Water from Qanats, owned communally, distributed to community members,
on a rotational basis over a period 10-14 days is known as �madaar�. The
equivalent word in Malayalam for madaar is maathi. Maathi in Sanskrit
means measurement of area, weight, size etc. In Tamil it means number of
times. It also covers meanings such as order, rule, custom, turn of
shift, fixed time or turn, installment, number of times. It corresponds
to the Arabic meaning of rotation. A portico or porch of the shape of a
howdah is ambaari. Ambaaram/ vattam denotes number of times, mura turn
or shift, a period of eight days. Thavana is fixed time or turn,
installments. Maathi is vattam in Tamil. In Sanskrit, measure, define,
regulate and so on. Ambar is sky, atmosphere.
One Well, So Many Names
Aflaj
The technology of the Qanat in Iran and Oman is the same. But in Oman
they are known as aflaj (plural), falaj (singular). Oman has both
vertical and horizontal wells. From time immemorial the people of Oman
harnessed water from these sources for both domestic and irrigational
purposes. Aflaj in Oman are classified according to the depth of the
water sources. The two important types of aflaj in Oman are Daudi (Qanat
/Iddy) and Ghaily. The meaning of the Sanskrit word aaranam is depth,
abyss, and precipice. Aarani is an eddy. Hrdam is depth of a river or
lake, an eddy. Ancient spring is called Ain Romani in Kharge. The
meaning of ain is well/ spring. It might be related to aarani.
Ainy falaj, the third category, is one that originates from groundwater
springs. Their length is insignificant, places of occurrences very
limited.
Ghaily falaj are dug close to the ground surface. They collect water
from wadi (valley) bottom, which accumulates water after incessant
rainfall. Since the Ghail aflaj depend on water that accumulates after
an incessant rainfall or on shallow underground water table, they are
bound to dry out after a long spell of drought with low rainfall.
Quantity of water that it could collect from the wadi determines the
width of aflaj. The water is not consumed for domestic purposes as it is
normally found in open places.
Kheyam means a trench or a ditch to conduct underground water from one
place to another. About 55% of the total aflaj in Oman are Ghaily aflaj.
The remaining is Iddi/ Daudi aflaj, which are usually perennial in
nature. They serve as the main and permanent water source of the
irrigated lands to get water from the mother well dug at a great
distance through the under ground channels, and help Oman to carry out
agriculture in the face of conditions of drought.
Dahanan is Agni. Since water is his enemy water came to be known as
dahanaaraati. Water in the aflaj flows on gravity gradients. Daaraasrita
is gravity. Dahanaaraati, daaraasrita/ dari these words are similar to
dadi (Daudi).
A cave, a crevice in the mountain is dari. Daram is cave, crack, flow,
and peak of a mountain. Dari can be a hole in the mountain with or
without water, natural or artificial- man-made water channel. Like a
cave dareemukham is the mouth of the cave. Mountain is dareebhrtt .
In the slopes of mountains, the shallow places where water is collected
during rainy days are known as playa. Aaplavam means ablution, bathing
and immersion. Aaplavanam is immersing, bathing. Plavanam, aaplavikkuka,
aaplava(nam) / aaplaava(nam) in Sanskrit denotes inundation, to
overflow. Pl(aa)vanam means pravaham, incessant flow. These words rhyme
with afalaj.
Ammayam (ap+maya) means watery, formed from water. Any form of water
like vapour, ice etc are Aapyam. Aap+maatram/ ammaatram is merely water.
These ideas are consolidated in the word umm Al falaj (ammakkinar mother
well). Of the five elements water is known as app. That, which is
related to app, is apyam, in fact, watery. Apijam means taking birth in
water. The month of mithunam (is apijam. Apaam (water) naathan (guard)
is apaamnaathan. Lord Varuna, the guardian of the west as well as the
Lord of waters is apaam and is known as apaamnaathan, appati apaampati,
yaadasaampatirappati. yaada:patirapaam pati saampati yaadasaamrapati.
Any form of water is aapyam. Ocean is apaamnidhi. Water is known as app
(Sanskrit), appos (Greek), aqua (Latin), Aflaj (Arabic).
The word phalaaj means vessel, pot. Paligham means water pot made of
glass. Watery sign of the zodiac is apyam. Name of an asterism is apyam.
Belonging/ relating to water, watery is apya. Here aapyam means all
drinkables, which digested, produce urine, blood. The western direction
related to Varuna is apyam. To be attainable, reached is apya.
