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[[File:Headworks ganges canal haridwar1860.jpg|thumb|Head works of the Ganges canal in Haridwar (1860). Photograph by [[Samuel Bourne]].]] | [[File:Headworks ganges canal haridwar1860.jpg|thumb|Head works of the Ganges canal in Haridwar (1860). Photograph by [[Samuel Bourne]].]] | ||
Megasthenes, a Greek ethnographer who visited India during the 3rd century BCE when Mauryans ruled India described the existence of canals in the Gangetic plain. Kautilya (also known as [[Chanakya]]), an advisor to [[Chandragupta Maurya]], the founder of [[Maurya Empire]], included the destruction of dams and levees as a strategy during the war.{{sfn|Hill|2008}} [[Firuz Shah Tughlaq]] had many canals built, the longest of which, {{convert|240|km|mi|abbr=on}}, was built in 1356 on the Yamuna River. Now known as the Western Yamuna Canal, it has fallen into disrepair and been restored several times. The [[Mughal emperors|Mughal emperor]] [[Shah Jahan]] built an irrigation canal on the Yamuna River in the early 17th century. It fell into disuse until 1830, when it was reopened as the Eastern Yamuna Canal, under British control. The reopened canal became a model for the Upper Ganges Canal and all following canal projects.{{sfn|Singh|2005|pp=69–79}} | Megasthenes, a Greek ethnographer who visited India during the 3rd century BCE when Mauryans ruled India described the existence of canals in the Gangetic plain. Kautilya (also known as [[Chanakya]]), an advisor to [[Chandragupta Maurya]], the founder of [[Maurya Empire]], included the destruction of dams and levees as a strategy during the war.{{sfn|Hill|2008}} [[Firuz Shah Tughlaq]] had many canals built, the longest of which, {{convert|240|km|mi|abbr=on}}, was built in 1356 on the Yamuna River. Now known as the Western Yamuna Canal, it has fallen into disrepair and been restored several times. The [[Mughal emperors|Mughal emperor]] [[Shah Jahan]] built an irrigation canal on the Yamuna River in the early 17th century. It fell into disuse until 1830, when it was reopened as the Eastern Yamuna Canal, under British control. The reopened canal became a model for the Upper Ganges Canal and all following canal projects.{{sfn|Singh|2005|pp=69–79}} | ||
The first British canal in India (which did not have Indian antecedents) was the [[Ganges Canal]] built between 1842 and 1854.<ref name="stone2002-p16">{{Harvnb|Stone|2002|p=16}}</ref> | The first British canal in India (which did not have Indian antecedents) was the [[Ganges Canal]] built between 1842 and 1854.<ref name="stone2002-p16">{{Harvnb|Stone|2002|p=16}}</ref> | ||
Contemplated first by Col. [[John Russell Colvin]] in 1836, it did not at first elicit much enthusiasm from its eventual architect Sir [[Proby Thomas Cautley]], who balked at the idea of cutting a canal through extensive low-lying land to reach the drier upland destination. However, after the [[Agra famine of 1837–38]], during which the [[East India Company]]'s administration spent [[Rs.]] 2,300,000 on famine relief, the idea of a canal became more attractive to the company's budget-conscious Court of Directors. In 1839, the [[Governor General of India]], [[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland|Lord Auckland]], with the Court's assent, granted funds to Cautley for a full survey of the swath of land that underlay and fringed the projected course of the canal. The Court of Directors, moreover, considerably enlarged the scope of the projected canal, which, in consequence of the severity and geographical extent of the famine, they now deemed to be the entire [[Doab]] region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ce8FpJzR-4C&pg=PA103|title=Uttar Pradesh General Knowledge|first=Dr C. L.|last=Khanna|date=1 September 2010|publisher=Upkar Prakashan|isbn=9788174824080}}</ref> | Contemplated first by Col. [[John Russell Colvin]] in 1836, it did not at first elicit much enthusiasm from its eventual architect Sir [[Proby Thomas Cautley]], who balked at the idea of cutting a canal through extensive low-lying land to reach the drier upland destination. However, after the [[Agra famine of 1837–38]], during which the [[East India Company]]'s administration spent [[Rs.]] 2,300,000 on famine relief, the idea of a canal became more attractive to the company's budget-conscious Court of Directors. In 1839, the [[Governor General of India]], [[George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland|Lord Auckland]], with the Court's assent, granted funds to Cautley for a full survey of the swath of land that underlay and fringed the projected course of the canal. The Court of Directors, moreover, considerably enlarged the scope of the projected canal, which, in consequence of the severity and geographical extent of the famine, they now deemed to be the entire [[Doab]] region.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_ce8FpJzR-4C&pg=PA103|title=Uttar Pradesh General Knowledge|first=Dr C. L.|last=Khanna|date=1 September 2010|publisher=Upkar Prakashan|isbn=9788174824080}}</ref> | ||