STORY OF INDIAN SHIPPING 



AND AAAKillMH ACTIVITY 
■ROM '11 IF: liARI JEST TIMES 



XIJA'IUD MOOKERJI 



.<SMS*Zy iJi*:^'i'yi''JS-iL^fj' 



immwmsm 



^ ■ ^ ^- i-im f , 



(li«tlBm-"&sca^!ba^^ 




:» -'^ 



i 



A HISTORY 



OF 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



IN PREPARATION. 

1. •*The Empire of Chandra Gupta," by the 

Author and Narendranath Law, M.A. 

2. •• Data of Indian Economics," by the Author 

and Radhakamal Mookerji, M.A. 




< 
> 
< 

w 

N 

o -^ 
o ^ 

o 

P ° 
H pq 

O ^ 

^ 3 

< S 

in a 



Q 
< 



a, 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

A HISTORY OF THE SEA-BORNE TRADE 

AND MARITIME ACTIVITY OF THE INDIANS 

FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES 



BY 

RADHAKUMUD MOOKERJI, M.A. 

Premchand Roychand Scholar, Calcutta University 

Hemchandra Basu Mallik Professor of Indian History in the National 

Coimcil of Education, Bengal 



WITH AN 

INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

BY 

BRAJENDRANATH SEAL, MA., Ph.D. 

Principal, Maharaja of Cooch Behar's College, India 



LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.. 

8, HORNBY ROAD, 30MSAY . ;;.•'•;*;; >, '. ^ ,\ 
303, BOWBAZAR STREET, CALCUttA '* * '" * '''"'''' 
LONDON AND NEW YORK 

1912 



A 






LONDON : 

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 

SUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W, 



" Do Thou Whose countenance is turned to all sides send off our 
adversaries, as if in a ship to the opposite shore : do Thou convey us in 
a ship across the sea for our welfare." [J^tg--Veda, I., 97, 7 and 8.] 



255284 



PREFACE. 

About two years ago I submitted a thesis which 
was approved by the Calcutta University for my 
Premchand Roychand Studentship. It was sub- 
sequently developed into the present work. As 
indicated by its title, it is an attempt to trace the 
history of the maritime activity of the Indians in 
all its forms from the earliest times. It deals with 
what is undoubtedly one of the most interesting, 
but at the same time often forgotten, chapters of 
Indian history. The subject, so far as my informa- 
tion goes, has not been treated systematically by 
any writer, and has not received by any means the 
attention it deserves. 

This is my excuse for attempting this subject, 
but the attempt, from its -very nature, is beset with 
difficulties. The field of work is new and almost 
unexplored, and one has to work at it single- 
handed. I have had to depend chiefly on my own 
resources for the discovery, collection, and arrange- 
ment of the materials. 

I have indicated fully, both in the Introduction 
and in the footnotes, all the sources of information 
I have drawn upon. The evidences used have been 

vii 



PREFACE 

both literary and monumental. For the collection 
of literary evidences I have had to be at great pains 
in ransacking the vast field of Sanskrit literature as 
well as Pali (especially the ydtakas) throughout 
which they are scattered, and then in piecing the 
evidences together. The Sanskrit texts, as well 
as the Pali, I have studied both in the original 
and in translations. Besides Sanskrit and Pali, 
I have been able to gather some very valuable 
evidences from old Tamil literature with the 
help of a book by the late Mr. Kanakasabhai 
Pillay, now unfortunately out of print, called The 
Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago. I have 
had also to consider and use all the evidences 
bearing on my subject that are contained in classical 
literature, made accessible to Indian students by the 
translations of McCrindle. Old Bengali literature, 
too, has been laid under contribution in connection 
with the account of Bengali maritime activity. 
Further, I have, with the help of translations, found 
out all the evidences bearing on the history of 
Indian maritime activity that are furnished by 
Persian works, most of which have been made 
accessible through Sir Henry Elliot's History in 
eight volumes. Lastly, I have had to use the 
material supplied by such Chinese and Japanese 
works as are accessible through translations in 
giving an account of Indian maritime intercourse 
with the Farther East. 

viii 



PREFACE 

I have had also to study MSS. of unpublished 
works, both Sanskrit and Bengali, in the original. 
Much labour was involved in the search for these 
Sanskrit MSS., especially those which belong to the 
class of Silpa Sastras, a good number of which I 
found in the famous Tanjore Palace Library (con- 
taining some 18,000 Sanskrit works), in the Adiyar 
Library, Madras, and in the possession of some 
old Indian artists at Kumbakonam. I have also 
derived from local tradition and old folk-lore some 
very valuable materials for the history of the 
once famous port of Gaur, the old capital of 
Bengal. 

Of the MSS. used, those specially noticeable 
are the Yuktikalpataru, and the Arthasdstra of 
Kautilya which has been recently published. These 
two important and interesting, but hitherto unknown 
and unutilized, Sanskrit works have great value as 
sources of economic history. The former gives an 
account of ancient Indian shipbuilding, the like of 
which cannot perhaps be found elsewhere in the 
entire range of Sanskrit literature, while the latter 
throws some new light on the economic condition 
of Maurya India which will, I trust, materially 
advance our knowledge of that brilliant period of 
Indian history. I may also refer in this connection 
to the Sanskrit work Bodhisattvdvaddna Kalpalatd 
of Kshemendra, which is being published under the 
auspices of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. This 

ix 



PREFACE 

work also throws light on some aspects of economic 
life in the Maurya epoch. 

I have also tried to discover and gather all the 
evidence derivable from archaeology. The many 
representations of ships and boats, and of scenes 
of naval activity, that are furnished by old Indian 
art have been brought together and adduced as 
evidence indicating Indian maritime enterprise. 
Some of these representations I have myself dis- 
covered in the course of my travels, and these have 
not, I think, been previously published. To the 
kindness of some of my artist friends I owe the 
sketches of several representations of ships and 
boats that occur in old Indian sculpture and 
painting, such as those of Ajanta, and also on old 
Indian coins. 

My thanks are due to Messrs. Bejoy Kumar 
Sarkar and Narendranath Sen Gupta, my old 
pupils at the Bengal National College, Calcutta, 
and now students of the Harvard University, 
U.S.A., for their kind assistance ; and also to 
Mr. Ramananda Chatterji, M.A., editor of the 
Modern Review, for the courtesy of his permission 
to reprint those portions of my work which appeared 
in his Review. Nor must I omit to express my 
obligation to my friend Mr. Benoy Kumar Sarkar, 
M.A., Lecturer, Bengal National College, Calcutta, 
whose constant help in manifold ways it is alike 
my pleasure and duty to gratefully acknowledge. 



PREFACE 

I have also to express my gratitude to the 
Hon'ble Maharaja Manindrachandra Nandy Baha- 
dur of Cossimbazar, and Dr. Rashbehary Ghose, 
M.A., D.L, C.S.I, CLE., for the generous help 
they have accorded me in preparing and publishing 
this work. 

Radhakumud Mookerji. 

Berhampore, Murshedabad, 
June, 19 lo. 



XI 



AN INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

(By Principal Brajendranath Skal, M.A., Ph.D.) 

Prof. Mookerji's monograph on Indian shipping 
and maritime activity, from the earliest times to the 
end of the Moghul period, gives a connected and 
comprehensive survey of a most fascinating topic of 
Indian history. The character of the work as a 
learned and up-to-date compilation from the most 
authoritative sources, indigenous and foreign, must 
not be allowed to throw into the background the 
originality and comprehensiveness of the conception. 
Here, for the first time, fragmentary and scattered 
records and evidences are collated and compared in 
a systematic survey of the entire field ; and one 
broad historical generalization stands out clearly 
and convincingly, of which all histories of world 
culture will do well to take note, viz. the central 
position of India in the Orient world, for well-nigh 
two thousand years, not merely in a social, a moral, 
a spiritual, or an artistic reference, but also and 
equally in respect of colonizing and maritime 

xiii 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

activity, and of commercial and manufacturing 
interests. A multitude of facts of special signifi- 
cance also come out vividly, and, in several cases, 
for the first time, in the author's presentation, e.g. 
the teeming ports and harbours of India, the 
harbour and other maritime regulations of the 
Mauryan epoch, the indigenous shipbuilding craft, 
the Indian classification of vessels and their build, 
the paramount part played by indigenous Indian 
shipping in the expansion of Indian commerce and 
colonization from the shores of Africa and Mada- 
gascar to the farthest reaches of Malaysia and the 
Eastern Archipelago ; the auxiliary character of the 
foreign intermediaries, whether Greek, Arabian, or 
Chinese ; the sources of India's manufacturing 
supremacy for a thousand years in her advances 
in applied chemistry, etc. In establishing these 
positions, the author, besides availing himself of the 
archaeological (including architectural and numis- 
matic) as well as other historical evidence, has 
drawn upon hitherto unpublished manuscripts and 
other obscure sources. But the signal merit of the 
survey is that these facts of history are throughout 
accompanied by their political, social, or economic 
interpretation, so that the monograph is not a mere 
chronicle of facts, but a chapter of unwritten culture- 
history, conceived and executed in a philosophical 
spirit. The author's style combines lucidity with 
terseness, compresses a large mass of facts into a 

xiv 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

small compass, and is equal alike to the enumeration 
of details and the march and sweep of a rapid 
historical survey. 

