Arthur Cotton

For other people named Arthur Cotton, see Arthur his reports. In 1821 he was appointed for service in India,
Cotton (disambiguation).
where he was initially attached to the Chief Engineer to
Madras. He was later appointed as an Assistant Engineer
General Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton KCSI (15 May to Superintending Engineer of the Tank Department.
1803 24 July 1899) was a British general and irrigation Cotton conducted a marine survey of the Pamban passage between India and Ceylon. He was promoted to the
engineer.
Cotton devoted his life to the construction of irrigation rank of Captain in 1828, and was put in charge of Inand navigation canals throughout British India. His dream vestigation for the Cauveri Scheme. He started working
was only partially realized, but he is still honored in parts to remove the soil settling in Kallanai dam and with the
of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for his eorts.[1] Sir model of Kallanai dam he built the Upper Dam in Cauveri
Arthur Cotton museum has been built in his honour in in Mukkombu near Tiruchirapalli and success of these
Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. The museum holds ap- projects paved the way for great projects on the Godavari
proximately 100 images and 15 machine tools that Cotton and Krishna Rivers.
used when constructing the barrage in Andhra Pradesh Sir Cotton once told, after analyzing the Kallanai dam
from 1847 to1852.
and the basement of the dam, they learned how to build
basement in place full of bed of sand. In 1844 Cotton
He entered the Madras Engineers in 1819, and fought in
recommended the construction of "Anicut (dam )" and
the First Burmese War. He was knighted in 1861.
prepared plans for Visakhapatnam port. In 1847 the work
An evangelist, he was the father of Elizabeth Hope.
on the Godavari Anicut was started.

In 1848 he proceeded to Australia due to ill health and

handed over the charge to Captain Orr. In 1850 he returned to India and was promoted Colonel. He succeeded
in completing the magnicent project on Godavari river
at Dowleswaram in 1852.

Biography

After completing the Godavari Anicut Cotton shifted his

attention to the construction of the Aqueduct on Krishna
River. The project was sanctioned in 1851 and completed
by 1855. After completing the Krishna and Godavari Anicuts, Cotton envisaged the storage of Krishna and Godavari river waters.
In 1858 Cotton came up with still more ambitious proposals connecting almost all major rivers of India and suggested drought relief measures in Odisha and interlinking
of canals and rivers. Arthur Cotton was retired from the
service in 1860 and was knighted in 1861 and left India.
In 1862 and 1863 he visited India and oered advice on
some river valley projects.
Tombstone of Sir Arthur Cotton

His work in India was so much appreciated and honored

with K.C.S.I (Knight Commander of the Order of the Star
Arthur Cotton was born on 15 May 1803 at Combermere, of India) in 1877. He became a much revered gure in the
the tenth son of Henry Calvely Cotton, uncle of the noted state of Andhra Pradesh for his contribution in irrigating
Field Marshal Lord Combermere,[2] and one of eleven the area of land also known as Konaseema.
brothers. In 1818, aged 15, he became a cadet at the East
India Company's military seminary at Addiscombe, Sur- In India due to his contributions the new barrage conrey. He passed out in December 1819, and was commis- structed across River Godavari upstream side of the
sioned Second Lieutenant in the Madras Engineer Group. Anicut was also named after him and dedicated to the
Nation by the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Indira
He started his career with the Ordnance Survey at Bangor, Gandhi in 1982.
North Wales, in January 1820, where he was praised for
1

4 SEE ALSO

Cotton is revered in the Godavari District for making

it the 'rice bowl' of Andhra Pradesh. Cotton is widely
known as the 'Delta Architect' of the Godavari District
because of his pioneering work in irrigation engineering
through his construction of the anicut system. He died on
24 July 1899.

3 His works

Assessment

Cotton was hated by his administrative superiorsthanks

to his loving attitudes towards the people of India.[3] At
one point impeachment proceedings were initiated by his
superiors for his dismissal[4]
Oldest Dowlaiswaram Dam constructed by Sir Arthur Cotton on
Going through the famine and cyclone-ravaged districts
of Godavari, Cotton was distressed by the sight of famished people of the Godavari districts.[5] It was then that
he put in process his ambitious plans to harness the waters
of the mighty Godavari for the betterment of the humanity.

Godavari river to control oods.

John Henry Morris in Godavari [6] writes about the work

of Cotton:
The Godavari anicut is, perhaps, the noblest feat of engineering skill which has yet
been accomplished in British India. It is a gigantic barrier thrown across the river from island to island, in order to arrest the unprofitable progress of its waters to the sea, and to
spread them over the surface of the country on
either side, thus irrigating copiously land which
has hitherto been dependent on tanks or on the
tful supply of water from the river. Large
tracts of land, which had hitherto been left arid
and desolate and waste, were thus reached and
fertilized by innumerable streams and channels.

