Srinagar, Sept. 5 -- Today, his wisdom feels more urgent than ever.

The medieval monarch saw the Jhelum for what it was: life and danger flowing in the same vein.

In fifteenth-century Kashmir, the river fed the fields with rich silt and, in the same breath, swept away villages when it raged. To rule here was to live at the mercy of water.

Budshah, as his people called him, believed survival needed more than prayer.

He studied the moods of the river: swelling with snowmelt, creeping into fields, swallowing homes, and sought a way to guide it without breaking its rhythm.

His answer was simple: canals.

They eased the river's pressure on towns, carried water into fields, and turned catastrophe into opportunity.

With only spades and bar...