History of toilets and sanitation (VideoonUntouchability)

[Guest guest]

I have not found much on the history of toilets in India.

 

The Video on Untouchability connects "manual scavenging" to

Hinduism. However as best I can guess, the building of public

toilets and employment of "manual scavenging" appears to have become

a practice in India only during the British rule when municipalities

were constituted (after 1857).

 

Dr. Pathak appears to have been one of the very few people to have

explored this subject. He writes in a widely reproduced article:

 

- This practice of covering waste with earth continued till the

Mughal era, where in the forts of Delhi and Agra one can see

remnants of such methodologies to dispose of human waste.

 

- Rich man's housing and forts in India had protrusions in which

defecation was done and the excrements fell into the open ground ..

 

- The Mughal King Jehangir built a public toilet at Alwar, 120 kms

away from Delhi for use of 100 families at a time in 1556 AD. Not

much documentary evidence exists on the quality of its maintenance ..

 

Are there any mentions of "manual scavanging" in the pre-British

period in India?

 

Yashwant

 

 

INDOLOGY, RPJ <mlbd wrote:

>

> Dear Mr Phillip,

>

> We have a book published in this area as follows which may be

helpful to all

> of you :

>

> ROAD TO FREEDOM : A Sociological Study on the Abolition of

Scvenging in

> India by Bindeshwar Pathak @ Rs 265/-

>

> Regards

>

> RP Jain

>

> ------------

> Motilal Banarsidass Publishers

> 41, U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar

> Delhi-110007, (India)

> Tel: (011) 23854826, 23858335, 23851985, 23852747

> (011) 25795180, 25793423, 25797356

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> -

> <phillip.ernest

> <INDOLOGY>

> Tuesday, January 31, 2006 6:55 PM

> R: [Y-Indology] History of toilets and sanitation (Re:

> VideoonUntouchability)

>

>

> >

> >

> > >----Messaggio originale----

> > >Da: ymalaiya

> > >Data: 23-gen-

> > 2006 17.52

> > >A: <INDOLOGY>

> > >Ogg: [Y-Indology] History of

> > toilets and sanitation (Re: Video on Untouchability)

> > >

> > >The video

> > mentions "Manual scavenging" which involves involves

> > >manual removal

> > of human and animal excreta.

> > >

> > >I am curious about how this custom

> > evolved and how sanitation was

> > >done in the past and in other

> > cultures.

> >

> > I forwarded your message to my friend Eisel Mazard, who has

> > just returned home (to Laos) from Sri Lanka, and he happened to

have

> > this to say:

> >

> > --

> >

> > I'm too much of expert on the history of toilets &

> > sanitation

> > in Sri

> > Lanka for my own liking at this point (I toured the

> > ruins with a

> > couple who were editing a book with some contentious

> > claims about the

> > history of these things, and they were trying to

> > investigate the facts

> > for themseves).

> >

> > The ancient capitals (of

> > Northern Lanka) have an amazing history of

> > toilets and sanitation, and

> > they developed the art of

> > treating/filtering both excrement and urine

> > through beautiful

> > stone-carved toilets & urinal stones respectively

> > (with the

> > treatment

> > and filtering installed underground, in a sequence

> > of stacked

> > "pots"

> > containing various reagents). Needless to say, these

> > are all quite

> > intact from an archaeologist's perspective, as they are

> > largely made

> > of cut stone, and most of the structure is preserved

> > underground to

> > begin with.

> >

> > This reflects the generally high level of

> > "the culture of the

> > aquaduct" in classical Sri Lanka --they were

> > certainly more

> > advanced

> > in the engineering of water (incl. sanitation)

> > than ancient Rome.

> > Their irrigation schemes were on a massive scale,

> > and their decorative

> > fountains were truly ingenious --thus, the

> > accomplished

> > "science" of

> > their toilets should come as no surprise.

> >

> > Did the relative weakness of the caste system in (Buddhist) Sri

Lanka

> > have something to do with the development of advanced toilets and

> > sanitation? Possibly, but I would rather assume that the cultural

> > barriers surrounding the provision of toilets (but not

> > "servants") to

> > massive monastic complexes was the more important impetus.

> >

> > E.M.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Links

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

>