One characteristic cannot escape the most 
casual reader of this volume : Prof. Mookerji takes 
his materials as he finds them, and does not clip and 
pare them down, in the name of historical criticism, 
or handle them after the accredited methods of 
speculative chronology. By confining himself to 
settled landmarks, and traversing his ground by 
rapid strides, proceeding from epoch to epoch, he is 
able to avoid the quicksands of Indian chronology. 
As for the critical methods of sifting evidence, there 
is a great deal of misconception in the air, and it is 
best to point out that the methods which are im- 
perative in testing an alleged fact or event are highly 
unsuitable in a review of the formative forces, 
agencies, movements, of a nation's history as pre- 
served in the storehouse of national tradition. To 
take an example from the so-called Higher Criticism, 
to explode the Mosaic authorship is not to explode 
Moses in culture-history. In fact, whether in 
Semitic, Chinese, or Indian philology, the destructive 
(and explosive) criticism of the seventies and eighties 
of the last century is now itself exploded, and has 
been followed by a finer and more accurate sense of 
historic origins and national evolutions. For the 
rest, it must be recognized that, while accuracy and 
scientific criticism, in the measure in which they are 

XV 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 

attainable in the social sciences, must always be 
essential to a right historical method, a first sketch 
or mapping of an entire province, the work of scouts, 
pioneers and conquerors, cannot usefully employ the 
methods of a trigonometrical or a cadastral survey. 

Brajendranath Seal. 



XVI 



CONTENTS. 

Introduction. page 

I. Isolation and Intercourse . . . , . . i 

II. Evidences . . . . , ,. . . 6 

III. Epochs ..... .... 9 

BOOK I.— HINDU PERIOD. 

Part I. — Indications of Maritime Activity in Indian 
Literature and Art. 

Chapter I. — Direct Evidences from Sanskrit and Pali Literature . 19 

Chapter IL — Direct Evidences from Indian Sculpture, Painting, and 

Coins ....... 32 

Chapter III. — Indirect Evidences : References and Allusions to 
Indian Maritime Activity in Sanskrit and Pali 
Literature . . . . . . -53 

Part IL — The History of Indian Maritime Activity. 

Chapter I. — The Pre-Mauryan Period . . . . .81 

Chapter II. — The Maury a Period .100 

Chapter III. — The Andhra-Kushan Period : Intercourse with 

Rome . . . . . . .116 

Chapter IV. — The Period of Hindu Imperialism in Northern 
India under the Guptas and Harshavardhana — 
The Foundation of a Greater India : Intercourse 
with Farther India . . . . .142 

xvii b 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Chapter V. — The Period of Hindu Imperialism in Northern 

India {continued) : The Colonization of Java . 148 

Chapter VI. — The Period of Hindu Imperialism in Northern 
India {continued) : The Maritime Activity of the 
Bengalis 155 

Chapter VII. — The Period of Hindu Imperialism in Northern 

India {continued) : The Intercourse with China . 163 

Chapter VIII. — The Period of Hindu Imperialism in Northern 
India {continued) : Maritime Activity on the 
West Coast 168 

Chapter IX. — The Period of Hindu Imperialism in Southern 
India : The Rise of the Chalukyas and the 
Cholas — from the Middle of the 7 th Century to 
the Time of the Mahomedan Conquests in 
Northern India . . . . . .170 

Chapter X. — Retrospect . . . . . . .178 



BOOK II.— MAHOMEDAN PERIOD. 

Chapter I. — The Pre-Mogul Period .... 

Chapter II. — The Mogul Period : The Reign of Akbar 

Chapter III. — ^The Mogul Period {continued) : From the Reign of 
Akbar to that of Aurangzeb . 

Chapter IV. — Later Times 

Conclusion 



185 
205 

224 
243 
253 



Indexes : 

I. Subjects . . . . . . . . '257 

II. Proper Names . . . . . . . . 269 



xvm 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Indian Adventurers Sailing out to Colonize Java. 
Sculptures of Borobudur.) . . . . 



(From the 

. Frontispiece 

Facing page 
32 



Sculptures from the Sanchi Stupas ... 

The Royal Barge on the Jagannath Temple, Puri . 

Vaital Deul, Bhubaneshvara .... 

A Sea-Going Vessel. (From the Ajanta Paintings.) 

The Royal Pleasure-Boat. (From the Ajanta Paintings 

Landing of Vijaya in Ceylon, 543 B.C. (From the Ajanta Paintings.) 

Indian Adventurers Sailing out to Colonize Java. (From the 
Sculptures of Borobudur.) No. i 

Do. do. No. 2 

Do. do. No. 3 

Do. do. No. 4 

Do. do. No. 5 

Do. do. No. 6 

Andhra Ship-Coins of the 2nd Centurj a.d. 

Some Indian Ships and Boats of the t 7th Century 

Mahratta Grabs and GalUvats Attacking an English Ship 

Some Indian Ships and Boats of the Earlier Part of the 19th Century 

Pinnace 

Bangles 

Grab . 

Pattooa 

Dony . 

Brick . 

View of Ballasore Roads 

xix 



36 

36 
40 
42 
44 

46 
46 
48 
48 
48 
48 

51 

{235 
(236 

242 



352 
252 
252 
252 
252 
252 
252 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. 



Abulfeda. — Reinaud. 

Account of Shihab-ud-din Talish in MS. Bodleian 589. 

Al-Biladuri. 

AI-Biruni. 

Al-Idrisi. 

Anabasis. 

Analysis of the Finances of Bengal (Fifth Report). — Grant. 

Ancient Egyptians. — Wilkinson. 

Ancient India as Described in Classical Literature. — McCrindle. 

Ancient Ships. — Torr. 

Anecdota Oxoniensis. 

Archaeological Survey of India (New Imperial Series) xv. 

Arthasastra. — Kautilya. 

Asiatic Nations (Bohn's edition). 

Asoka Rock Edicts, II. and XIII. 

Assam District Gazetteer, II. 

Ayecn-i-Akbari. — Abul-Fazl. 

Bhikshuni Nidana. 

Bhilsa Topes, The. — Cunningham. 

Bible, The. 

Book of Ezekiel. 

Genesis. 

Kings. 

Proverbs, 

Bodhisattvavadana Kalpalata. — Kshemendra. 
Bombay Gazetteer. 

Bombay Times (1839). 

xxi b 2 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES 

Buddhist India. — Rhys Davids. 

Buddhist Records of the Western World. — Beal. 

Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts. — Aufrecht. 

Cathay and the Way Thither. — Yule. 

Chach-nama. 

Chemical Theories of the Hindus. — Dr. Brajendranath Seal. 

Chilappathikaram. 

Chinese Buddhism. — Edkins. 

Christian Topography. — Cosmas. 

Chu-Fan-Chih. — Chao Jukua. 

Coins of Southern India. — Sir W. Elliot. 

Commerce of the Ancients. — Dr. Vincent. 

Considerations on the Affairs of India. — Lt.-Col. Walker. 

Curtius. 

Da6akumaracharita. — Dandin. 

Das alte Indien. 

De Coutto. 

De Vita Constant. 

Dharma Sutra. 

Baudhayana. 

Gautama. 

Diodorus Siculus. 

Disquisitions concerning Ancient India. — Robertson. 

Early History of the Deccan. — Bhandarkar. 

India.-— -Vincent Smith. 

Early Records of British India.— J. T. Wheeler. 

Economic Review. 

Edicts of Asoka.— V. Smith. 

Epigraphia Indica, vol. iv. (1896-97). 

Epitome of Roman History. — Florus. 

Erukkaddur-Thayan-Kannanar-Akam. 

Fathiyyah-i-Ibriyyah (Blochmann's translation). 

Foe-koue-ki. 

Fragments. — Orme. 

xxii 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES 

Geographical Account of Countries round the Bay of Bengal, 

A. — Thomas Bowrey. (Hakluyt Society publication.) 
Geography. — Ptolemy. 
Georgics. — Virgil. 
Ghatakakarika. 

Grammar of the Dravidian Languages. — Dr. Caldwell. 
Growth and Vicissitudes of Commerce. — Dr. Yeats. 
Gujarat. — Bayley. 
Gujarat. — Bird. 

Herodotus. 

Hist. Anc. Orient (English edition). 

History. — Orosius. 

History of Bengali Literature. — Dinesh Chander Sen. 

Burma. — Sir A. Phayre. 

India. — Elphinstone. 

India.— Sir H. Elliot. 

Indian Navy. — Lt.-Col. C. R. Low. 

Java. — Raffles. 

Konkan. 

Mahrattas. — Duff. 

Pegu. — Phayre. 

Plants. — Theophrastus. 

Puri. — Brojokishore Ghosh. 

Hist. Rome. — Dion Cassius. 
Hitopadefia. 
Huang-hua-hsi-ta-chi. — Chia-Tau. 

