Indian Shipping/Book 2/Chapter 1

We shall now briefly narrate the history of Indian maritime enterprise after the advent and conquests of the Musalmans.

We begin first with the history of Sindh, and particularly of its Arab conquests, which furnishes many instances of Indian naval activity and enterprise. The immediate cause of the Arab conquests was the exaction of vengeance for the plunder, by the Meds and other pirates of Debal and the Indus mouths, of eight vessels, which the ruler of Ceylon had dispatched, fitted with presents, pilgrims, Mahomedan orphans, and Abyssinian slaves, to secure the good-will of Hajjaj and the Khalif^[1] in the 8th century (a.d. 712). It will be remembered that these Indian pirates had been carrying on their activities from very early times. They inspired with alarm the Persian ​monarchy even in the days of its most absolute power. According to Strabo and Arrian it was to protect their cities against these piratical attacks that the Persians made the Tigris entirely inaccessible for navigation, till Alexander, on his return from India, to further commercial intercourse caused to be removed the masses of stone by which the course of the stream was obstructed. It has also been supposed that, inspired by the same dread, and not from religious motives, the Persians built no city of any note upon the sea-coast.^[2]

Muhammad ibn Kasim, the Arab conqueror of Sindh, arrived at Debal in ships carrying his men, arms, and warlike machines, one of which, the manjanik, required 500 men to work it.^[3] He had also to construct bridges of boats in order to effect his passage of the rivers of Sindh.^[4]

From the 9th century we get notices of India by the Arabs. The commerce of the Arabs was at its highest activity under the Caliphs of Bagdad, under whom the Arabs conquered Egypt, closed Alexandria to Europeans, and founded Bussora (a.d. 635) at the head of the Persian Gulf, rivalling Alexandria as the centre of the Eastern trade. The voyages of Sindabad the Sailor belong to the 9th century. ​About a.d. 851 Suleiman, a merchant of Bussorah, speaks of the Sea of Lar (which washes Gujarat and Malabar), of Serendip or Ceylon, and the like. Masudi of Bagdad (a.d. 890-956) visited India, and mentions nutmegs, cloves, camphor, and sandalwood as Indian products.^[5]

In the 11th century, according to the Tabakat-i-Akbari of Nizamuddin Ahmed, the 17th expedition of Sultan Mahmud was directed against the Jats who had molested his army on his return from Somnath. It was a brilliant naval fight, and is thus described by the historian:—

He led a large force towards Multan, and when he arrived there he ordered 1,400 boats to be built, each of which was armed with three firm iron spikes, projecting one from the prow and two from the sides, so that everything which came in contact with them would infallibly be destroyed. In each boat were 20 archers, with bows and arrows, grenades, and naphtha, and in this way proceeded to attack the Jats, who, having intelligence of the armament, sent their families into the islands and prepared themselves for the conflict. They launched, according to some, 4,000 boats, and according to others 8,000 boats, manned and armed, ready to engage the Mahammadans. Both fleets met, and a desperate conflict ensued. Every boat of the Jats that approached the Moslem fleet, when it received the shock of the projecting spikes, was broken and overturned. Thus, most of the Jats were drowned, and those who were not so destroyed were put to the sword.^[6]

Al-Biruni gives some interesting details regarding the Indian maritime and commercial activity of the 11th century. He has referred to the pirates ​infesting the western coast, named Bawarij, who are so called because "they commit their depredations in boats called Baira."^[7]

The coasts of Gujarat were the scene of much commercial activity, from which sugar from Malwa, badru (bam) and baladi were exported in ships to all countries and cities.^[8]

Malabar also was in those days the "Key of Hind," whose productions, such as rubies, aromatics, grasses, and pearls, were "carried to Irak, Khurasan, Syria, Rum, and Europe." It has also a great amount of entrepôt trade, for "large ships, called in the language of China 'junks,' bring various sorts of choice merchandise and cloths from China and Machin, and the countries of Hind and Sindh.".^[9] Wassaf (a.d. 1328) speaks of these junks as sailing like mountains with the wings of the winds on the surface of the water.

