Human use of landforms on the Deccan Volcanic Plateau: Formation of a geocultural region

Wescoat, James L.

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2018.08.044

Cited by 14 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Coronation of Shivaji and his ideology of swarajya (self-rule) included a libation of water on his head from seven sacred rivers of India in a manner akin to ritual practices described in the Agni Purana (Dutt 1902-03, 148). The rural population on lower elevation lands excavated dug wells tens of meters deep in fractured basalt terrain (Wescoat 2018).…”

Section: A U T H O R Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

A macrohistorical geography of rural drinking water institutions in India

Wescoat

Bramhankar

Murty³

et al. 2021

Water Hist

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India has a long history of policies that aim to improve rural drinking water services, in part through decentralization that faces deeply rooted institutional challenges. These include debates about: the duty of the state to provide rural drinking water supply; tension over the role of central, state, and local governments; and frequent changes in policy and senior public officials that disrupt long-term implementation. Some water governance theorists have described policymaking in this context as a pragmatic process of bricolage, that is, of piecing together practical opportunities for improvement where possible. This paper takes a macrohistorical geographic approach to these institutional problems, with an emphasis on northern India. It shows that ancient sources dating back to the Arthashastra have underscored the role of the state in developing water supplies for the people. Subsequent regimes have argued for various combinations of centralized and local responsibility. We show that frequent rotation of senior public officials was systematized in the 16 th century Mughal empire. Changing roles of India's five levels of center, state, district, block, and village government have a half-millennium-long history, evolving through dramatically different Mughal, Mahratta, colonial, and post-colonial contexts. Devolution policies were frequently changed in the colonial period. Independence in

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Section: A U T H O R Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

A macrohistorical geography of rural drinking water institutions in India

Wescoat

Bramhankar

Murty³

et al. 2021

Water Hist

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“…It is a part of a geological area known as the Deccan Volcanic Plateau, which is underlain by shallow basalt bedrock and hard rock aquifers that slope from northwest to southeast. Erosion has produced terrain that varies from steeply sloping highly dissected ridges and buttes in the west to moderately dissected plateau lands and river valleys in the middle and broad irrigated plains in the east (Wescoat, 2018). Villages in the hilly west are small in size and population, mixed in size in the middle of the district, and relatively large in size but low in population density in the east.…”

Section: Pune District and Case Study Blocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analyzing rural drinking water services for district planning in Maharashtra, India

et al. 2019

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India has made good progress toward meeting basic standards of access to safe drinking water, but improved planning methods are needed to prioritize different levels and types of water service needs for public investment. This paper presents a planning approach for collecting, analyzing, and mapping drinking water service data at the village, block, and district levels in Pune district, Maharashtra, India. The planning approach created a mobile application for data collection by gram sevaks at the village level. It employed ranking methods developed with district officers to prioritize villages with the greatest needs, cluster analysis to distinguish different types of needs, and geographic information system (GIS) mapping to visualize the spatial distribution of those needs. This analysis shows that there are high levels of spatial heterogeneity in water services within, as well as between, blocks but also that there are broad patterns of priorities for planning and policy purposes. These priorities include water service needs in the Western Ghats, a combination of water source and service needs in dissected plateau lands, source strengthening in the eastern plains, and local hot spots in peri-urban areas. Based on this Pune district case study, the Government of Maharashtra is testing the approach in five additional districts.

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“…Surveys of settlement history in the Deccan have shed light on demographical, economical, and political processes, then pay limited attention to physical and water phenomena (Kosambi, 1988). According to James Wescoat, historical geographies of specific periods and places give more attention to landforms and landscapes but offer little in the way of a much-needed environmental synthesis (Wescoat, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…My research addresses the crucial relationship between military and water architecture to illustrate the interdependencies found through the example of a specific site, its design, and the progressive control of the territory according to several criteria: agricultural, economic, and military by virtue of progressive control of water, its catchment, and retention. As Wescoat has demonstrated throughout his work, an archeological study must focus on human strategies for transforming a site, revealing the defensive and economic opportunities for settlement (Wescoat, 2019). The Historical Context of Naldurg Fort…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Naldurg Fort, Deccan, India: Dam, Fortifications, Palace

Morelle¹

2022

J. Mater. Cult. Muslim World

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The introduction of new water supply techniques in the Deccan region of India helped make water a crucial factor in local warfare. Improved water supply and conservation influenced military networks, especially at sites located on the strategic frontiers between local polities. Water management also served residential complexes within fortified sites and agricultural improvements in the surrounding arid landscape. This survey of the Naldurg Fort, overlooking a lofty gorge on the Bhima River in the modern state of Maharashtra, examines how builders in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries dammed available water to service a strategic frontier military garrison, thereby creating a refreshing environment for a pleasure palace and garden. All photographs and the survey are by Nicolas Morelle.

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Human use of landforms on the Deccan Volcanic Plateau: Formation of a geocultural region

Cited by 14 publications

References 22 publications

A macrohistorical geography of rural drinking water institutions in India

A macrohistorical geography of rural drinking water institutions in India

Analyzing rural drinking water services for district planning in Maharashtra, India

Naldurg Fort, Deccan, India: Dam, Fortifications, Palace

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