Ideals of the East. — Okakura. 

Imperial Gazetteer (New Edition), vol. ii. 

Ind. Alt, vol. ii. 

India and the Navy. — Sir C. Bridge. 

India in the Fifteenth Century. (Hakluyt Society publication.) 

Indian Antiquary. 

Architecture. — Fergusson. 

Literature. — Weber. 

Sculpture and Painting. — E. B. Havell. 

Indika. — Ctesias (McCrindle's translation). 
Industrial Competition of Asia. — C. Daniell. 

xxiii 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES 

I-Tsing. — Taka-kusu. 

Jatakas (Cowell's Cambridge Edition). 

Ajanna. 

Baveru. 

Bhojajanuya. 

Janaka. 

Kundaka-Kucchi-Sindhava, 

. • Mahajanaka. 

Samudda-Vanija. 

■ Saiikha. 

. • Suhanu. 

. • Supparaka. 

Sussondi. 

Tandulanali. 

Valahassa. /• 



Journal Asiatique. 

■ of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 

Bangiya Sahitya Parishat. 

Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 

Indo-Japanese Association. 

Royal Asiatic Society. 

Kalinga Huparani. 

Kathasarit Sagara.— Somadeva. 

Kavikankan Chandi. 

Koch Bihar and Assam.— Blochmann. 

Kwai-Yuen Catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka. 

Les Hindous.— F. Baltazar Solvyns. 
Life in Ancient India.— Mrs. Spier. 
Life of Godama.— Bishop Bigandet. 

Madras Review (1902). 
Mahabharata. 

Adi parva. 



— Karna parva. 

— 6anti parva. 

— Sava parva. 

xxiv 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES 

Mahawa6so. — Tumour, 

Mai Fuzat-i-Timuri, 

Manasamangala (an old Bengali manuscript). — Jagajiban. 

Manual of Buddhism. — Hardy. 

Mdmoires. — Reinaud. 

Mission Life. 

MS. Bodleian 598 (translated by Mr. Jadunath Sarkar). 

MuUaipaddu. 

Natural History, — Pliny. 

Nihon-ko-ki. 

Nitifetaka. — Vartrihari. 

Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts, vol. i. 

Numismata Orientalia. — Sir Walter Elliot. 

Oaranara-Puram. 

Old Bengali Manuscripts. 

Origin and Growth of Religion among the Babylonians. — 

Dr. Sayce's Hibbert Lectures, 1887. 
Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet. — Biihler. 
Orissa. — Hunter. 

Paddinappalai. 

Paintings in the Buddhist Cave-Temples of Ajanta. — 

Griffiths. 
Panchasiddhantika. 

Papers relating to Shipping in Jndia. — ^Phipps. 
Parthia. — Rawlinson, 
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. 
Pitakas. 

Anguttara. 

Digha Nikaya. 

Sanyutta Nikaya. 

Sutta. 

Vinaya. 

Portuguese Asia. — Stevenson. 
Portuguese in India. — Danvers. 
Protapaditya. — Nikhilnath Roy. 

XXV 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES 

Provinces of the Roman Empire. — Mommsen. 
Puranas. 

Bhagavata. 

Garuda. 

Markandeya. 

Padma. 

Varaha. 

Vayu. 



Raghuvaiisam. — Kalidasa. 
Raja-Tarangini. 
Rajavalliya. 
Ramayana. 

Ayodhya kandam. 

Kiskindhya kandam. 

Ratnavali. — King Harsha. 
Register of Ships Built on the Hugh. 

Report on the Old Records of the India Office.— Birdwood 

Eig-Veda. 

Rise of the Portuguese Power in India. — Whiteway. 

Roman Empire. — Gibbon. 

Ruijukokushi. 

Sacred Books of Ceylon. — Upham. 

Sakuntala. — -Kalidasa . 

Sanhita. 

Manu. 

Vrihat. 

Yajnavalkya. 

Sanchi and its Remains. — Maisley. 

Sifiupalabadha. — Magh . 

Si-yu-ki. 

Spectator. 

Statistical Account of Bengal. — Hunter. 

Strabo. 

Sungshih. 

Suyshoo. 

Takmilla-i- Akbar-nama . 

xxvi 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES 

Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, The. — V. K. Pillay. 

Tarikh-i-Fi rozshahi, — Burni . 

Tarikh-i-Masumi. 

Technical History of Commerce. — Dr. Yeats. 

Thirty Years in India. — Major Bevan. 

Topography of Dacca. — Taylor. 

Travels of De Barros. 

Hiuen Tsang. 

Marco Polo (Marsden's translation). 

Varthema. — Badger. 

Voyages. — Kerr, edited by Stevenson. 
Vriksha- Ayurveda. 

Wassaf. 

Western Origin of Chinese Civilization. 

Yatratattva. — Raghunandan. 
Yuktikalpataru (manuscript). 

Z. D. M. G. 



xxvu 



/ , 



INDIAN SHIPPING. 



INTRODUCTION. 

I. — Isolation and Intercourse. 

Even a superficial view of the physical features of 
India cannot fail to show that there is hardly any 
part of the world better marked out by nature as a 
region by itself than India. It is a region, indeed, 
full of contrasts in physical features and climate, 
but the features that divide and isolate it as a whole 
from surrounding regions are too clear to be over- 
looked. In truth, the whole of India, in spite of 
assertions to the contrary made by some geographers, 
is easily perceived to be a single country endowed 
with a sharply defined individuality, and beneath 
her truly manifold and bewildering variety there 
is a fundamental geographical unity, a complete 
territorial synthesis. 

Mountain-guarded and sea-girt as she is on the 
north and the south, India looks as if she had been 
meant by nature to remain aloof from the rest of 
the world and to develop her civilization in isolation, 
untouched by the currents that stir humanity abroad. 
And yet there is hardly any country in the world 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

that presents such an eventful record of intercourse 
with foreign countries. The geography of India 
points to her natural isolation ; but the history of 
India reveals other facts. And if we study that his- 
tory carefully from the earliest times we shall easily 
recognize that contact or intercourse with other 
\ countries has been a no less potent factor in its 
making than isolation. It has been well said that 
none of the greatest movements in the world which 
have influenced the history of mankind have failed to 
touch India and contribute to the development and 
richness of her extraordinarily varied culture and 
civilization. Above all comprehension and beyond 
all human insight is that mysterious impulse which 
gave birth to the momentous movement of Aryan 
migration and expansion, so big with consequences, 
and by far the most important event in the world's 
history. And it is a commonplace of history that 
one of the main streams of this great migration of 
the pioneers of the world's civilization entered India 
through her north-western mountain passes to 
build up her spiritual character, even as the Indus 
and the Ganges have broken through the Himalayas 
to create her physical character. For centuries these 
I ndo- Aryans pushed on their work of colonizing 
India amid struggles and conflicts with the original 
inhabitants of the country, and developed a civiliza- 
tion that is reflected in the literature they have 
created. Then rose Buddhism, the first of world- 

2 



INTRODUCTION 

religions, a product of the Indian soil which 
extended its influence beyond its limits over all 
countries lying east and north of India — from the 
steppes of the Mongols and the mountainous 
wildernesses of Tibet, through Japan, and on the 
south and east far into the Indian Archipelago. For 
centuries India stood out as the heart of the Old 
World, moulding and dominating its thought 
and life. Meanwhile there continued to beat 
upon Indian shores successive waves of foreign 
influence, such as the Iranian influence flowing 
from the first veritable empire of the ancient 
Orient, the empire of the Achaemenides, which 
under Darius included within itself the whole of 
Sindh and a considerable portion of the Punjab east 
of the Indus, forming his twentieth satrapy and 
yielding the enormous tribute of fully a million 
sterling, an influence that left some marks upon 
Indian art and architecture and methods of govern- 
ment and administration ; the Hellenic influence 
beginning from Alexander's invasion and exercised 
by a succession of Greek rulers of the Punjab and 
neighbouring regions, but "which touched only 
the fringe of Indian civilization "; and the Graeco- 
Roman influence during the time of the Kushan or 
Indo-Scythian kings. Then, also, the two great civi- 
lizing forces of the world that next arose did not fail 
to touch India and contribute to her making, viz. the 
Islamic culture and civilization, and the European, 

3 B 2 



f 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

which, following in the wake of foreign invasions and 
commerce, has continued to influence Indian thought 
and life to this day. India, therefore, is a favoured 
country where all the diversities of human culture 
have met to build up an extraordinarily rich and 
synthetic culture. Thus intercourse is as much a 
characteristic of the history of India as isolation. 

Hardly less convincing than these facts of the 
political intercourse of India are the facts of her 
commercial intercourse with foreign countries with 
which we are more directly concerned. We shall 
have ample evidence to show that for full thirty 
>/ ll centuries India stood out as the very heart of the 

Old World, and maintained her position as one of 
the foremost maritime countries. She had colonies 
in Pegu, in Cambodia, in Java, in Sumatra, in 
Borneo, and even in the countries of the Farther 
East as far as Japan. She had trading settlements 
in Southern China, in the Malayan peninsula, in 
Arabia, and in all the chief cities of Persia and all 
over the east coast of Africa. She cultivated trade 
relations not only with the countries of Asia, but also 
with the whole of the then known world, including the 
countries under the dominion of the Roman Empire, 
and both the East and the West became the theatre 
of Indian commercial activity and gave scope to 
her naval energy and throbbing international life. 

