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General Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton KCSI (15 May 1803 – 24 July 1899) was a British general and irrigation engineer. Cotton devoted his life to the construction of irrigation and navigation canals throughout British India. His dream was only partially realized, but he is still honored in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for his efforts.Sir Arthur Cotton museum has been built in his honour in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. The museum holds approximately 100 images and 15 machine tools that Cotton used when constructing the barrage in Andhra Pradesh from 1847 to1852. He entered the Madras Engineers in 1819, and fought in the First Burmese War. He was knighted in 1861. An evangelist, he was the father of Elizabeth Hope. ==Biography== Arthur Cotton was born on 15 May 1803, the tenth son of Henry Calvely Cotton, and one of eleven brothers. In 1818, aged 15, he became a cadet at the East India Company's military seminary at Addiscombe, Surrey. He passed out in December 1819, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Madras Engineer Group. Cotton would tell the story of how he went to attend an interview for an engineering post early in his career. There were three candidates, including himself. All that the selectors told them was to have a 'good sleep' and were provided three separate beds. The candidates did what they were told. While the other two candidates slept happily early on, poor Cotton could not get a wink of sleep until, after some time, he slept happily. The next day, all the three were asked if they slept happily by the selectors. While all the three nodded in the affirmative, Cotton added that he felt restless while on the bed—bending down, he realised that one of the four legs of the bed was a little high. To his surprise he found a pound coin beneath one of the legs, which he promptly removed. That was the ''catch'' set up by the selectors.〔Rev. Premjit Kumar in an anecdote in a Sunday Worship Service in a Church in Vijayawada http://rimi.org/us-leadership-team〕 He started his career with the Ordnance Survey at Bangor, North Wales, in January 1820, where he was praised for his reports. In 1821 he was appointed for service in India, where he was initially attached to the Chief Engineer to Madras. He was later appointed as an Assistant Engineer to Superintending Engineer of the Tank Department. Cotton conducted a marine survey of the Pamban passage between India and Ceylon. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1828, and was put in charge of Investigation for the Cauveri Scheme. He started working to remove the soil settling in Kallanai dam and with the model of Kallanai dam he built the Upper Dam in Cauveri in Mukkombu near Tiruchirapalli and success of these projects paved the way for great projects on the Godavari and Krishna Rivers. Sir Cotton once told, after analyzing the Kallanai dam and the basement of the dam, they learned how to build basement in place full of bed of sand. In 1844 Cotton recommended the construction of "Anicut (dam )" and prepared plans for Visakhapatnam port. In 1847 the work 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 magnificent project on Godavari river at Dowleswaram in 1852. 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 offered advice on some river valley projects. His work in India was so much appreciated and honored with K.C.S.I (Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India) in 1877. He became a much revered figure in the state of Andhra Pradesh for his contribution in irrigating the area of land also known as Konaseema. In India due to his contributions the new barrage constructed across River Godavari upstream side of the Anicut was also named after him and dedicated to the Nation by the Honorable Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi in 1982. 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Arthur Cotton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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