Groundwater indicators in the Brihat Samhita (Dakargala)
Indicios de aguas subterráneas en la Brihat Samhita (Dakargala)
- Date
- c. 550 · confidence medium
- Place
- Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India
- Credited to
- Varahamihira
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
In the Dakargala chapter of his Brihat Samhita, Varahamihira lists signs for locating groundwater: vegetation, soil colour, rock type, termite mounds and snakes. He thus ties subsurface water to local geology, in an early hydrogeological prospecting treatise.
Varahamihira compiles earlier lore (he cites earlier authors) and mixes useful observations with astrological beliefs; the Brihat Samhita is dated to around the 6th century.
What it led to
- an Indian tradition of digging wells and tanks guided by the terrain
- a record of groundwater lore used by later manuals