A student on a field trip to the ruins of Vijayanagara walks along the streams that flow down from the granite hills around the city towards the Tungabhadra. Along almost every stream she finds the remains of old earthen and stone banks built across or beside the water. To the south-west of the city she reaches a very large tank. A guide shows her the line of an old channel that leads away from this tank towards another part of the city. She wants to understand why the rulers took so much trouble over these works.
Why were the banks found along the streams built?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → To make reservoirs that kept rainwater, as the area gets very little rain
Option (1) To make reservoirs that kept rainwater, as the area gets very little rain — Correct. The embankments held back stream water and made reservoirs of different sizes. Vijayanagara lay in one of the most arid zones of the peninsula, so rainwater had to be kept and carried to the city.
Option (2) To keep the floodwaters of the Tungabhadra away from the city — Incorrect. The banks were built on the small streams coming down from the hills. Their purpose was to hold water for use, since the area was very dry.
Option (3) To raise causeways that carried roads across the stream valleys — Incorrect. No roads are linked to these banks. They were water works that turned streams into reservoirs.
Option (4) To form an outer line of defence in front of the fortress walls — Incorrect. The city's defence came from its great fortress walls with bastions. The stream embankments were built to collect water for the city and its fields.
NCERT (2026-27): “3.1 Water resources … |