It will thus be seen that instead of the rigid 
isolation apparently decreed to her by nature, we 

4 



INTRODUCTION 

find a remarkably active intercourse with foreign 
countries established by the efforts of man, and a 
conquest achieved over the natural environment. 
The great and almost impregnable barriers on the 
north are pierced by mountain-passes which have 
been throughout used as the pathways of commerce 
and communication with the external world. To- 
wards the south the ocean from its very nature 
proved a far more effective and fatal barrier to the 
cultivation of foreign relations, till the rapid develop- 
ment of national shipping triumphed over that 
obstacle and converted the ocean itself into a great 
highway of international intercourse and commerce. 
y The early growth of her shipping and ship- 
building, coupled with the genius and energy of her 
merchants, the skill and daring of her seamen, the 
enterprise of her colonists, and the zeal of her mis- 
sionaries, secured to India the command oflhe sea for 
_ages, and helped her to attain and long maintain her 
proud position as the mistress of the Eastern seas. 
There was no lack of energy on the part of Indians 
of old in utilizing to the full the opportunities 
presented by nature for the development of Indian 
maritime activity — the fine geographical position of 
India in the heart of the Orient, with Africa on the 
west and the Eastern Archipelago and Australia on 
the east, her connection with the vast mainland of 
Asia on the north, her possession of a sea-board that 
extends over more than four thousand miles, and 

5 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

finally the network of rivers which opens up the 
interior. In fact, in India there is to be found the 
conjunction or assemblage of most of those specific 
geographical conditions on which depends the com- 
mercial development of a country. 



II. — Evidences. 

The sources and materials available for the con- 
struction of a history of Indian shipping and 
maritime activity naturally divide themselves into 
two classes, Indian and foreign. The Indian 
evidences are those derived from Indian literature 
and art, including sculpture and painting, besides the 
evidence of archaeology in its threefold branches, 
epigraphic, monumental, and numismatic. The 
evidences of Indian literature are based chiefly on 
Sanskrit, Pali, and Persian works, and in some cases 
on works in the Indian vernaculars, Tamil, Marathi, 
and Bengali. The foreign evidences consist of those 
writings of foreign travellers and historians which 
contain observations on Indian subjects, and also 
of archaeological remains such as those in Java. 
The former are embedded mostly in classical litera- 
ture, in Chinese, Arabic, and Persian, to which we 
have access only through translations. 

The way these various evidences, literary and 
monumental, Indian and foreign, will be arranged, 
and the order in which they will be presented, 

6 



INTRODUCTION 

require to be explained at the outset. Bearing in 
mind the well-known dictum that " the literature as 
well as the art of a people tells its life," I have 
thought that the case for India's maritime activity 
cannot be held to be sufficiently made out until in 
the first instance it is supported by the evidence 
supplied by her own native literature and art, great 
as they are. The first proofs of Indian maritime 
activity, and of the existence and growth of an 
Indian shipping by which that activity realized 
itself, must accordingly be sought in the domain of 
Indian literature and art, and the want or paucity of 
these can hardly be compensated for by the abund- 
ance of evidences culled from foreign works. The 
evidences that will therefore be first presented will 
be all Indian, being those supplied by Indian litera- 
ture and art, and after them will follow the evidences 
derived from foreign sources. Again, as the dates 
of most of the Indian literary works to which 
reference will be made are unhappily not yet a 
matter of certainty, I could not make the evidences 
drawn from them the basis of any historical treat- 
ment of the subject or regard them as any help 
to a chronological arrangement of the facts regarding 
the shipping, sea-borne trade, and maritime activity 
of India. Accordingly, the evidence from Indian 
literature that will be first adduced will serve only 
as an introduction to the whole subject, preparing 
the ground and making out the case for it, so to 

7 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

speak. The real historical narrative of the naval 
activity of India will be built up of materials 
supplied by such foreign and also Indian works as 
labour under no chronological difficulties. 

The passages from ancient Indian works will be 
presented, as far as possible, in the order determined 
by tradition. In the opinion of the late Professor 
v/ Biihler, the far-famed German orientalist, " there 
are passages in ancient Indian works which prove 
the early existence of a navigation of the Indian 
Ocean and the somewhat later occurrence of trading 
voyages undertaken by Hindu merchants to the 
shores of the Persian Gulf and its rivers." These 
proofs, however, will be found mostly to supply an 
indirect kind of evidence ; they contain no direct 
information regarding the existence and develop- 
ment of a national shipping which is certainly 
implied in the existence, development, and con- 
tinuance of that maritime trade to which they so 
conclusively refer. For it is a commonplace of 
history, and quite stands to reason, that no com- 
merce can spring up, and much less thrive, especially 
in early times, unless it is fostered by a national 
shipping. Accordingly, the direct proofs that are 
available regarding Indian shipping and naval 
activity will have precedence over the indirect ones, 
and they will include illustrations of the typical 
ships and boats that are represented in old Indian 
art, in sculpture and painting, and on coins. 

8 



INTRODUCTION 



III. — Epochs. 



The epochs of Indian history round which these 
various evidences regarding the shipping and 
maritime activity of India will be grouped, may be 
roughly indicated as follows : — 

1. The Pre-Mauryan Epoch, extending from 
the earliest times to about the year B.C. 321. — For 
this period we shall discuss the evidences that can 
be gleaned from some of the oldest literary records 
of humanity like the Rig-Vecla, the Bible, and some 
of the old Pali and Tamil works, as also from 
the finds of Egyptian and Assyrian archaeologists, 
regarding the early maritime intercourse of India 
with the West. Evidences for this period are also 
to be derived from the writings of the Greek authors 
Herodotus and Ctesias, in the 5th century B.C., 
containing references to India. 

2. The Mauryan Epoch (b.c. 321-184). — For 
this period the available evidences are those pre- 
served in the works of many Greek and Roman 
authors who essayed to tell the story of Alexander's 
Indian campaign and recorded the observations 
made on India by the Greek ambassadors to the 
courts of the Maurya emperors. These Greek and 
Roman notices of India have been mostly made 
accessible to Indian students by the translations of 
Mr. McCrindle. More important and interesting 
than these foreign evidences is the evidence fur- 

9 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

nished by a recently published Sanskrit work, the 
Arthasdstra of Kautilya, which is a mine of in- 
formation regarding the manifold aspects of a highly 
developed material civilization witnessed by Maurya 
India. Bearing on this period also is the evidence of 
tradition preserved in that monumental work of the 
Kashmirian poet Kshemendra called Bodhisattvd- 
vaddna Kalpalatd, which is now being published 
by the Asiatic Society of Bengal in the Bibliotheca 
Indica series. The seventy-third pallava or chapter 
of this work relates a story which throws some light 
on the sea-borne trade and maritime activity of 
India during the days of the Emperor Asoka. 

3. The Kushan Period in the north and the 
/ Andhra Period in the south, extending roughly 
y from the 2nd century B.C. to the 3rd century a.d. — 
( This was the period when Roman influence on 
I India was at its height ; in fact, the whole of the 
^southern peninsula under the Andhra dynasty was 
/in direct communication with Rome, while the 
conquests in Northern India tended still further to 
open up trade with the Roman Empire, so that 
Roman gold poured into all parts of India in pay- 
ment for her silks, spices, gems, and dye-stuffs. 
The evidences proving this are the remarkable finds 
of Roman coins, more numerous in the south than 
in the north, together with the references in the 
ancient Sanskrit and Pali works to " Romaka," or 
the city of Rome, and in ancient Tamil works to the 

10 






INTRODUCTION 

" Yavanas " or Greeks and Romans, and to the im- 
portant South Indian ports like Muchiris and Pukar, 
of which full descriptions are given in old Tamil 
poems. Besides evidences from ancient Indian 
literature bearing- on Indian commerce with Rome, 
there are also definite evidences from important 
foreign works. The chief of these are Pliny's 
Natural History, the Peripius of the Erythraean 
Sea, and Ptolemy's Geography, besides the incidental 
allusions to Indian commerce and shipping thrown 
out by writers like Agatharcides and Strabo. 

4. The Period of Hindu Imperialism in 
Northern India under the Guptas and Harsha- 
vardhana, extending from the 4th century to the 7th 
century a.d. — This was the period of the expansion 
of India and of much colonizing activity towards 
the farther East from Bengal, the Kalinga coast, and 
Coromandel. Parts of Burma and Malacca were 
colonized, chiefly from Kalinga and Bengal, as 
shown in Sir A. P. Phayre's History of Burma, 2ind 
testified to by Burmese sacred scriptures and coins. 
»/ The main evidences for the remarkable maritime 
activity of this period are supplied by the accounts 
of the numerous Chinese pilgrims to India, of whom 
Fa-Hien was the first and Hiuen Tsang the most 
famous. These accounts are now all accessible 
through translations. Among foreign works sup- 
plying valuable materials for the history of the 
period may be mentioned the Christian Topography 

II 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

of Cosmas. Some very valuable evidences regard- 
ing the early commerce between India and China 
are furnished by Chinese annals like the Kwai- 
Yuen Catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka. Yule's 
Cathay and the Way Thither also has recorded 
many facts relating to the Indian intercourse with 
China. For the reign of Harsha the most im- 
portant source of information is the Travels of 
Hiuen Tsang, that " treasure-house of accurate 
information, indispensable to every student of 
Indian antiquity, which has done more than any 
archaeological discovery to render possible the 
remarkable resuscitation of lost Indian history 
which has recently been effected." 

