Four centuries after Malik Ambar – who rose from slavery to become an administrator and military leader of the Ahmednagar sultanate in the early 17th century – developed an innovative water supply system for Khadki and the settlement that later became Aurangabad and is now known as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, his engineering legacy continues to hold lessons for drought-hit Marathwada where villages continue to face drinking water shortages and depend on tankers during periods of scarcity.
It carried water from the Sawangi hills through underground channels before distributing it across the settlement through earthen pipes. The network supplied important locations, including the Naukhanda Palace, Gulshan Mahal, Shahgunj and parts of the old market. “When Malik Ambar shifted his capital here to Khadki, his first (priority) was to manage water for the city. He initially scanned the entire region and found out natural water streams and by using underground channels, he supplied water across the city through earthen pipes. The entire underground water channels’ system spanned four to five kilometres. “This system used the natural slope of the hills to move water through stone or clay pipes and underground channels.
Who has served as a non-governmental member of the Maharashtra government’s fort conservation committee, construction of this system began around 1610 and was largely completed by 1615, according to historian Sanket Kulkarni. Due to hard rock, the rate of loss of water through percolation is very less which was efficiently used by Ambar,” Ajay Kulkarni said.
Its underground channels extended across several kilometres, with their dimensions varying according to the requirements of different areas. It has different width and length depending upon the area,” Sanket Kulkarni said. Ajay Kulkarni, an architect and designer who is also the convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Aurangabad, said that the system made effective use of the area’s natural topography and geology.
