Khooni Bhandara, Burhanpur

Description

Khooni Bhandara is an underground water management system comprising of eight waterworks built in the historical city of Burhanpur in Burhanpur district of the Central State of Madhya Pradesh in India.These Mughal period waterworks of Burhanpur form one of the most significant historic water systems in India.

Built on similar Persian qanat approach as also in the existing historic towns of Aurangabad and and Bidar these water systems in Burhanpur were constructed in 1615 CE. In the first decade of 20th century, eight sets of these subterraneous conduits were excavated and traced and 6 of the these are still intact.

With the commencement of Mughal rule in late 16th century, Burhanpur rapidly progressed as an important settlement. Apart from being Subah headquarter for the Mughals, Burhanpur  also became the center of military activities and commerce as well as the base for the expansion of Mughals in South India.  

Huge Mughal armies camped here for a prolonged period and caravans engaged in transportation of goods often stopped here. Though Burhanpur was situated on the river banks of the Tapti and Utavali, its banks were so high that it was difficult and expensive to service water to different parts of Burhanpur city and it lacked water supply for all this congregation. As contemporary descriptions narrate, Mughal armies usually camped between Burhanpur and Bahadurpur and water shortage became an acute crisis in this scenario. Some alternative was urgently needed to overcome the problem of water shortage and hence, this massive project of water systems was undertaken during Abdur Rahim Khan-i-Khanan. Construction of an efficient water supply system commenced during the governorship of Abdur Rahim khan- Khanan during Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s reign. In 1615 CE, Abdul Rahim Khan invited a Persian geologist, Tabkutul Arz, to investigate the recharge valley in the Tapti plains. Arz did his groundwork, and devised a system. The Burhanpur scheme consists of bhandaras or storage tanks, which collect groundwater from the underground springs flowing from the adjacent Satpura hills towards the Tapti. The groundwater is intercepted at four places northwest of Burhanpur, and then flows through subterranean conduits to a junction - a chamber called jail karanj. Here is stored the town's water supply.. This system was elaborated by future administrators. Khooni bhandara consist of 103 kundis (well -like storage structures) constructed in a row. They are interconnected to each other through a 3.9 km long underground marble tunnel. This system would check the flow of rainwater from the Satpura hills flowing towards the river Tapti. The design is based on the simple law of gravity. Remains of this system can still be seen scattered all over the city and even today a considerable part of the water requirement of Burhanpur city is supplied by this medieval system.

The technique used in Burhanpur was taken from Persian Qanta systems of Iran and Iraq by the Mughals as technologies of public utility used to be imported from Persia for use in India during their times. A detailed description of this system. as prevalent in Iran is given in the Cambridge geography of Iran. Three sources exist in Iran for water supply- qanat, wells and rivers and streams. As far as possible drinking water was obtained from qanat system because it supplied cleaner water and through it water could be conveyed to distant places in large quantity. Irrigation was also done through qanat system.

The Khooni Bhandara has qanats, similar to the Bildar village near Mashhad town situated in north-east part of Iran. Bildar village was built at the exit point of the underground tunnel, the “mazhar-e-qunat”. The first well was dug to a depth of 80 m, when a source of water was tapped. Then at a distance of approximately 100 m lower down the slope away from the first shaft a second well was dug and once these two basic sources for ventilation by fresh air had been opened and lined with circular sundried supports of mud, then the first section of the underground connecting tunnel could be dug between the two vertical shafts. This main tunnel slopes very gently downwards so as to allow free flow of water, essential for proper functioning of the qanat.

This process was repeated each time till the tunnel was completed, but as the vertical air shafts became shallower, the horizontal distance between them was reduced from 100 m to about 30 m. These vertical shafts are necessary to provide both fresh air and later access for the qanat builders and repairers. The point where the qanat emerges at the surface is called the “mazhar-e-qunat” and it is from this point onwards into the plan that a settlement often grows up.  

Evolved in the early 17th century on these principles, the Khooni bhandara provided water to the entire city for as long as 300 years before it collapsed in 1977. The hint of red colour in this mineral rich water, gave it the name khooni (bloody).

This intricate underground water system was conceived with the purpose to meet the drinking water needs of its 200000 army soldiers and the 35,000 inhabitants of the city. Since the area also received a fair amount of rainfall, the real issue revolved around devising a system which would effectively tap these sources for an adequate supply of clean water.

Justification de la Valeur Universelle Exceptionnelle

The Burhanpur Qanat System utilises the geological uniqueness, and is a direct response to local geo-physical conditions to develop an exceptional “Quanat” (or subterranean water channels and cisterns). This system was built in the 17th century under the guidance of the Persian geologist Tabkutul Arz by utilizing the fault landform, which sloped towards the east to the River Tapti. The landuse and buildings dotting the landscape were oriented and consistent according to the slope of the terrain to allow continuous water flow by the force of gravity. The water recharging system devised for the canal is based on the principle of intercepting the run-off in the subsoil groundwater level through underground channels and collecting it in structures, partly underground and partly aboveground, called “Bhandaras” through a system of underground channels and galleries.  The system involved the construction of an aqueduct mostly by tunneling with vertical airshafts to tap the underground water flow from the nearby Satpura hill ranges. This system of eight water works, known as the “Kundi Bhandara”, “Sookha Bhandara”, “Trikuti Bhandara”, “Mool Bhandara”, and “Chintaharan” uses unparalleled construction techniques and may be considered highly significant relics of Mughal engineering, ingenuity and skill.

