Sanchi Dam and its Two Smaller Dams: Karondih and Dargawan

Location Description

Sanchi, India

Project Location

23.484030427299185LOL77.74234771728516

Historical Context

The Sanchi dam complex was located in Sanchi, India, (Figure 1) which is a Buddhist site in Madhya Pradesh (Shaw et al 2007). Sanchi Dam and its related smaller dams (Figure 2 and 3) was probably built to provide irrigation, such as for rice, as a response to an increasing population (Shaw et al 2007). It was likely also part of a cultural package in the late centuries BC as Buddhism, urbanization, and centralized state policies spread with the introduction of rice to central India (Shaw et al 2007). This was central to the development of sustainable exchange networks between Buddhist monks and the local laity (Shaw et al 2007). The dam also served as a practical solution to drought and flood (Shaw et al 2007).

Figure 1: A map of where Sanchi is located on the Indian subcontinent.

Photo Source: (Shaw et al 2007)

Figure 2: Satellite photo of the approximate locations of the Sanchi Dams. Sanchi dam is marked as the solid black line, Dargawan as the dashed line, and Karondih as the dot-dash line.

Photo source: Google Maps

Figure 3: Map of Sanchi and other dams in the Sanchi area, showing estimated reservoir size along with other details.

Photo Source: (Shaw and Sutcliffe 2005)

Approximate Year of Completion

Unknown

Duration of construction

According to Shaw and Sucliffe 2005, all three dams were “built at the same time or later than the main reservoir”, probably around the third century BC, “in keeping with the second, and most prolific building phase at Sanchi”. This conclusion was made because this time “closely fits optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dates obtained from cutting in the main Sanchi dam” (Shaw and Sutcliffe 2005)

Project description

Sanchi Dam

Sanchi dam was about 350 meters long and was located between Sanchi hill and Naguri (Shaw et al 2007). Its reservoir was approximately 3 km² with a volume of 3.6 m³ x 10⁶ (Shaw et al 2007), and its current height is 2.8 m (Shaw et al 2007). According to Shaw and Sutcliffe 2005, Sanchi dam had “a central control structure probably located over a main feeder stream” and a “possible spillway between the northern end of the dam and the lower outcropping of Sanchi hill”.

Karondih and Dargawan

Both Karondih and Dargawan are immediately upstream of the Sanchi reservoir and were used to “maintain water levels in the main reservoir” (Shaw et al 2007). Karondih was about “500 m across the narrowest point of the valley that drains into the main Sanchi reservoir”, with a reservoir of about 0.44 km² and volume 0.44 m³ x 10⁶ (Shaw and Sutcliffe 2005). Dargawan was about 300 m across with a reservoir of about 0.08 km² and volume 0.079 m³ x 10⁶ (Shaw and Sutcliffe 2005)

Construction details/observations

Figure 4 gives details of Sanchi dam’s construction. The layer description is also copied below Figure 4 in case the layer description is hard to read.

Figure 4: Sanchi dam section showing layer descriptions.

Photo Source: (Shaw et al 2007)

1. Dark brown clay-rich sediment with tightly packed stone fragments forming packing for outer stone facing

2. Coarse, light brown sandy sediment, which provides the foundation for the stone packing (L1) and outer stone facing

3. Compact layer of of light brown silt surrounding top of storage jar. Dried out at faster rate than underlying layer (L8)

4. Very compact, mid-brown silty clay. Road surface

5. Clay rich silt layer sealed beneath collapsed facing stone. Interpreted as predam horizon

6. Compact, dark brown clay interpreted as predam horizon

7. Compact, light brown sediment within vessel

8. Loose layer of light brown silt surrounding base of storage jar

9. Compact sandy deposit

Just like Sanchi, Karondih and Dargawan had “earthen cores with stone facing mainly on the upstream side” (Shaw et al 2007). Figure 5 shows what such a dam may look like.

Figure 5: Outer facing on Morel Kala dam, a dam near and built in the same period as Sanchi, showing stone facing.

Photo Source: (Shaw et al 2007)

According to OSL dating, the building material used to make the Sanchi dams were likely “sourced from nearby Chalcolithic contexts” (Shaw et al 2007). All three of these dams were constructed as a system of upstream irrigation, likely to provide the flooding necessary for rice crops (Shaw et al 2007).

Other significant comments

According to Shaw and Sutcliff 2005, the dam’s “eventual disuse may be related to the decline of Buddhism in the Sanchi area from around the 10th century onwards”. Considering the catastrophic famine that occurred around the 14th century, and that working dams would have likely lessened that blow, it is probable that the dams had already been abandoned by then (Shaw and Sutcliffe 2005).

Sources and references

Shaw, J., archaeologist, Sutcliffe, J. V. (. V. )., Lloyd-Smith, L., Schwenninger, J., Chauhan, M. S., Misra, O. P., and Harvey, E. (2007). "Ancient Irrigation and Buddhist History in Central India: Optically Stimulated Luminescence Dates and Pollen Sequences from the Sanchi Dams." Asian Perspectives, 46(1), 166.

Shaw, J., and Sutcliffe, J. (2005). "Ancient Dams and Buddhist Landscapes in the Sanchi area: New evidence on Irrigation, Land use and Monasticism in Central India." South Asian Studies, 21(1), 1.

Project Id

RPM-01-14