View of the canal leading to the inlet sluice of the Khan Sarowar Tank, Patan

Photograph of the canal leading to the inlet sluice of the Khan Sarowar Tank at Patan in Gujarat, taken by Henry Cousens in the 1880s, from the Archaeological Survey of India Collections. This tank was the largest still in use in Patan when Cousens took this photograph. It was probably originally constructed by the Solanki Kings when Patan was their capital in the 11th and 12th centuries. It was completely renovated in the late 16th century by Khan I Azam Mirza Aziz Kokah, the governor of Gujarat under the Mughal Emperor Akbar (r.1556-1605). The water for the tank passes under a small bridge into a large, circular tank, and then through the columns of a second bridge. The water then runs along a channel to another large basin, then a masonry-lined channel which leads to a sluice and finally to the tank itself. There are stone steps on all four sides of the tank descending to the water. The view shows the masonry-lined waterway, crossed by stone bridges at various points, with the pavilions above the sluice visible in the background.