Criterion (ii):  The Khooni Bhandara Qanat system exhibits the intercultural exchange of Persian and Water Management Systems with local and regional adaptations in Central India by the Mughal rulers. The system presents an interesting interchange of ideas where the Persian system for the management of water resources were adapted to the specific context in Central India during the Mughal period.

Criterion (iii): The Khooni Bhandara Qanat system is an exceptional testimony to the tradition of Persian Qanat System for providing water in semi-arid regions of India. It is one of the most extant representative of cultural traditions of water management systems in arid and semi arid zones of India that evolved in the medieval period.

Criterion (iv): The Khooni Bhandara is an outstanding example of a technological ensemble illustrating significant stages in the history of human occupation of semi-arid region of India. Based on complex calculations and exceptional architectural qualities, water was collected and transported by mere gravity over long distances and these systems were maintained over centuries. Burhanpur Khooni-bhandara is an ingenious network of 103 well-like structures called kundis (aqua ducts), which are interconnected through a 3.9-kilometre-long underground tunnel made of marble. As the entire system was essentially based on the law of gravity, it ensured a smooth course of water from the first to the last kundi. In case of any obstruction, it was possible to rectify the problem by going down the kundi using iron stairs. Today, a rope is used for this purpose. At its inception, the system had a storage capacity of ten million litres but over the years it steadily declined. Accumulation of calcium and magnesium along the tunnel walls, which has made these passages extremely narrow, is cited as the prime reason.

Persian geologist Tabukul Arj drew up an ambitious plan in 1615, which centred on capturing the flow of rainwater from the Satpura hills towards Tapti and storing it at various junctures. These water storage places came to be known as Mool-bhandara, Chintaharan-bhandara, Sookha-bhandara and Khooni bhandara. The water coming from Mool-bhandara (reservoir), Chintaharan (reservoir) and Sookha bhandara (reservoir) collected at a common point to flow towards Khooni-bhandara from where it was transported to Jali Karanja or Jal bhandara. Water stored here was then distributed through pipelines to the entire city. These three resources are found 3.9 Km. away from old settlement area. It is above 100' feet (33 m) above River bed level. Long pipe line was built for distribution of water, from the main resource. The water is distributed to the whole town at various points by (aqueduct) tunnel pipe line which is (80' to 100') below ground level.

Déclarations d’authenticité et/ou d’intégrité

The six existing qanats forming this property are still active water carriers and have retained not only their architectural and technological structures but also their function. The authenticity of the qanat of Khooni Bhandaras has been respected regarding design, technology, building materials, traditions, techniques, management systems as well as intangible heritage associations based on knowledge of the natural environment and material technology.

Today, the potential of Khooni Bhandara is again being recognised with authorities going back to this traditional system in search of an answer to the city's water scarcity problem. For this, Burhanpur Municipal Corporation has teamed up with district with some monetary assistance coming in from the residents. The process, in its current first phase, has already shown encouraging results, augmenting the water supply by 0.11 million litres per day.  This system, that once supplied 1,00,00,000 litres of water to the town during the Mughal period, today, supplies a much reduced 18,00,000 litres a day but still functions at zero cost.

The site has been declared as state protected structure by the State Directorate of Archaeology, Archives and Museums and Nagar Nigam is the in charge of its management.

Comparaison avec d’autres biens similaires

Originating in Armenia 2,500 years ago, Qanats have reemerged into the international spotlight as “rational irrigation systems,” says Dr. Ali A. Semsar Yazdi the Director of the newly formed International Centre on Qanat and Historic Hydraulic Structures (ICQHS) in Yazd, Iran. Today in Iran, more than 34,355 of the structures are still functioning. Sophisticated, self-regulating, and structurally sound, Qanat systems were an integral part of Iranian cotton production in the ninth and tenth centuries AD, and have since been found in 35 countries including China, India, Egypt, and even as far westward as Spain and Peru.