5. The Period of Hindu Imperialism in 
Southern India and the rise of the Cholas, extend- 
ing from the middle of the 7th century up to the 
Mahomedan conquests in Northern India. — During 
this period Indian maritime intercourse was equally 
active with both the West and the East. The 
colonization of Java was completed, and the great 
temple of Borobudur remained a standing monu- 
ment of the hold which Buddhism had on that 

/island. The field of Indian maritime enterprise was 

/ extended as far as Japan, which is testified to by 
Japanese tradition and official annals made acces- 

I sible through the efforts of Japanese scholars like 
V \ Dr. Taka-kusu. The record of I-Tsing, the famous 

' Chinese traveller, contains many interesting details 

12 



INTRODUCTION 

regarding Indian maritime activity in the Eastern 
waters and intercourse with China in the latter half 
of the 7th century. Chinese annals also furnish 
evidences regarding the maritime intercourse of the 
Cholas with China, e.g. the Sung-shih. 

6. The Musalman {pre- Mogul) Period, extending 
from the nth century to the 15th. — The sources 
of evidence for this, and indeed the whole of 
the Musalman period, are mostly imbedded in 
Persian works which have been made accessible to 
scholars by the monumental History of India by 
Sir H. Elliot, in eight volumes. For information 
regarding maritime enterprise and activity in Sindh 
our authorities are Al-Bildduri and Chach-ndma, 
translated in Elliot, vol. i. The early Musalman 
travellers throw much light upon Indian affairs of 
this period. Al-Biruni is our authority for the 
nth century and Al-Idrisi for the 12th. In the 
13th century a very valuable source of information 
regarding Indian shipping and commerce is fur- 
nished by a foreign traveMer, the Venetian Marco 
Polo. Wassaf is our guide in the next century, as 
well as Tdrikh-i-Firozshdhi. In the 15th century 
we have, in the Chinese account of Mahuan, the 
most important foreign notice of India after Marco 
Polo, which relates the exchange of presents between 
the kings of Bengal and the emperors of China. 
To the same century also belong the foreign 
travellers Abd-er-Razzak, Nicolo Conti, and Hiero- 

13 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

nimo di Santo Stefano, who are also valuable 
sources of information regarding the shipping and 
trade of the period. In the earlier part of the 
1 6th century, when the .Portuguese first appear 
as a factor in Indian politics, details regarding 
Indian maritime activity are derivable from Portu- 
guese annals like De Coutto, utilized in some of the 
standard works on the history of the Portuguese 
power in India. About the same time the foreign 
traveller Varthema has left a very interesting 
account of shipbuilding in Calicut. 

7. The Period of Mogul Monarchy, from the 
1 6th century to the i8th, i.e. from the reign of 
Akbar to that of Aurangzeb. — The evidence for the 
reign of Akbar is derived, firstly, from that mine of 
information, Abul-Fazl's Ayeen-i-A kbari, which 
gives a very valuable account of Akbar's Admiralty ; 
and, secondly, from the abstract of Ausil Toomar 
yumma given in Grant's Analysis of the Finances 
of Bengal in the Fifth Report, in which are con- 
tained many interesting details regarding the 
organization and progress of the Imperial Nowwara 
or shipping stationed at Dacca, the sources of 
revenue for its maintenance, the materials for ship- 
building, and the like. The Chach-ndma in Elliot, 
vol. i., and Abul-Fazl's Ayeen~i-Akbari give some 
details about the shipping and ports of Sindh. 
Some details regarding Hindu maritime activity, 
commerce, and shipping in Bengal are also derived 



INTRODUCTION 

from Takmilla-i-A kbarnama in Elliot, vol. vi., 
from the Sanskrit work Ghataka-kdrikd, from the 
Portuguese accounts of De Barros and Souza, from 
the records of other foreign travellers like Varthema 
and Ralph Fitch, and lastly from some old Bengali 
poems and songs preserving local tradition. In the 
reign of Aurangzeb the principal sources of our 
information regarding the maritime activities of 
the Ferenghies and of the imperial fleet are the 
Fathiyyah-i-ibriyyah, translated by Blochmann, and 
the contemporary Persian Account of Shihab-tid-dm 
Talish in MS. Bodleian 589, Sachau and Ethe's 
Catalogue, which is translated by Professor Jadunath 
Sarkar, M.A. Among foreign travellers who supply 
us with information for this period we may mention 
Thomas Bowrey, in whose account of the countries 
round the Bay of Bengal we have many interesting 
details regarding shipping and commerce. Dr. 
Fryer is also another similar source of our informa- 
tion. The same period also witnessed the develop- 
ment of Maratha shipping and maritime activity 
under Sivaji and the Peshwas, details regarding 
which may be derived from some of the standard 
works on Maratha history. 



15 



BOOK I. HINDU PERIOD. 



PART I. 
Indications of Maritime Activity in Indian Literature 

and Art. 



17 



BOOK L— PART I. 



CHAPTER I. 

Direct Evidences from Sanskrit and 
Pali Literature. 

It has been already pointed out that though San- 
skrit and Pali literature abounds in references to the 
trading voyages of Indians, they unfortunately 
furnish but few references having a direct bearing 
on the ships and shipbuilding of India which 
enabled her to keep up her international connections. 
I have, however, been able to find one Sanskrit 
work,^ which is something like a treatise on the art 
of shipbuilding in ancient India, setting forth many 
interesting details about the various sizes and 
kinds of ships, the materials out of which they were 
built, and the like ; and it sums Up in a condensed 
form all the available information and knowledge 
about that truly ancient industry of India. The 
book requires a full notice, and its contents have to 
be explained. 

1 It is not a printed book but a MS., to be found in the Calcutta Sanskrit 
College Library, called the Yuktikalpataru. Professor Aufrecht has noticed 
it in his Catalogue of Sanskrit MSB. Dr. Rajendralal Mitra has the follow- 
ing comment on it {Notices of Sanskrit MSS., vol. i., no. cclxxi.) : '^Yttkti- 
kalpafaru is a compilation by Bhoja Narapati. It treats of jewels, swords, 
horses, elephants, ornaments, flags, umbrellas, seats, ministers, ships, 
etc., and frequently quotes from an author of the name of Bhoja, meaning 
probably Bhoja Raja of Dhara." 

19 C 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

The ancient shipbuilders had a good knowledge 
of the materials as well as the varieties and pro- 
perties of wood which went to the making of ships. 
According to the Vriksha-Aytirveda, or the Science 
of Plant Life (Botany), four different kinds of wood ^ 
are to be distinguished : the first or the Brahman 
class comprises wood that is light and soft and can 
be easily joined to any other kind of wood ; the 
second or the Kshatriya class of wood is light and 
hard but cannot be joined on to other classes ; the 
wood that is soft and heavy belongs to the third or 
Vaisya class ; while the fourth or the Sudra class of 
wood is characterized by both hardness and heavi- 
ness. There may also be distinguished wood of 
the mixed (Dvijati) class, in which are blended 
properties of two separate classes. 

According to Bhoja, an earlier authority on ship- 
building, a ship built of the Kshatriya class of wood 
brings wealth and happiness.^ It is these ships that 
are to be used as means of communication where 
the communication is difficult owing to vast water.^ 

20 



HINDU PERIOD 

Ships, on the other hand, which are made of timbers 
of different classes possessing contrary properties 
are of no good and not at all comfortable. They do 
not last for a long time, they soon rot in water, and 
they are liable to split at the slightest shock and to 
sink down.^ 

Besides pointing out the class of wood which is 
best for ships, Bhoja also lays down a very im- 
portant direction for shipbuilders in the nature of a 
warning which is worth carefully noting.^ He 
says that care should be taken that no iron is used 
in holding or joining together the planks of bottoms 
intended to be sea-going vessels, for the iron will 
inevitably expose them to the influence of magnetic 
rocks in the sea, or bring them within a magnetic 
field and so lead them to risks. Hence the planks 
of bottoms are to be fitted together or mortised by 
means of substances other than iron. This rather 
quaint direction was perhaps necessary in an age 
when Indian ships plied in deep waters on the main. 

