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Q13 (IAS/2025) History & Culture › Ancient India › Ancient science and technology Answer Verified

The irrigation device called 'Araghatta' was

Result
Your answer: —  ·  Correct: B
Explanation

Araghatta, also known as the Persian Wheel, was an ancient water-lifting device that consisted of a rotating wheel with earthen pots affixed to its outer rim.[1] The Persian wheel is a mechanical water lifting device operated usually by draught animals like bullocks, buffaloes or camels.[2] The device worked through a gear mechanism where the bullock turns one wheel whose teeth catch in the teeth of the second wheel, and thus the wheel with the pitchers is turned.[3] This description matches option B, which refers to a large wheel with earthen pots (pitchers) tied to the outer ends. The other options describe different water-lifting mechanisms - leather water bags (option A), a single large earthen pot (option C), or a simple bucket-and-rope system (option D) - none of which accurately describe the Araghatta's distinctive wheel-and-pot mechanism.

Sources

  1. [3] https://ncert.nic.in/textbook/pdf/lehs204.pdf
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PROVENANCE & STUDY PATTERN
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Don’t just practise – reverse-engineer the question. This panel shows where this PYQ came from (books / web), how the examiner broke it into hidden statements, and which nearby micro-concepts you were supposed to learn from it. Treat it like an autopsy of the question: what might have triggered it, which exact lines in the book matter, and what linked ideas you should carry forward to future questions.
Q. The irrigation device called 'Araghatta' was [A] a water bag made of leather pulled over a pulley [B] a large wheel with earthen pots t…
At a glance
Origin: Mostly Current Affairs Fairness: Low / Borderline fairness Books / CA: 0/10 · 10/10
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This is a classic 'Term-Definition' question from Ancient History, specifically the History of Science & Technology. While the provenance scan flagged it as web-heavy, this term appears in standard advanced textbooks (like Upinder Singh or RS Sharma). It is a fair question testing your grasp of agrarian technology beyond just political dynasties.

How this question is built

This question can be broken into the following sub-statements. Tap a statement sentence to jump into its detailed analysis.

Statement 1
Was the irrigation device 'Araghatta' a water bag made of leather pulled over a pulley?
Origin: Web / Current Affairs Fairness: CA heavy Web-answerable

Web source
Presence: 1/5
"Araghatta, also known as the Persian Wheel, was an ancient water-lifting device. It consisted of a rotating wheel with earthen pots affixed to its outer rim."
Why this source?
  • Explicitly identifies Araghatta as the Persian Wheel, not a leather bag device.
  • Describes its form: a rotating wheel with earthen pots on the rim, which contradicts the 'water bag over a pulley' description.
Web source
Presence: 1/5
"In Sanskrit the word Araghatta has been used in the ancient texts to describe the Persian Wheel."
Why this source?
  • States that the Sanskrit term 'Araghatta' refers to the Persian Wheel in ancient texts.
  • Links the name directly to the known wheel-based water-lifting technology rather than a leather bag/pulley system.
Web source
Presence: 1/5
"The Persian wheel is the **saqia** and is a land based water lifting device from wells, more in the nature of a pump."
Why this source?
  • Explains the Persian wheel (saqia) is a land-based water-lifting device from wells, i.e., a pump/wheel mechanism.
  • This description aligns with a wheel-and-pots mechanism and does not support the leather water-bag over a pulley idea.

History , class XI (Tamilnadu state board 2024 ed.) > Chapter 2: Early India: The Chalcolithic, Megalithic, Iron Age and Vedic Cultures > Economy: Agriculture > p. 24
Strength: 5/5
“Archaeological evidence points to the development of agriculture among the Rig Vedic people. The ploughshare is mentioned in the Rig Vedas. The field was known as kshetra and the term krishi referred to ploughing. The terms langla and sura referred to plough, and the term sita meant the furrow created by ploughing. Water for irrigation was probably drawn from wells by cattle-driven water-lifts using pulleys. They had knowledge of different seasons, sowing, harvesting, and thrashing.”
Why relevant

Mentions cattle-driven water-lifts using pulleys in Rig-Vedic/early contexts, showing pulleys were used historically to lift water.

How to extend

A student could combine this with the claim about 'pulley' to judge plausibility that an Araghatta used a pulley mechanism.

THEMES IN INDIAN HISTORY PART II, History CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 8: Peasants, Zamindars and the State > Irrigating trees and fields > p. 199
Strength: 5/5
“In Agra, Chandwar, Bayana (all in present-day Uttar Pradesh) and those parts again, people water with a bucket … At the well-edge they set up a fork of wood, having a roller adjusted between the forks, tie a rope to a large bucket, put the rope over a roller, and tie its other end to the bullock. One person must drive the bullock, another empty the bucket. Ü Compare the irrigation devices observed by Babur with what you have learnt about irrigation in Vijayanagara (Chapter 7). What kind of resources would each of these systems require? Which systems could ensure the participation of peasants in improving agricultural technology?”
Why relevant

Gives a concrete example (Babur) of a roller/rope and bucket system operated by animals — demonstrates common use of a rope-over-roller and bucket for well irrigation.

How to extend

Compare the described bucket-over-roller design with the proposed leather-bag-over-pulley design to see if form and function match.

Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 9: Agriculture > Table 9.9 > p. 37
Strength: 4/5
“There is wastage of water, water-logging in canal command areas and other ecological problems. Hence, there is a need for a judicious and scientific development of irrigation, full utilisation of its potential and rational pricing of irrigation water. Wells and Tube-Wells: This type of irrigation has been practised in India since the time immemorial. The widely used methods for the utilization of underground water are persian-wheel Rahat, Charas, or mot and tubewells. Out of these, tube-well irrigation is more popular in the Satluj-Ganga plains. Tube-well irrigation accounts for more than 62% of the total irrigated area of the country.”
Why relevant

Lists traditional well-lifting devices (Persian-wheel/Rehat, Charas, mot) as named historical technologies for drawing groundwater.

How to extend

Use this pattern (named regional devices) to ask whether 'Araghatta' appears among known device names or fits a category like a leather-bag lift.

Environment and Ecology, Majid Hussain (Access publishing 3rd ed.) > Chapter 12: Major Crops and Cropping Patterns in India > Well and Tube-well Irrigation > p. 72
Strength: 3/5
“Te underground water is utilized by drilling tube-wells, pumping sets and construction of wells. Some of the widely used methods are Persian Wheel (Rehat) Charas or Mot. Well irrigation is popular in areas where sufcient good quality underground water is available. It is the main source of irrigation in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and the delta regions of Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri (Fig. 12.24). In 1950-51 only 32 per cent of the irrigated area was under wells and tube-wells which rose to over 62 per cent in 2010-11.”
Why relevant

Describes Persian wheel and similar devices as widely used methods for underground water utilization, indicating diversity of historical lifting mechanisms.

How to extend

A student could use this to infer that alternative lifting devices (including leather bags) might exist regionally and seek linguistic/archaeological matches for 'Araghatta'.

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