The Qanat system was used widely across Persia and the Middle East for many reasons. First, the system requires no energy, reliant on the force of gravity alone. Second, the system can carry water across long distances through subterranean chambers avoiding leakage, evaporation, or pollution. And lastly, the discharge is fixed by nature, producing only the amount of water that is distributed naturally from a spring or mountain, ensuring the water table is not depleted. More importantly, it allows access to a reliable and plentiful source of water to those living in otherwise marginal landscapes. Over the centuries, the abundance of Qanats has varied amidst shifting dynasties and new landowners. More recently, the resurgence of Qanats is fighting years of inevitable modernization in which wells and piped water systems were constructed for growing populations under new land arrangements. Variable and decreasing rainfall have also hindered development efforts. In Syria, 92% of all Qanats have run dry since the introduction of pumped tube-wells in the mid-1970s. In both Syria and Iran, Qanats were constructed in areas that received 100-300 millimeters (mm) of precipitation each year. According to Professor Dale Lightfoot at the University of Colorado, these areas have received more variable rainfall in recent decades, compromising the efficacy of Qanats. Time and money is also a serious obstacle to new construction. New systems take anywhere between 25 and 75 years to construct with traditional materials and strategies.Thus, ICQHS focuses its resources in village-level education, training users how to revitalize and repair existing Qanats. Since 2008, ICQHS has taken on six projects to restore Qanat systems in villages surrounding the Center in Yazd, successfully increasing drinking water and irrigation supplies.

At the national level, several subterranean traditional water systems exist in historic cities of India. There is a great variation of water systems such as wells, kunds or tanks,  baolis, reservoirs and canals across the country. The Qanat system specifically is found in the historic cities of the Deccan primarily Aurangabad, Bijapur and Bidar.

The historical city of Aurangabad is famous for its underground water channels 52 in numbers drawing ground water from the adjoining hills. All these channels are cut in rocks and lined in lime masonry. The size of the channel called as Nahar was around 1.2 m x 2.0 m. There were manholes distribution towers for maintenance and delivery of water. Evidences corroborating this are still extant. A few of the Nahars (Thatte, Baijipura, Kiradpura, Shahanurmiya, Panchakki, Shahaganj, Cantonment and many others) are still functional though in a dilapidated state. Use of water brought from a distance through a pipe line appears to have been made to run a wheel for running a flour mill in Aurangabad city called a panchakki. Use of water had thus not been made only for drinking and irrigation but also for generating mechanical energy. Similar type of Nahar system could be witnessed at Junner, Tisgaon, Sinner, Pune, Sangli and Ahamadanagar. The water palace constructed in the body of masonry dam under overflow section of Naldurga fort is an engineering marvel of those period. The river Boriwas diverted partly to feed the moat of fort of Naldurga. The river was diverted safely by safe guarding the laws of environment.

Aurangabad The great water engineering feat achieved in the city of Aurangabad, earlier known as Fatehgarh, is credited to Malik Ambar6 . He introduced the well organised system of water supply for public utility known as Nahar-e-Ambari. During military activities in 1617 CE, he discovered the Kham river valley and its large natural basin. The subterranean water table of mountainous elevated valleys to the north of Aurangabad was practically manipulated to procure a stable perennial water supply for a population by constructing a unique aqueducts7 named Khair-e-Jari. Population grew further when Aurangzeb, appointed as the Subedar of Deccan, made Aurangabad his capital leading to water scarcity. In order to supply water to the growing population, 12 canals were excavated. The 4,450 metre long subterranean water supply canal lies to the north of Aurangabad. The canal is like an underground stream of water with varying sectional area along its length. The floor of the canal is dug in the porous layers of the ground at different levels so that large quantity of water may be collected by percolation. It is dug very deep under the ground and there is no masonry on its two vertical sides. Above the vertical sides, an arch of lime and brick is constructed. It has tall and strong manholes to ease its cleaning and maintenance. This water supply system has been in use for the past 300 years by the inhabitants of Aurangabad, free of cost. Bidar and Bijapur under the Deccan Sultanate also developed similar water management systems, a few of which are still existing.

Besides other Qanat systems, the stepwells or baolis in the north and northwestern arid and semi arid region of India constitute comparable subterranean water structures including the Rani ki Vav which was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2014.

At the international level, Khooni Bhandara is comparable to the following World Heritage Sites:

Aflaj Irrigation Systems of Oman: The property consists of five Aflaj water irrigation systems. Aflaj gets the water from underground source like wells and it depends on gravity to force water to flow through its channels. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World heritage site in 2006.

2.Water Management System of Augsburg, Germany- The Water management System in Augsburg is an exceptional preserved structure based on a series of canals, water courses, waterworks, hydro-technical structures, fountains and a water-cooled meat cutting hall.22 heritage properties under this water management system were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.

3.The Persian Qanat, Iran: The qanat, is a traditional Persian irrigation method in which a lengthy tunnel is constructed into parched territory to access subsurface aquifers for the local population to utilize. This enables for the sustenance of huge communities despite adverse environmental conditions. Iranian Qanats have been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2016.

4.The Underground Water Structures in Gaziantep; Livas' and Kastels- This water distribution system is the network of water chanals,carved into limestone .The system is based on the idea of distributing water coming from a distant source through well-designed underground canals to a large settlement area, using wells where necessary, or using clear underground reservoirs known as "kastel" to store water in locations where it is needed.

5. The Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System- It acts as a water diversion system from the Minjiang River to the West Sichuan Plain and is one of the earliest irrigation systems in China still in use today. This system has been crucial in the prevention of flooding, irrigation, transportation of water, and general water use. It was inscribed in UNESCO World Heritage list in 2000.

Subak, Bali is another significant water management system from Indonesia which is recognized  on the World Heritage List.