Persian well

A Persian well is a type of water well found in the Middle East, often used in conjunction with a qanat. These wells feature an ox-driven pump where the ox walks in circles around a central drive shaft which turns a wheel that raises water via a chain of buckets from the qanat or a well. In some cases, water flows fast enough that a subterranean waterwheel may harness enough power to raise the buckets of water to the surface level.

Persian water-wheel, used for irrigation in Nubia, 1838

Appearances in Ancient Literature

As per Ranjit Sitaram Pandit's translation of Rajatanangini by Kalhana, this mechanism is referred to by Kalhana when alludes to a Yantra to take water from a well.[1] In Sanskrit literature, it is referred to as Araghatta and as per Ranjit Sitaram Pandit, the name Persian Wheel is a modern misnomer.

Further reading
  • Habib, Irfan. "Pursuing the History of Indian Technology." Social Scientist 20 (1992): 1-22. JSTOR. (see pages 8, 9 and 10)

References
  1. Pandit, Ranjit Sitaram (2021), Kalhana's Rajatarangini, Sahitya Akademi, p. 39, ISBN 978-81-260-1236-7, archived from the original on 2017-01-16
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