The dry-zone water-harvesting and management system in Sri Lanka is one of the oldest historically recorded systems in the world. A substantial number of ancient sources mention the management and governance structure of this system suggesting it was initiated in the 4th century BCE (Before Common Era) and abandoned in the middle of the 13th century CE (Common Era). In the 19th century CE, it was reused under the British colonial government. This doctoral thesis predominantly aims at identifying the temporal development and socio-economic meaning of the water harvesting and management system through a systematic analysis of the written and epigraphic sources. Consequently, a critical analysis was conducted to examine the present day management system and the preservation of indigenous characteristics for a sustainable utilization of the resource in future. Finally, the preservation and continuation of the indigenous landscape system for the future was assessed in a heritage management perspective. This research study was conducted using an interdisciplinary research approach combining different research methods. In general, two major approaches were taken to analyse the socio-economic conditions and implications of past cultures: a) Analysis of epigraphical sources, primary and secondary literature, historical maps and archaeological findings were combined to identify and reconstruct the socio-economic conditions of the ancient Rajarata kingdom during Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods. b) Standardized qualitative interviews and workshops with the main stakeholders involved with the management of the Dry Zone hydraulic landscape were conducted, for the documentation of the present governance structure, land use practices, and existing indigenous knowledge. In first case study, 255 text passages containing 837 different records on ancient irrigation were compiled as a database for the period from the 5th century BCE to the 10th century CE to reconstruct the diachronic developmet of the system. The second case study aims to identify the ancient water management and governance structure in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka through a systematic analysis of ancient sources. Furthermore, colonial politics and interventions during reclamation have been critically analyzed. Basis for this was the already existing database from which 222 text passages containing 560 different records contained relevant information. 201 of these text passages were captured from lithic inscriptions and 21 text passages originate from the chronicles. The spatial distribution of records in general largely corresponds to the extent of the Dry Zone and northern intermediate zone. The analyzed data are not equally distributed throughout the investigated period and show a distinct peak in the 2nd century CE. In conclusion, the conducted analysis documents the potential of the analyzed source genres for the derivation of information on different aspects related to the spatial, temporal and administrative development of the ancient water management system in Sri Lanka. The third case study aimed to analyze the current management practices and existing indigenous aspects of the Dry Zone irrigated agricultural system from the viewpoint of farmers who are the main stakeholders of the system. Altogether 49 semi-structured interviews were conducted in seven villages in the Anuradhapura district and a detailed survey was conducted in the village of Manewa with a mixed research approach. The basic elements of the indigenous landscape, agricultural practices and management structures based on Farmer Organizations were mapped and examined in detail. The analysis of results shows that the sustainability of the indigenous agricultural system is vulnerable to rapid changes due to modernization, market changes, education levels, and inconsistent management decisions. This doctoral thesis contributes to the knowledge base of water resource management by addressing policy dimensions, with a special reference to traditional and indigenous knowledge base. Socio-economic implications on the development of the water harvesting systems were systematically compiled and serve to interprete the evolution of the water harvesting systems in a broder context