Besides Bhoja's classification of the kinds of 
wood used in making ships and boats, the Yuktikal- 
pataru gives an elaborate classification of the ships 
themselves, based on their size. The primary 

^ f^fwsnffTT^wrs'^rr-rrT -^ ^w 'TTfq' tt<^i*< 'ft^T i 

f%M-^d "^^ "T^^ "ifWT 5T'$'5r TW r«r^fll«^ ^ft^: II 
21 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

division ^ is into two classes : (a) Ordinary 
(Samanya) : ships that are used in ordinary river 
traffic or waterways fall under this class ; (b) 
Special (Visesa), comprising only sea-going vessels. 
There are again enumerated ten different kinds of 
vessels under the Ordinary class which all differ in 
their lengths, breadths, and depths or heights. 
Below are given their names and the measurements 
of the three dimensions ^ : — 





(«) Ordinai 


Vi. 




N^£inics 


Length 


Breadth 


Height 




in cubits. 


in cubits. 


in cubits. 


(i) Kshudra 


i6 


4 


4 


(2) Madhyama 


24 


12 


8 


(3) Bhima 


40 


20 


20 


(4) Chapala 


48 


24 


24 


(5) Patala 


64 


32 


32 


(6) Bhaya 


72 


36 


36 


(7) Dirgha 


88 


44 


44 


(8) Patraputa 


96 


48 


48 


(9) Garbhara 


112 


56 


56 


(10) Manthara 


120 


60 


60 



^ ^mj^-^ f^^^^ ^ft^tJT ^^TITT^^ I 

■fTT-^-^-iTT ^frar ^^f^ arf^TTT ■^■^: II 
N^TJi<Jnr«*ydT "sf^^ST ^vmfrT ^T^^"^ H 

22 



HINDU PERIOD 

Of the above ten different kinds of Ordinary 
ships the Bhima, Bhaya and Garbhara are liable to 
bring ill-luck, perhaps because their dimensions do 
not make them steady and well-balanced on the water. 

Ships that fall under the class Special are all 
sea-going.^ They are in the first instance divided 
into two sub-classes^: (i) Dirgha (^^), including 
ships which are probably noted for their length, and 
(2) Unnata (^"^fTT), comprising ships noted more for 
their height than their length or breadth. There 
are again distinguished ten varieties of ships of the 
Dirgha (?^) class and five of the Unnata ('^^rfn) 
class. Below are given their names and the 
measurements ^ of their respective lengths, breadths, 
and heights : — 

(3) Special. 
I. Dirgha, 42 (length), 5:^ (breadth), 4^ (height) : 



Names. 


Length. 


Breadth. 


Height. 


(i) Dirghika 


52 


4 


3^ 


(2) Tarani 


48 


6 


4^ 


(3) Lola ■ 


64 


8 


6* 


(4) Gatvara 


80 


10 


8 


(5) Gamini 


96 


12 


9f 


(6) Tari 


112" 


14 


"i 



23 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



Names. 


Length, 


Breadth, 


Heigl 


(7) Janghala 


128 


16 


I2| 


(8) Plabini 


144 


18 


I4f 


(9) Dharini 


160 


20 


16 


(10) Begin! 


176 


22 


i7f 



Of these ten varieties of Dirgha (^Ht) ships, 
those that bring ill-luck^ are Lola (^ft^), Gamini 
(mft?^), and Plabini (^rTf^^ft), and also all ships that 
fall between these three classes and their next 
respective classes. 

II, Unnata 2 (^girwr) : 

Names. Length, Breadth. Height, 

(i) tjrddhva 32 16 16 

(2) Anurddhva 48 24 24 

(3) Svarnamukhi 64 32 32 

(4) Garbhini 80 40 40 

(5) Manthara 96 48 48 

Of these five varieties, Anurddhva (■'ir^'T), 
Garbhini (arf^fifr), and Manthara (^n^rrr) bring on mis- 
fortune, and tjrddhva much gain or profit to kings. 

wt^rrm: T^nrnf^ t^ ^^*t^ f^mNi: 11 
^^TJT^T^^^^ jrfw^ Tr-=2n:T tt^t i 

^^^I^t: "qTT ^"^ IH- 1$M1^ ^HTl-g'^*! II 
Opinions of Sanskrit scholars whom I have consulted differ as to the 
exact meaning of the passages above quoted from the MS. Yuktikalpataru. 
According to some the word ^t^TT means xp?- = i, and ^"^ =2, so 
that TT«T^^ stands for the number 21. But according to others, with 
whom I agree, TTWr = 16, for in the works on Astronomy or ^s^tt^, 
* <R^^"?r ' or ' TJ^\ ' is often used to indicate that number. I have 
made the calculations given above on the basis of the second interpretation. 

24 



HINDU PERIOD 

The YMktikalpatani also gives elaborate direc- 
tions for decorating and furnishing ships so as to 
make them quite comfortable to passengers. Four 
kinds of metal are recommended for decorative 
purposes, viz. gold, silver, copper, and the compound 
of all three. Four kinds of colours are recommended 
respectively for four kinds of vessels : a vessel with 
four masts is to be painted white, that with three 
masts to be painted red, that with two masts is to 
be a yellow ship, and the one-masted ship must be 
painted blue. The prows of ships admit of a great 
variety of fanciful shapes or forms : these comprise 
the heads of lion, buffalo, serpent, elephant, tiger, 
birds such as the duck, peahen or parrot, the frog, 
and man, thus arguing a great development of the art 
of the carpenter or the sculptor. Other elements of 
decoration are pearls and garlands of gold to be 
attached to and hung from the beautifully shaped 
prows.^ 

^•Tcff ^rsTfi' fTT^ f^^^i\ -^ ii-«rr5frww ii 
^Tf^fVr: Tfr^^ ^Ntt f^T^r^f^ i 
■^■g'iijirr fnnrrHT f^nfin "^^ijfir^ ii 

xr^ Wirt" injTsi^ "^"^^ ■^^^rs'^^ \ 
25 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

There are also given interesting details about 
the cabins of ships. Three classes ^ of ships are 
distinguished according to the length and position 
of their cabins. There are firstly the Sarbamandira 
(w^-s^^n) vessels, which have the largest cabins 
extending from one end of the ship to the other.^ 
These ships are used for the transport of royal 
treasure, horses, and women.^ Secondly, there 
are the Madhyamandira (^w^f^Ti) vessels,'^ which 
have their cabins just in the middle part. These 
vessels are used in pleasure trips by kings, and they 
are also suited for the rainy season. Thirdly, ships 
may have their cabins towards their prows, in which 
case they will be called Agramandira ^ (^^tr^f^^rr). 
These ships are used in the dry season after the 
rains have ceased. They are eminently suited for 
long voyages and also to be used in naval warfare^ 
It was probably in these vessels that the first naval 
fight recorded in Indian literature was fought, the 
vessel in which Tugra the Rishi king sent his son 

26 



HINDU PERIOD 

Bhujyu against some of his enemies in the distant 
island, who, being afterwards shipwrecked with all 
his followers on the ocean, " where there is nothing to 
give support, nothing to rest upon or cling to," was 
rescued from a watery grave by the two Asvins in 
their hundred-oared galley.^ It was in a similar 
ship that the righteous Pandava brothers escaped 
from the destruction planned for them, following the 
friendly advice of kind-hearted Vidura, who kept a 
ship ready and constructed for the purpose, provided 
with all necessary machinery and weapons of war, 
able to defy hurricanes.^ Of the same description 
were also the five hundred ships mentioned in the 
Rdmdyana^ in which hundreds of Kaivarta young 
men are asked to lie in wait and obstruct the 



^ inr: sr^rf^ff^ f«t^i«f f^^Tr-q- ^t"^^ i 

Mahdbhdrata, "^if^'^r^ I 
^ TTTT w»n^ TT^T^ ^^•srr Wfi ^fr^ i 

Ayodhya Kdndam. 
27 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

enemy's passage. And, further, it was in these 
ships that the Bengalis once made a stand against 
the invincible prowess of Raghu as described in 
Kalidasa's Raghuvansa, who retired after planting 
the pillafs of his victory on the isles of the holy 
Ganges.^ 

The conclusions as to ancient Indian ships and 
shipping suggested by these evidences from San- 
skrit literature directly bearing on them are also 
confirmed by similar evidences culled from the Pali 
literature. The Pali literature, like the Sanskrit, 
also abounds with allusions to sea voyages and sea- 
borne trade, and it would appear that the ships 
employed for these purposes were of quite a large 
size. Though indeed the Pali texts do not usually 
give the actual measurements of the different dimen- 
sions of ships such as the Sanskrit texts furnish, 
still they make definite mention of the number 
of passengers which the ships carried, and thus 
enable us in another very conclusive way to have 
a precise idea of their size. Thus, according 
to the Rdjavalliya, the ship in which Prince 
Vijaya and his followers were sent away by King 
Sinhaba (Sinhavahu) of Bengal was so large as to 
accommodate full seven hundred passengers, all 



1 -^irrsr-fr^rg -fRr^T %Tn "spwnnrr^frrsr 
28 



HINDU PERIOD 

Vijaya's followers.^ Their wives and children, 
making up more than seven hundred, were also cast 
adrift in similar ships.^ The ship in which the lion- 
prince, Sinhala, sailed from some unknown part of 
Jambudvipa to Ceylon contained five hundred mer- 
chants besides himself.^ The ship in which Vijaya's ( 
Pandyan bride was brought over to Ceylon was also 
of a very large size, for she is said to have carried 
no less than 800 passengers on board.^ The 
yanaka-ydtaka mentions a ship that was wrecked 
with all its crew and passengers to the favourite 
number of seven hundred, in addition to Buddha 
himself in an earlier incarnation.^ So also the 
ship in which Buddha in the Supparaka-Bodhisat 
incarnation made his voyages from Bharukaccha 
(Broach) to '' the Sea of the Seven Gems " ^ carried 
seven hundred merchants besides himself. The 
wrecked ship of the Vdlahassa-ydtaka carried 
five hundred merchants.^ The ship which is 
mentioned in the Samudda-Vanija-ydtaka was so 
large as to accommodate also a whole village 

^ Upham's Sacred Books of Ceylon, ii. 28, 168. Tumour's Mahdwaiiso, 
46, 47- 

^ Tumour's Mahdwa^so, 46. 
^ Si-yu-ki, ii. 241. 