In the 12th century, Al-Idrisi found Debal to be a "station for the vessels of Sindh and other countries," whither came the "vessels of China and ships laden with the productions of Uman." Baruh (Broach) was a port for the vessels coming from China, as also for those of Sindh.^[10] He also mentions the cotton fabrics of Coromandel, the ​pepper and cardamomes of Malabar, and the lemons of Mansura on the "Mehran" (Indus).^[11] Again, in the 12th century, intercourse with the farther East is proved by the fact that Gupta (a.d. 319-500) and White Huna (a.d. 500-580) coins were said to have been in use in Madagascar and the islands of the Malaya Archipelago,^[12] and, according to Abul-Feda, the merchants of Java could understand the language of the natives of Madagascar.^[13]

In the 13th century an important naval expedition was directed by Ghiyas-ud-din Balban (1266-86 a.d.) against Tughril Khan, Governor of Bengal, who declared himself independent of Delhi, and assumed royal insignia. Two previous attempts to subdue him having failed, the Sultan "resolved to march against the rebel in person, and ordered a large number of boats to be collected on the Ganges and the Jumna. … Proceeding into Oudh, he ordered a general levy, and two lakhs of men of all classes were enrolled. An immense fleet of boats was collected, and in these he passed his army over the Sarau (the Saraju or Gogra). The rains now came on, and, although he had plenty of boats, the passage through the low-lying country was difficult." Tughril fled from Lakhnauti to Jajnagar (some​where near modern Tiperrah). Balban marched from Lakhnauti in pursuit of the rebel with all speed, and in a few days arrived at Sunar-gnaw. The Rai of that place, by name Danuj Rai, met the Sultan, and an agreement was made with him that he should guard against the escape of Tughril by water. The expedition ended in the death of Tughril, and the complete defeat of his army, and "such punishment as was inflicted on Lakhnauti had never been heard of in Delhi, and no one could remember anything like it in Hindusthan."^[14]

The foreign travellers who visited India towards the latter part of the same century were Abulfeda of Damascus and the famous Marco Polo. Abulfeda (a.d. 1273-1331) mentions the pepper of Malabar and the fine cotton manufactures of Coromandel. Marco Polo (a.d. 1292) found the Coromandel coast a great centre of pearl-fishing, and the Gujarat coast of desperate piracy. These pirates sailed every year with their wives and children in more than a hundred corsair vessels, staying out the whole summer. They are also said to have joined in fleets of twenty to thirty, and made a sea cordon five or six miles apart. Marco Polo also found Sokotra a prey to multitudes of Hindu pirates who encamped there and sold off their booty. He also mentions Cail (Kayal in the Tinnevelly dis​trict) as the city where "all the ships touch that come from the West … laden with horses and other things for sale." Of Coilum (Quilon) he says, "a great deal of brazil is got here, also ginger and pepper, and very fine indigo. The merchants from Arabia and Persia come hither with their ships." He speaks of Tana (Thana) "where grow no pepper or spices, but plenty of incense. There is much traffic here and many ships and merchants frequent the place, for there is a great export of leather and buckram and cotton." Of Cambaet (Cambay) he says, "it produces indigo in plenty, and much fine buckram; cotton is exported hence; there is a great trade in hides, which are very well dressed." He speaks of Aden as a "port to which many ships of India come with their cargoes." He also mentions Indian vessels sailing as far as the island of Zanguebar, which they took twenty days in reaching from Coromandel, but three months in returning, "so strong does the current lie towards the south."

Marco Polo has also left some very important and interesting details regarding Indian ships which are well worth a notice. According to him, the ships that are employed in navigation are built of fir-timber; they are all doubled-planked, that is, they have a course of sheathing boards laid over the planking in every part. These are caulked with oakum both within and without, and are fastened ​with iron nails. The bottoms are smeared over with a preparation of quicklime and hemp, pounded together and mixed with oil procured from a certain tree, which makes a kind of unguent that "retains its viscous properties more firmly and is a better material than pitch."

