**2. Historical developments in the Indus basin irrigation system**

In the development of early irrigation canals, the rulers of states in upper Indus basin areas played a vital role and paved the way to the construction of the complex irrigation system that exists today. Areas where significant work was done include Jammu and Kashmir regions, Punjab, and Sindh. Later on, further developmental work was carried out in several stages and different eras. Even today, an expansion of Indus irrigation system could be observed in different regions of Pakistan and India.

#### **2.1 Early developments in Jammu and Kashmir**

Development of the canal irrigation system started in the eighth century in the Kashmir region after the regular flooding of the valley and rise in the prices of crops that made the survival of the poor very difficult. In such a situation, King *Lalitaditya* set the drainage system in a suitable direction and distributed the Jhelum River water to different villages for increased production of crops. The Martand Canal was constructed in that period; starting from the left bank of *Liddar* River and terminating at *Karewa* of *Martands*, the canal irrigates about 3844.5 ha of land along its 50 km long channel. King *Avantivarman* started the channel cleaning, broadening, construction of stone embankments, and changing of the location of river junction. Villages were protected by constructing dykes, and in order to make the irrigation system of the valley more effective, a network of canals was constructed, and rain-dependent areas were provided with irrigation facilities. The *Nur* and *Nandikul* Canals were constructed with a length of 13 and 30 km, respectively. *Nur* canal originated from the Jhelum River and terminated at *Anderkot* Village,

while *Nandikul* Canal was designed to irrigate 3237.5 ha of land of the northern *Anantnag* by receiving its water from the Nullah Anantnag. Sultan *Zain-ul-Abidin* constructed the *Zainagir* Canal on the *Madhumati* River, to irrigate the rice fields and apple orchards on 5463.3 ha in the district *Baramulla* [20].