The English word playa denotes a plain in the desert with hard clayey
surface intermittently covered by a shallow lake. Lowland and river
valley is pallam. Palak in Malayalam is water. But in the context of a
system for dividing or distributing water, the Malayalam word is
synonymous with the word Plg. Palakk means water bubble. Pank means
part, share or portion. Pakukkuka means the act of dividing (between),
share, allot. Plg, pank paku(kkuka) means divide (between), share,
allot. Pank means share, portion, pakuttat. Pankital sharing,
apportioning, distributing. A partner is pankullavan/ pankukaaran.
Pankam is mud. Pankilam is muddy place. Panki means muddy. Falaj might
have derived from the word palak but later on the word assumed the
meaning pank. Apomaya means consisting of water. Aapyam is bow of
Sagittarius. Aapaya is river.
Ancient aflaj still course like arteries beneath the hills and plains of
Oman, twisting along precipitous cliffs and threading villages and
date-palm groves, bringing to the parched land water and coolness and
life itself. The word aflaj itself denotes not only the water canals but
also the irrigation network that relies on them and the social system
that apportions water to the owners of water-shares. The aflaj have
helped to shape the history and settlement patterns of oases, and they
continue even now binding together each community that draws upon the
water from the falaj.
The shallow or surface waters found in the mountain wadis, or valleys,
are lined with gravel and silt. They overlie consolidated rock in the
valley floor. Water flows perennially through the surface layers of the
wadi deposits. A ghayl falaj taps and conveys the water in an open
channel to an oasis. Kazhani is mud, mire. It also includes rice field,
fertile or cultivated land. Kayam is a fountain from which water is led
elsewhere. The word kayam means great depth. Still other aflaj simply
conduct water above ground from a spring.
The irrigation systems, introduced before Islam, formed the basis of
agriculture and rural settlement. The several kilometers of underground
channels tapping one or more mother wells gave birth to a system of
water distribution in one-source/ multiple-users systems based on water
rights. This context enabled some to attribute the origin of the ancient
term �falaj� to the ancient Semitic root �plg� which has to do with
divisions - to divide. It denotes division pankituka. �The related
Arabic three-consonant root flj signifies the division of property,
suggesting the falaj�s purpose as a system for dividing or distributing
water�. No wonder, the watershares in aflaj is divided between the
owners and the local nomenclature, the falaj implies it.
Khettara
In the northern section of the Tafilaft oasis in southern Morocco,
agriculture was practised during the 14th century with the help of
Qanats. With the passage of time, they became extinct and were
abandoned. Qanats are locally known as khettara. The Malayalam
kottathalam means the floor of bricks or granite built around a well in
the form of a platform, that is, a paved place near the well. Stone
flooring of a bathroom is also known as kottathalam. A wooden trough is
kottalam. Kottakkorika/ sira means a bucket for drawing water from a
well. Kettara may be a transformation of the word kenar.
Syria
Palmyra City in Syria owes its present prominence to Qanat. Many of its
Qanats are now out of use. Those who are responsible to keep them up
have left the place in search of new places. As such, they became
defunct. In the absence of proper maintenance they have become a threat
to environment. This factor also compels youngsters to leave the place
in search of pastures new.
Brahmaputra, one of the three sacred rivers in north India, is known as
lohita(ni)ka. Artery or vein is lohiniki. Blood vessel (artery) carrying
pure blood is known as rakta lohiniki. The vein that carries impure
blood to the heart is neelini. A hollow tube is naali. Any blood vessel,
veins, artery, nerve is known as dhamini, sira. Like the nervous system
in the human body, the underground tunnels carry pure water from the
mother well to the oases. This may be the reason for the name Syria.
Selemiya is a plain in the Central region of Syria. A century ago, an
abandoned Byzantine water tunnel, a product of the 16th century, was
discovered in the North Syrian village named Salala saagaraga. Salala
saagaraga means a little waterfall. Salam, in Sanskrit is water.
Shallalah Saghirah
Water, that which flows is sa(li)lam, sarilam, sa(ri)ram, sarilam. Sal
is to flow. Salati gaccati nimnam iti salila: It means, flowing
downwards is salilam. The ocean is known as salilanidhi, salilaraasi.
Saagariga river/ Ganges. Saagara gaamini is river. Ganges is a
saagaragaamini. Saritt is river. Sarass is that with waves. Artificial
pool is a sarass. Water is also known as saralam, saralam,
sarala(la)kam. Lord Varuna and Ocean are Salilapati, Salilanidhi,
Salilaraasi, Ambhonidhi are the names of the Ocean. Salilakriya means
udakakriya, washing the corpse.
Boloji.com is owned and managed by
Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