Besides the construction of Indian ships, Marco Polo gives details regarding their size, form, and fittings, and the mode of repairing. He saw ships of so large a size as to require a crew of 300 men, and other ships that were manned by crews of 200 and 150 men. These ships could carry from five to six thousand baskets (or mat bags) of pepper, a fact which indicates to some extent the tonnage of these Indian vessels. These ships were moved with oars or sweeps, and each oar required four men to work it. They were usually accompanied by two or three large barks with a capacity to contain one thousand baskets of pepper, and requiring a crew of sixty, eighty, or one hundred sailors. These small craft were often employed to tow the larger vessels, when working their oars, or even under sail, provided, of course, the wind be on the quarter, and not when right aft, because in that case the sails of the larger vessel must becalm those of the smaller, which would in consequence be run down. Besides these barks, these ships carried with them as many as ten small boats for the purpose of carrying out anchors, for fishing, and a variety of other services. ​As in modern steamers and ocean-liners, these boats were slung over the sides of the main ship and lowered into the water when there was occasion to use them. The barks also were in like manner provided with their smaller boats. The larger vessel had usually a single deck, and below the deck the space was divided into sixty small cabins, fewer or more according to the size of vessel, and each cabin afforded accommodation for one merchant. It was also provided with a good helm, with four masts, and as many sails. Some ships of the larger class had, besides the cabins, as many as thirteen bulkheads or divisions in the hold, formed of thick planks let into each other (incastrati, mortised or rabbeted). The object of these was to guard against accidents which might make the vessel spring a leak, such as "striking on a rock or receiving a stroke from a whale." For if water chanced to run in, it could not, in consequence of the boards being so well fitted, pass from one division to another, and the goods might be easily removed from the division affected by the water. In case of a ship needing repair, the practice was to give her a course of sheathing over the original boarding, thus forming a third course, and this, if she needed further repairs, was repeated even to the number of six layers, after which she was condemned as unserviceable and not seaworthy.

Marco Polo has also left a very interesting ​description of the pearl-fishings of Malabar. It was conducted by a number of merchants who formed themselves into several companies, and employed many vessels and boats of different sizes, well provided with ground-tackle by which to ride safely at anchor. They engaged and carried with them persons who were skilled in the art of diving for the oysters in which the pearls were enclosed. These the divers brought up in bags made of netting that were fastened about their bodies, and then repeated the operation, rising to the surface when they could no longer keep their breath, and after a short interval diving again.^[15]

In the 14th century, we have in the account of the voyage across the Indian Ocean of Friar Odoric^[16] (a.d. 1321), in a ship that carried full 700 people, a striking proof of the capacity and maritime skill of the Rajput sailors of Gujarat; who could successfully manage such large vessels.^[17] There is even an earlier mention of Rajput ships sailing between Sumena (Somnath) and China in Yule's Cathay. To the same century belonged Ibn Batuta, the greatest Arab traveller, ​who spent twenty-four years (a.d. 1325-1349) in travelling. Being sent by Muhammad Tughlak on an embassy to China, he embarked from Cambay, and after many adventures at Calicut, Ceylon and Bengal he at last took his passage toward China in a junk bound for "Java," as he called it, but in fact Sumatra. Returning from China, he sailed direct from the coast of Malabar to Muscat and Ormuz. He confirms the statement of Marco Polo regarding the maritime and piratical habits of the Malabar people, who, however, captured only those vessels which attempted to pass their ports without the payment of toll.

Wassaf, in the same century, speaks of the large importation of Arab and Persian horses to Malabar, which in the reign of Abu Bakr even reached the modest figure of 10,000 horses every year.^[18] This horse trade was also noticed by Marco Polo (a.d. 1308), who remarks that "the greater part of the revenue of the country is employed in obtaining the horses from foreign countries."^[19] Wassaf also notices the entrepôt trade of Malabar by which the produce of remotest China was consumed in the farthest West.^[20]

In Northern India, in a.d. 1353 and a.d. 1360, ​two expeditions were directed against Lakhnauti by Sultan Firoz Shah Tuglak, in both of which "many barrier-breaking boats (kistiha-i-bandkushan) were used, in which his whole army, consisting of a lac of troops, had to embark in crossing rivers round the islands of Ekdala and Sunar-gnaw."^[21] In a.d. 1372, with an army consisting of 90,000 cavalry and 480 elephants, Firoz Shah led an expedition against Thatta, in which he collected and used a fleet of as many as 5,000 boats, in which the army descended the River Indus and in a few days reached Thatta.^[22]

In a.d. 1388 Timur crossed the mighty river of the Indus by means of a bridge of boats constructed in the short space of two days; afterwards he marched to capture the island of Shahabuddin in the River Jhelum, though Shahabuddin effected his escape down the river in 200 boats. Shahabuddin's fleet of boats was, however, completely destroyed near Multan. Timur again had to fight several naval battles on the Ganges. On one occasion he had to encounter a force of Hindus coming down the river in 48 boats, which afterwards fell into his hands.^[23]

After Marco Polo, the most important foreign notice of India is the account of Mahuan,^[24] the ​Mahomedan Chinaman, who was attached as interpreter to the suite of Cheng-Ho when he made his voyages to India and other places at the beginning of the 15th century. He describes Calicut (a.d. 1409) as a great emporium of trade, frequented by merchants from all quarters, and says "when a ship arrives from China the King's Overseers, with a chitti (capitalist), go on board and make an invoice of the goods, and a day is fixed for valuing the cargo." According to Mahuan, the Ming-shih, or history of the Ming dynasty, records that Ai-ya-sei-ting (Ghiyas-ud-din Azam Shah, who reigned a.d. 1385-1457), the King of Pang-Kola, sent to the Chinese court in 1408 an embassy with presents including horses and saddles, gold and silver ornaments, drinking vessels of white porcelain with azure flowers, and many other things; and that in 1409 the same king, called Gai-ya-syu-ting, sent another embassy to China. In a.d. 1412 the Chinese ambassador of the return embassy met Indian envoys bringing the usual presents, and learnt from them that the king had died and had been succeeded by Saifuting (Saif-ud-din Hamza Shah, 1407-10). According to Chinese annals he, too, sent an embassy to the Chinese emperor, with a letter written on gold-leaf, and presenting a giraffe. This embassy arrived in China in the 12th year of Yung-lo, a.d. 1415. In this year also a Chinese embassy under Prince Tsi-chao, with presents, was ​received by the Bengal king, his queen and ministers.^[25] Thus, in the first half of the 15th century, an active sea-borne trade and commercial intercourse were going on between Bengal and China; and the silver money of Bengal used at this period to be called Tung-kia, weighing about 163.24 grains.

For the 15th century Abd-er-Razzak^[26] (a.d. 1442) has left a highly interesting account of the important harbour of Calicut, which is regarded as "one of the greatest shipping centres of the world in this period." Says he:—

From Calicut are vessels continually sailing for Mecca, which are for the most part laden with pepper. The inhabitants of Calicut are adventurous sailors, and pirates do not dare to attack the vessels of Calicut. In this harbour one may find everything that can be desired.

Again:—

Security and justice are so firmly established in this city that the most wealthy merchants bring thither from maritime countries considerable cargoes, which they unload, and unhesitatingly send into the markets and the bazaars, without thinking in the meantime of any necessity of checking the account or of keeping watch over the goods. The officers of the custom-house take upon themselves the charge of looking after the merchandise, over which they keep watch day and night. When a sale is effected they levy a duty on the goods of one-fortieth part; if they are not sold they make no charge on them whatsoever. In other parts a strange practice is adopted. When a vessel sets sail for a certain point, and suddenly is driven by a decree of Divine Providence into another roadstead, the inhabitants, under the pretext that the wind has driven it there, plunder the ship. But at Calicut, every ship, whatever place it may come from, or wherever it may be bound, when it puts into this port is treated like other vessels, and has no trouble of any kind to put up with.

​Nicolo Conti^[27] was another traveller in the earlier part of the 15th century who gives some interesting details regarding Indian shipbuilding and commerce. Thus he says: "The natives of India build some ships larger than ours, capable of containing 2,000 butts, and with five sails and as many masts. The lower part is constructed with triple planks, in order to withstand the force of the tempests to which they are much exposed. But some ships are so built in compartments that should one part be shattered, the other portion remaining entire may accomplish the voyage." On the banks of the Ganges he was astonished to see bamboos growing supremely high and thick, of which "fishing boats are made and skiffs adapted to the navigation of the river." Of the Indian merchants of the south he makes a wonderful statement which deserves to be carefully noted: "They are very rich, so much so that some will carry on their business in forty of their own ships, each of which is valued at 15,000 gold pieces."

Hieronimo di Santo Stefano,^[28] a Genoese merchant, visited India on a mercantile speculation at the close of the 15th century. He embarked from Cosir (Cairo) "on board a ship, the timbers of which were sewn together with cords and the sails ​made of cotton." While sailing from Sumatra in a ship to return to Cambay he was wrecked in a storm off the Maldives, and was floating on a large plank of wood when "three ships which had parted from our company and had been five miles in advance of us, learning our disaster, immediately sent out their boats … and I arrived in one of the said ships at Cambay."

Of the 15th and the earlier part of the 16th century there are other facts to show that much of the Indian maritime activity was manifested on the western coast. Till the arrival of the Portuguese (a.d. 1500-1508) the Ahmedabad sultans maintained their position as lords of the sea.^[29] At this time Java appears in the State list of foreign bandars which paid tribute, the tribute being probably a cess or ship-tax paid by the Gujarat traders with Java in return for the protection of the royal navy.^[30] In 1429 the Gujarat king Ahmad Shah sent a fleet of seventeen vessels to recover the Island of Bombay and Salsette seized by the Bahmani kingdom. Between 1453-1469 the Raja of Vishalgad, one of the coast fortresses, built up a great maritime power, and with a fleet of 300 vessels began to harass the commerce of the Musalmans till he was ​subdued by treachery by the King of Gujarat. Mahmud, probably the greatest of the kings of Gujarat (a.d. 1459-1511), organized and maintained a large fleet to subdue the pirates that infested his coasts.^[31] In East Africa in a.d. 1498 Vasco de Gama found sailors from Cambay and other parts of India, who guided themselves by the help of the stars in the north and south, and had nautical instruments of their own (J.A.S.B., vol. v., p. 784). Again, in a.d. 1510 Albuquerque found a strong Hindu element in Java and Malacca, and Sumatra ruled by a Hindu named Parameshwara. In a.d. 1508 the Gujarat fleet combined with the Egyptian to destroy the Portuguese fleet off the harbour of Chaul. In a.d. 1521 the admiral of the King of Gujarat defeated the Portuguese off Chaul and sank one of their vessels. In 1527 another Gujarat fleet was sent to Chaul, but a great number of the ships were destroyed. In 1528 there was a decisive battle off Bandru, in which the Portuguese took 73 ships out of the 80 which composed the Cambay fleet.^[32] In 1546 there was another naval battle fought off Diu between the Portuguese, who equipped a large fleet consisting of over 90 sails, and Coje Zofar, a Turk, who was one of the King of Cambay's captains.^[33] ​In 1584 the Portuguese were defeated in a regular expedition which they sent against the pirates of Goa, then a nest of buccaneers who were organized into a formidable force under the Samurai, practising guerilla warfare and preying on all sea-borne traffic.^[34]

During this period the great commercial marts on the western coast were Chaul and Dabhol, carrying on a large trade with Persia and the Red Sea, by which route the whole of the Indian goods designed for Europe then passed. The next important place was Bassein, situated in the great timber-producing district. Many ships used to load there with timber and carry it to Mecca, where the Turks used it for their fleet. Pyrard says that all the timber required at Goa for building houses and ships came from Bassein. Agashi is also spoken of by Portuguese annalists as a large and rich place with a trade in timber. It had a large dockyard in which ships were built:—

As showing the equality on which these places stood with Portugal in the art of shipbuilding, it must be mentioned that in 1540 an expedition went from Bassein against Agashi with the sole object of getting possession of a great ship which was just built there and was then ready for launching. The ship was taken, and afterwards made several voyages to Portugal. One of the Surat ships stopped by Sir H. Middleton on its voyage to the Red Sea in 1612 was 153 ft. long, 42 beam 31 deep, and said to be of 1,500 tons burden.^[35]

​One of the Dabhol ships stopped at the same time by Captain Saris in the Red Sea was "153 feet from stem to stern, breadth 42, height 31, burden 1,200 tons; the mainmast 108 feet, the mainyard 132. The English ships of that age (1611) were 300 or 350 tons at most."^[36]

Calicut also in the 16th century developed into a great shipping centre. The foreign traveller Varthema has left a very interesting record of shipbuilding in Calicut, giving details about the materials and parts of ships, their names, and the time of navigation, from which we make the following extract:—