OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development
Open-access peer-reviewed journal
https://doi.org/10.64211/oidaijsd190524
Ethnoscience and Indigenous Hydraulic Technology in Asian Civilizations With Special Reference to Precolonial Sri Lanka
M.A.S.R. Sanjeevi Mantrirathne 1, 2,*, N. Eshan Imalka Wijerathne 3, H.W.K. Kaldasuni Jayawardhana 4
1 Department of History and Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
2 International Center for Multidisciplinary Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
3 Giragama Teachers College of Aesthetic Education, Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka.
4 Centre for Sri Lankan Women Thinkers and Scientists, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka.
* Corresponding authour: smantrirathne@sjp.ac.lk
Volume 19, Issue 05, Pg. 357-364, 2026.
Abstract: A field that was most representative of Asian technology catered to a vital concern shared by civilizations in China, Western Asia, and South Asia. Recurrent floods threatened some of these regions, while in others the major threat stemmed from the inadequacy of natural rainfall for food production. The flowering of civilization within such regions and in some cases, even their very existence depended on the construction of large-scale public works designed to prevent and divert floods, conserve water, and transfer water from one area to another. Owing to its unique strategic location in the middle of the Indian Ocean and the important role it played in regional commerce, Sri Lanka developed close ties with several major ancient civilizations in Europe and Asia. Hydraulic technology in Sri Lanka reached a remarkably high level of technical skill and sophistication. As a highly specialized branch of technology, hydraulics is a field in which advocates of diffusionism could expect to find ample support for their theoretical positions. This study employed a qualitative historical approach using archival and library-based sources and comparative analyses of Asian hydraulic technologies. The study demonstrates that ancient Sri Lanka achieved a pioneering and technologically advanced irrigation system marked by large-scale interlinked reservoirs, sophisticated surveying, low-gradient canals, and innovative cistern sluices, surpassing contemporaneous developments in South India. Despite close regional contacts, hydraulic technologies evolved along distinct local paths, challenging diffusionist models and highlighting the role of selective technological adaptation shaped by environmental, political, and social contexts.
Keywords: Asian Society, Ethnoscience, Hydraulic Engineering, Precolonial Sri Lanka
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