Dowleswaram Barrage near Rajahmundry on River Godavari

In 1878, Cotton had to appear before a House of Commons Committee to justify his proposal to build an anicut
across the Godavari.[7] A further hearing in the House
of Commons followed by his letter to the then Secretary Sunset View at Dowleswaram barrage
of State for India reveals his ambition to build the anicut
across the Godavari. His letter concluded: My Lord, one
The Godavari Canal System
days ow in the Godavari river during high oods is equal
[8]
to one whole years ow in the Thames of London.
The Ganges Canal
Cotton almost despaired at the British Governments procrastination in taking along this project.
Dowleswaram Barrage
That Government of India's plans to interlink rivers was
long envisioned by Cotton is a fact.[9]

2.1

Homage

Pindaparadhanam (pinda) was oered as homage to the

Arthur Cotton during 2015 Godavari Maha Pushkaram
by Palakollu MLA Nimmala ramanaidu.[10]

4 See also
List of dams and reservoirs in India
Charles Phillip Brown, another westerner who is
beloved by Telugu people, an administrator and patron of Telugu

3
Sir Sydney John Cotton (17921874), elder brother
Rev. Richard Lynch Cotton (17941880), elder
brother
Dr. K.L. Rao
Dr. K. Sriramakrishnaiah

References

[1] Hope, Elizabeth; Digby, William (2005). General Sir

Arthur Cotton his life and work. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. p. 4. ISBN 81-206-1829-7.
[2] Smithers, A.J. (1998). Honorable Conquests: An account
of the enduring work of the Royal Engineers throughout the
Empire. Pen and Sword. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-4738-15322.
[3] Please refer to Gautam Desirajus letter to Current Science
[4] Gautam Desiraju op. cit.
[5] The District of Godavari: Before and After Arthur Cotton
worked his Magical Change p.77
[6] Descriptive and Historical Account of Godavari District
in Madras Presidency page 109
[7] S. Gurumurthi in the Business Line Godavari: Still a
sleeping beauty
[8] Gurumurthi op. cit.
[9] Refer to Ch. Prashant Reddys article in the Business Line
[10] http://www.andhrajyothy.com/Artical?SID=131189

Further reading
Lady Hope (1900). General Sir Arthur Cotton, His
Life and Work (Reprint by Asian Educational Services ).
Ch. Prashant Reddy in the Business Line (16 July
2003). National water grid - A hundred-year-old
plan (Business Line).
S. Gurumurthi in the Business Line (14 October
2002). Godavari - Still a sleeping beauty (Business Line).
Avilash Roul (14 March 2006). "INDIA'S WATER
FUTURE - Are Interbasin Water Transfers a Solution? in Eco-World.
Gautam R. Desiraju (10 August 2003). "Sir Arthur
Cotton - Correspondence with Current Science
(PDF) 85 (3).

Hots, Susan. (2008). Cotton, General Sir Arthur

Thomas. in Biographical Dictionary of Civil Engineers in Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 2: 1830
1890. p. 195-199.ISBN 9780727735041.
Vibart, H.M. (1894). Addiscombe: its heroes and
men of note. Westminster: Archibald Constable.
pp. 34351.

7 External links
Works by or about Arthur Cotton at Internet Archive
Works by Arthur Cotton at LibriVox (public domain
audiobooks)
RootsWeb page on Sir Arthur Cotton
Marble bust of Sir Arthur Cotton
General Sir Arthur Cotton R.E. K.C.S.I. His Life
and Work by his daughter (Lady Hope)
The Study of Living Languages by Sir Arthur Cotton
Public Works in India by Sir Arthur Cotton
Arabic Primer by Sir Arthur Cotton
Arabic Primer (audiobook) by Sir Arthur Cotton at
LibriVox

8 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Arthur Cotton Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Cotton?oldid=728508543 Contributors: Phoebe, Joy, Duncharris, H-2-O,

Necrothesp, Klemen Kocjancic, Sasank, Rich Farmbrough, Bender235, Deacon of Pndapetzim, Vedant, Gene Nygaard, Rjwilmsi, Ground
Zero, Bgwhite, Jpbowen, NicholasJB, Carabinieri, SmackBot, By78, Chris the speller, Alexsoddy, T-borg, Mlpkr, Skinsmoke, Hu12,
Grbpradeep, ChrisCork, Preethi Evangeline, Saintrain, Mattisse, Bobblehead, IndianGeneralist, MER-C, Waacstats, Philg88, Plindenbaum, Frickeg, Dormskirk, Steven J. Anderson, Roland zh, Kingbird1, thelwold, Kumioko, Lab125, DragonBot, LeoFrank, Simplonicity, Vvgpkumar, RogDel, Wikivedalankara, Addbot, Rajesh.patchala, GSMR, Cst17, Tassedethe, Netnag, Lightbot, Yobot, 1exec1, Green
Cardamom, Tom.Reding, Varmapak, Anthony Winward, RjwilmsiBot, John of Reading, AvicBot, GrindtXX, Sarat Chandra M, Kwdt2,
Adityamadhav83, Danorooney, BG19bot, Vickyavw, Scottaleger, Chaniljain, BattyBot, Cloptonson, Ajaykumar0001, VIAFbot, Faizan,
Evano1van, Dpushkar89, Logical1004, OccultZone, Lakun.patra, PREMJIT KUMAR, KasparBot, Bradype, Mnmtennis and Anonymous:
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8.2

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8.3

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