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dula

In Gandia and Elche, Spain, a unit of entitlement to irrigation water. From the Arabic daula, meaning “turn”. In modern Yemen and 11ᵗʰ-century Tunisia, daulah. A synonym in the Alicante is hila.

It was also found in colonial San Antonio, Texas, having arrived with irrigators from the Canary Islands.

This entry is largely based on chapter 12, “The Impact of Islam upon the Terminology of Irrigation” in
Thomas F. Glick.
Irrigation and Society in Medieval Valencia.
Cambridge (MA): Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1970.

Water Division, Office of the Attorney General of Texas.
Memorandum on the Spanish and Mexican Irrigation System of San Antonio.
Austin, 1959.