* Tumour's MahdwaAso, 51. 

* Bishop Bigandet's Life of Godama, 415. 
® YLdiXdy's Manual of Buddhism, 13. 

' " Now it happened that five hundred shipwrecked traders were cast 
ashore near the city of these sea-gobUns." 

29 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

of absconding carpenters numbering a thousand 
who failed to deliver the goods (furniture, etc.) for 
which they had been paid in advance.^ The ship 
in which the Punna brothers, merchants of Suppa- 
raka, sailed to the region of the red-sanders was so 
big that besides accommodating three hundred mer- 
chants, there was room left for the large cargo of 
that timber which they carried home.^ The two 
Burmese merchant-brothers Tapoosa and Palekat 
crossed the Bay of Bengal in a ship that conveyed 
full five hundred cartloads of their own goods, 
besides whatever other cargo there may have been 
in it.^ The ship in which was rescued from a 
watery grave the philanthropic Brahman of the 
Sdnkha-ydtaka was 800 cubics in length, 600 
cubits in width, and 20 fathoms in depth, and had 
three masts. The ship in which the prince of the 
Mahdjmiaka-ydtaka sailed with other traders from 
Champa (modern Bhagalpur) for Suvarnabhumi 
(probably either Burma or the Golden Chersonese, 
or the whole Farther-Indian coast) had on board 
seven caravans with their beasts. Lastly, the 
Ddthd dhdtu wanso, in relating the story of the 
conveyance of the Tooth-relic from Dantapura to 
Ceylon, gives an interesting description of a ship. 

^ " There stood near Benares a great town of carpenters containing 
a thousand families." (Cambridge translation of ydtakas?) 
^ Hardy, Manual of Buddhism, 57, 260. 
^ Bishop Bigandet's Life of Godama, loi. 

30 



HINDU PERIOD 

The royal pair (Dantakumaro and his wife) reached 
the port of Tamralipta, and found there " a vessel 
bound for Ceylon, firmly constructed with planks 
sewed together with ropes, having a well-rigged, 
lofty mast, with a spacious sail, and commanded 
by a skilful navigator, on the point of departure. 
Thereupon the two illustrious Brahmans (in dis- 
guise), in their anxiety to reach Sinhala, expe- 
ditiously made off to the vessel (in a canoe) and 
explained their wishes to the commander." 



31 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



CHAPTER II. 



Direct Evidences from Indian Sculpture, 
Painting, and Coins. 

The conclusions pointed to by these literary evi- 
dences seem further to be supported by other kinds 
of evidence mainly monumental in their character. 
They are derived from old Indian art — from Indian 
sculpture and painting — and also from Indian coins. 
These evidences, though meagre in comparison 
with the available literary evidences, native and 
foreign alike, have, however, a compensating direct- 
ness and freshness, nay, the permanence which Art 
confers, creating things of beauty that remain a joy 
for ever. Indeed, the light that is thrown on 
ancient Indian shipping by old Indian art is not yet 
extinguished, thanks to the durable character of old 
Indian monuments, thanks also to the labours of 
the Archaeological Department for their preserva- 
tion and maintenance. 

There are several representations of ships and 
boats in old Indian art. The earliest of them are 
those to be found among the Sanchi sculptures 
belonging to an age so far back as the 2nd century 
B.C. One of the sculptures on the Eastern Gateway 
of No. I Stupa at Sanchi represents a canoe made 
up of rough planks rudely sewn together by hemp 

32 




i3o% 







m^i^mm 



SCULPTURES FROM THE SANCHI STUPAS. 



[To face p. 32. 



HINDU PERIOD 

or string. "It represents a river or a sheet of fresh 
water with a canoe crossing it, and carrying three 
men in the ascetic priestly costume, two propelling 
and steering the boat, and the central figure, with 
hands resting on the gunwale, facing towards four 
ascetics, who are standing in reverential attitude 
at the water's edge below." ^ According to Sir 
A. Cunningham,^ the figures in the boat represent 
Sakya Buddha and his two principal followers ; 
and Buddha himself has been compared in many 
Buddhist writings to " a boat and oar in the vast 
ocean of life and death." ^ But General F. C. 
Maisley is inclined to view this sculpture " as repre- 
senting merely the departure on some expedition 
or mission of an ascetic, or priest, of rank amid the 
reverential farewells of his followers."'* His main 
reasons for supporting this view are, firstly, that no 
representations of Buddha in human shape were 
resorted to until several centuries later than the 
date of these sculptures ; and, secondly, because the 
representation is that of a common thong-bound 
canoe and not of a sacred barge suiting the great 
Buddha. There is another sculpture to be found 
on the Western Gateway of No. i Stupa at Sanchi 
which " represents a piece of water, with a barge 

^ General F. C. Maisley, Sanchi and Us Remains, p. 42. 

2 The Bhilsa Topes, 27. 

^ Foe-koue-ki, ch. xxiv., note 11. 

* Sanchi and its Remains, p. 43. 

33 D 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

floating on it whose prow is formed by a winged 
gryphon and stern by a fish's tail. The barge 
contains a pavilion overshadowing a vacant throne, 
over which a male attendant holds a chatta, while 
another man has a chaori ; a third man is steering 
or propelling the vessel with a large paddle. In the 
water are fresh-water flowers and buds and a large 
shell ; and there are five men floating about, holding 
on by spars and inflated skins, while a sixth appears 
to be asking the occupant of the stern of the vessel 
for help out of the water." ^ This sculpture appears 
simply to represent the royal state barge, which quite 
anticipates its modern successors used by Indian 
nobles at the present day, and the scene is that of 
the king and some of his courtiers disporting them- 
selves in an artificial piece of water ; but it is also 
capable of a symbolical meaning, especially when we 
consider that the shape of the barge here shown is 
that of the sacred Makara, the fish avatara or Jataka 
of the Buddhist, just as the Hindu scriptures 
make the Matsya, or fish, the first of the avatars of 
Vishnu, whose latest incarnation was Buddha. 
According to Lieutenant Massey, however, this 
sculpture represents the conveyance of relics from 
India to Ceylon which is intercepted by Nagas.^ 
In passing it may be noted that the grotesque 

^ Sanchi and its Remains, p. 59. 

^ Mrs. Spier's Life in Ancient India, p. 320. 

34 



HINDU PERIOD 

and fanciful shapes given to the prow herein 
represented are not the invention or innovation of 
an ingenious sculptor trying his wit in original 
design ; they are strictly traditional, and conform to 
established standards/ and are therefore identical 
with one or other of those possible forms of the 
prow of a ship which have been preserved for us 
in the slokas of the Sanskrit work Yttktikalpataru 
quoted and referred to above. 

Next to Sanchi sculptures in point of time we 
may mention the sculptures in the caves of Kanhery 
in the small island of Salsette near Bombay, 
belonging, according to the unerring testimony of 
their inscriptions, to the 2nd century a.d., the time 
of the Andhrabhritya or S'atakarni king Vashi- 
shthiputra (a.d. 133-162) and of Gotamiputra II. 
(a.d. 177-196). Among these sculptures there is a 
representation of a scene of shipwreck on the sea 
and two persons helplessly praying for rescue to 
god Padmapani who sends two messengers for the 
purpose. This is perhaps the oldest representation 
of a sea voyage in Indian sculpture.^ 

I have come across other representations of 
ships and boats in Indian sculpture and painting. 



^ The identity of the form of the prow of the Sanchi barge with that 
given in the Yuktikaipataru may incline one to hazard the conjecture that 
the work may be compiled from works at least as old as the Sanchi 
monument, or at any rate the portions treating of prows. 

^ See Bombay Gazetteer, vol. xiv., p. 165. 

35 D 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

In the course of a journey I made through Orissa 
and South India I noticed among the sculptures of 
the Temple of Jagannath at Puri a fine, well- 
preserved representation of a royal barge shown in 
relief on stone, of which I got a sketch made. The 
representation appears on that portion of the great 
Temple of Jagannath which is said to have been 
once a part of the Black Pagoda of Kanaraka 
belonging to the 12th century a.d. The sculpture 
shows in splendid relief a stately barge propelled 
by lusty oarsmen with all their might, and one 
almost hears the very splash of their oars ; the water 
through which it cuts its way is thrown into ripples 
and waves indicated by a few simple and yet 
masterly touches ; and the entire scene is one of 
dash and hurry indicative of the desperate speed of 
a flight or escape from danger. The beauty of the 
cabin and the simplicity of its design are particu- 
larly noticeable ; the rocking-seat within is quite an 
innovation, probably meant to be effective against 
sea-sickness, while an equally ingenious idea is that 
of the rope or chain which hangs from the top and 
is grasped by the hand by the master of the vessel 
to steady himself on the rolling waters. It is 
difficult to ascertain what particular scene from our 
Shastras is here represented. It is very probably 
not a mere secular picture meant as an ornament. 
The interpretation put upon it by one of the many 
priests of whom I inquired, and which seems most 

36 






















THE ROYAL BARGE ON THE JAGANNATH TEMPLE, PURL 





.iy:^:,-p'»M»<,i 



VAITAL DEUL. 



[To face p. 36. 



HINDU PERIOD 

likely, being suggested by the surrounding sculp- 
tures, was that the scene represented S'ri Krishna 
being secretly and hurriedly carried away beyond 
the destructive reach of King Kansa. It will also 
be remembered that the vessel herein represented is 
that of the Madhyamandira type as defined in the 
Yuktikalpataru. 

In Bhubaneshwara there is an old temple on the 
west side of the tank of Vindusarovara which re- 
quires to be noticed in this connection. The temple 
is called l^aitdl Deid after the peculiar form of its 
roof resembling a ship or boat capsized, the word 
vaitdra denoting a ship. The roof is more in the 
style of some of the Dravidian temples of Southern 
India, notably the raths of Mahavellipore, than of 
Orissan architecture. 

There are a few very fine representations of old 
Indian ships and boats among the far-famed 
paintings of the Buddhist cave-temples at Ajanta, 
whither the devotees of Buddhism, nineteen cen- 
turies or more ago, retreated from the distracting 
cares of the world to give themselves up to con- 
templation. There for centuries the wild ravine 
and the basaltic rocks were the scene of an applica- 
tion of labour, skill, perseverance, and endurance 
that went to the excavation of these painted palaces, 
standing to this day as monuments of a boldness of 
conception and a defiance of difficulty as possible, 
we believe, to the modern as to the ancient Indian 

37 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

character. The worth of the achievement will be 
further evident from the fact that " much of the 
work has been carried on with the help of artificial 
light, and no great stretch of imagination is neces- 
sary to picture all that this involves in the Indian 
climate and in situations where thorough ventilation 
is impossible." ^ About the truth and precision of 
the work, which are no less admirable than its bold- 
ness and extent, Mr. Griffiths has the following- 
glowing testimony : — 

During my long and careful study of the caves I have not been able to 
detect a single instance where a mistake has been made by cutting away 
too much stone ; for if once a slip of this kind occurred, it could only have 
been repaired by the insertion of a piece which would have been a 
blemish.^ 

According to the best information, the execution 
of these works is supposed to have extended from 
the 2nd century B.C. to the yth or the 8th century 
A.D., covering a period of more than a thousand 
years. The earliest caves, namely the numbers 13, 
12, 10, 9, 8, arranged in the order of their age, were 
made under the Andhrabhrityas or S'atakarni 
kings in the 2nd and ist centuries B.C., and the date 
of the latest ones, namely the numbers 1-5, is 
placed between 525-650 a.d: By the time of 
Hiuen Tsang's visit their execution was completed. 
Hiuen Tsang's is the earliest recorded reference 



^ J. Griffiths, The Paintings in the Buddhist Cave-Temples of Aj ant a. 
2 Ibid. 

38 



HINDU PERIOD 

we have to these caves. The Chinese pilgrim did 
not himself visit Ajanta, but he was at the capital 
of Pulakeshi II., King of Maharastra, where he 
heard that " on the eastern frontier of the country 
is a great mountain with towering crags and a 
continuous stretch of piled-up rocks and scarped 
precipice. In this there is a Sangharam (monas- 
tery) constructed in a dark valley. . . . On the four 
sides of the Vihara, on the stone walls, are painted 
different scenes in the life of the Tathagata's 
preparatory life as a Bodhisattva. . . . These scenes 
have been cut out with the greatest accuracy and 
finish." 1 

The representations of ships and boats furnished 
by Ajanta paintings are mostly in Cave No. 2, of 
which the date is, as we have seen, placed between 
525-650 A.D. These were the closing years of the 
age which witnessed the expansion of India and 
the spread of Indian thought and culture over the 
greater part of the Asiatic continent. The vitality 
and individuality of Indian civilization were already 
fully developed during the spacious times of Gupta 
imperialism, which about the end of the 7th century 
even transplanted itself to the farther East, aiding 
in the civilization of Java, Cambodia, Siam, China, 
and even Japan. After the passing away of the 
Gupta Empire, the government of India was in the 

^ Beal, Buddhist Raords of the Western World^ vol. ii., p. 257. 

39 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

opening of the 7th century a.d. divided between 
Harshavardhana of Kanauj and Pulakeshi II. of the 
Deccan, both of whom carried on extensive inter- 
course with foreign countries. The fame of Pula- 
keshi spread beyond the limits of India and " reached 
the ears of Khusru II., King of Persia, who in 
the thirty-sixth year of his reign, 625-6 a.d., even 
received a complimentary embassy from Pulakeshi. 
The courtesy was reciprocated by a return embassy 
sent from Persia, which was received in the Indian 
court with due honour." ^ There is a large fresco 
painting in the Cave No. i at Ajanta which is still 
easily recognizable as a vivid representation of the 
ceremonial attending the presentation of their 
credentials by the Persian envoys. 

As might be naturally expected, it was also the 
golden age of India's maritime activity which is 
reflected, though dimly, in the national art of 
the period. The imperial fleet was thoroughly 
organized, consisting of hundreds of ships ; and a 
naval invasion of Pulakeshi II. reduced Puri, 
"which was the mistress of the Western seas." ^ 
About this time, as has been already hinted at, 
swarms of daring adventurers from Gujarat ports, 
anticipating the enterprise of the Drakes and 
Frobishers, or more properly of the Pilgrim Fathers, 



^ Vincent A. Smith, Early History of Lidia, pp. 384, 385. 
"^ See Dr. Bhandarkar's Early History of the Deccan, ch. x. 

40 




A SEA -GOING VESSEL. 
(From the Ajanta Paintings.) 



[To /ace p. 40. 



%• 



HINDU PERIOD 

sailed in search of plenty till the shores of Java 
arrested their progress and gave scope to their 
colonizing ambition. 

The representations of ships and boats in the 
Ajanta paintings are therefore rightly interpreted 
by Griffiths as only a "vivid testimony to the 
ancient foreign trade of India." Of the two repre- 
sentations herein reproduced, the first shows " a 
sea-going vessel with high stem and stern, with 
three oblong sails attached to as many upright 
masts. Each mast is surmounted by a truck, and 
there is carried a lug-sail. The jib is well filled 
with wind. A sort of bowsprit, projecting from a 
kind of gallows on deck, is indicated with the out- 
flying jib, square in form," like that borne till 
recent times by European vessels. The ship 
appears to be decked and has ports. Steering-oars 
hang in sockets or rowlocks on the quarter, and 
eyes are painted on the bows. There is also an oar 
behind ; and under the awning are a number of jars, 
while two small platforms project fore and aft.^ The 
vessel is of the Agramandira type as defined in the 
Yuktikalpafarti, our Sanskrit treatise on ships. 

The second representation is that of the 
emperor's pleasure-boat, which is '* like the heraldic 
lymphad, with painted eyes at stem and stern, a 
pillared canopy amidships, and an umbrella forward, 

^ Griffiths, The Paintings in the Buddhist Cave-Temples of Ajanta^ P- i7- 

41 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

the steersman being accommodated on a sort of 
ladder which remotely suggests the steersman's 
chair in the modern Burmese row-boats ; while a 
rower is in the bows." ^ The vessel is of the Ma- 
dhyamandira type, and corresponds exactly to the 
form of those vessels which, according to the Yukti- 
kalpataru, are to be used in pleasure trips by 
kings. 

The third representation from the Ajanta 
paintings reproduced here is that of the scene of 
the landing of Vijaya in Ceylon, with his army 
and fleet, and his installation. The circumstances 
of Vijaya's banishment from Bengal with all his 
followers and their families are fully set forth in the 
Pali works, Mahawanso, Rdjavalliya, and the like. 
The fleet of Vijaya carried no less than 1,500 
passengers. After touching at several places which, 
according to some authorities, lay on the western 
coast of the Deccan, the fleet reached the shores of 
Ceylon, approaching the island from the southern 
side. The date of Vijaya's landing in Ceylon is 
said to have been the very day on which another 
very important event happened in the far-off father- 
land of Vijaya, for it was the day on which the 
Buddha attained the Nirvana. Vijaya was next 
installed as king, and he became the founder of the 
" