: in India the climate rapidly destroys anything remotely perishable, and over the course of centuries much of what did not succumb to climate was intentionally destroyed in the various foreign invasions and endless strife between local contending kingdoms.

It is to these that Alice Boner was drawn over and over again. Fortunately for us she kept a

diary, and though she wrote into it ratherinfrequently, what she did write was deeply personal and offers a fascinating insight into

her creative artistic life, her struggles and doubts, and the passions that led her to her

discoveries about the geometrical underpinnings of this Indian temple.

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PL 1

GROUND PLAN

E-W ORIENTATION

GARBHAGRHA PLAN

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KALASHA

AMALAKA

PLINTH

WHEELS HORSES

WALL

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WHEEL DESIGN

TEMPLE PADMAKESAR DESCRIPTION

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SITE BOOK MAINTAINED BY THE RECORD KEEPER OF THE TEMPLE IN THE LAST 6 YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION.

A HERITAGE BY ITSLEF UNPARALLELLED IN HISTORY

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ALL STONES TRASPORTED BY RIVERS AND CANALS PREPARED FOR THE PURPOSE. SOME QUARRIES WERE MORE THAN 100 KM AWAY

BAYA CAKADA GIVES THE DETAILS OF THE QUARRY CAMPS AND EXPENDITURE

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WE KNOW THE NAMES OF THE CHIEF ARCHITECT, SITE ENGINEER, SCULPTORS, CARPENTERS, THE MUSLIM WORKER WHO CAST THE IRON BEAMS.

THE FAILURES, DEATHS, RESIGNATIONS, INTERNAL DISSENSIONS.

SCULPTORS FROM MADURAI SENT BY THE FATHER-IN-LAW OF THE KING NARASIMHA VERMAN

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BEFORE 1300 AD DOME STRUCTURES IN SOUTH INDIA WERE CONSTRUCTED BY CORBELLING. THAT IS THE WEIGHT WAS TRANSFERRED VERTICALLY. THERE WOULD BE NO LATERAL THRUST DEVELOPED AT THE SUPPORTS. THIS STYLE SEEN IN TIRUVANNAMALAI TEMPLE ALSO.

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KS JAGADISH & MODI

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BAHAMANI NAWABS –(BIJAPUR, GULBARGA, BIDAR) BROUGHT SPECIALIST IN ARCH WORK FROM PERSIA.

THIS INTRODUCED A NEW TREND IN CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES AFTER 1350 AD IN SOUTH INDIA, CULMINATED IN TAMIL NADU, TANJAVUR-MADURAI BELT 1800 AD

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VIJAYANAGAR KINGDOM SHOWS A TRANSITION STYLE. CORBELLING IN LOWER LEVES FOLLOWED BY ARCUATE ELEMENTS AT THE TOP

THE KINGDOM ENDED IN 1565 AD THE WAR OF TALIKOTA

THE SUCCESSOR CHANDRAGIRI FORT NEAR TIRUPATI ALSO HAS VAULT TYPE ELEMENTS

50FROM 1600 AD ONWARDS PROFUSIOIN OF VAULT TYPE CONSTRUCTION IN TAMILNADU

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THE ORIGINAL HOME OF SAINT TYAGARAJA (1767-1847 AD)AT TIRUVAIYAR HAD A VAULT ROOF

KS JAGADISH & MODI

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EVERY TEMPLE HAS ITS OWN BASIC MEASURE SCALE MARKED & EXHIBITED SOMETIMES WITH NAME AND DETAILS

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BELUR TEMPLE KARNATAKA

12TH CENTURY HOYSALA STYLE

MANY OF THE HERITAGE STRUCTURES EXHIBIT ASTRONOMICAL & MUSICAL PRINCIPLES ARTISTICALLY

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Name District Bund height

Capacity / (Circumference)

Cummum Guntoor31 m (102 ft) -

(12.9km)

Madag-Masur Dharwad

30.5m (100 ft) - -

Moti talab Mysore24.4m (80 ft)

22.2 Mm3 -

Shantisagara Shimoga

18.3 m (60 ft) -

(64.4km)

ViranumSouth Arcot

6.1 m (20 ft)

76.45 Mm3 -

LARGE DAM > 15 M (REF: ICOLD)

STORAGE > 1-3 Mm3

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R.H Sankey, Chief Engineer of Mysore in the 1860s also noted that

“in Mysore there were 37,000 of these reservoirs, the larges of which had a surface of 14 square miles. In

the madras presidency there were about 42,000. Such a vast system or anything comparable to it did

not exist in any other part of the world”(Proc. Inst. Civil Engrs.1896)

The expertise of colonial engineers on the problems of Indian dams & anicuts was limited!

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Sir Arthur T Cotton (1803-1899), doyen of colonial engineers in the 19th century commented.

(Lectures-Irrigation works in India)

‘When I first arrived in India (1821), the contempt with which the natives justly spoke of us on account of

neglect of material improvements was very striking ; they used to say we were a kind of civilized savages,

wonderfully expert about fighting, but so inferior to their ‘great men’ that we would not even keep in repair the works they had constructed, much less even imitate

them in extending the system…’………

“With our western and unbounded means we should not think ourselves bound to follow the natives, who had not a thousandth part of our advantages….” (Cotton, 1874)

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“…..nearly all (native) weirs were designed in curves or a series of curves in greater of less imitation of the forms assumed whenwater crossed a natural shoal or hard in the bed of a channel. On the other hand madras engineer officers for the most part

rejected this theory, and adopted straight, level and perpendicular outlines in their constructions.

One of the advantages possessed by the native system was, that the curved surfaces of the crest of the weir allowed the water to

pass over more easily; while the central depression, Or depressions, insured a greater degree of uniformity and

permanence in the deep-water channels into which the broad beds of sandy rivers with small falls were apt to be divided.

Another advantage possessed was, that owing to the greater velocity at the depressed portions of the weir, the sand and silt brought down from the up-country were passed over the weir instead of being allowed to accumulate in the bed of the

river on the upstream side.” (Godsman Proc. I.C.E, Vol 35,1873)

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600,000 acres of land irrigated by the Kaveri branch prior to 1800 AD.

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Special features of the 1116 ft anicut mentioned in the record from 1777

*It was curved making three waves from one end to the other.**Its crest was not level but sloping; 1.3 ft higher at the western end than the eastern end.

***It had a descent from the front to the rear of 3ft and ½ inch which makes in some parts a regular and smooth slope and in other irregularly by 3 or 4 steps.****Between the stones where they are not jointed is rammed a mixture of pebble-stones or rather round gravel and chunam, and overall is spread about ¾ inch think of a very fine and smooth chunam to prevent the water from making the smallest impression…” this plaster probably needed to be replaced every five years. *****Further the front was ragged and uneven which however, was said to be an advantage as it “threw up a bed of sand in perpetual suspension for its defence.

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Raja of Thanjavur complained to the court of Directors of the East Indian company on 21st Oct 1776.

“….. this year the cavery flowed to an extraordinary height and broke down the bank near Kelior which separates it from the coleroon. If it is not repaired the country can produce no crop as the water of that river which fertilizes the soil would then run into the coleroom and by that channel fall useless into the sea. When any part of the bank is demolished we always dug earth in the Trichnopoly country for the repair of it but the Navab will not allow of this at present though it has been customary to do so for upwards of hundred years.”Kallanai was the boundary between the unfriendly domains of Thanjavur and Tiruchirapalli ! Land east of Kallanai belonged to the Raja of Thanjavur, while the land west of it belonged to the Navab of Arcot. In the October 1776 flood the masonry sustained damage at the western end. three layers of stone swept away to a great distance . The British took over in 1801,….

AND MEDDLED WITH THIS HERITAGE STRUCTURE WHICH HAD SERVED WELL FOR 1500 YEARS !

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KALLANAI IS A MIXED HERITAGE STRUCTURE OF THE COLONIAL PAST !

GRAFTED ENGINEERING HERITAGE HAS POTENTIAL TO BECOME A MILL AROUND OUR NECK. SOME OF OUR CURRENT STRUCTURES MAY NOT BE LIKED BY FUTURE GENERATIONS ALSO!

HIGH TIME CIVIL ENGINEERS EXHIBIT OUT-OF-BOX THINKING AS OUR ANCIENTS DID INSTEAD OF BLINDLY TEACHING & FOLLOWING BRITISH PRACTICES

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TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGYNOT ONLY OF WELL FOUNDATIONS

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Second Coat

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68DANKAR MONASTERY (H.P.) HERITAGE STRUCTURE CONSTRUCTED WITH MODERN EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT R.C.C IN THE ANCIENT SILK ROUTE

PHOTO: S.T.G. RAGHUKANTH. IITM

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HISTORY CAN BE RECONSTRUCTED

BUT HERITAGE CAN NOT BE REPRODUCED

IT IS PRECIOUS

LET US PRESERVE IT FOR POSTERITY

BY

STUDYING, TEACHING, CONSERVING

THANK YOU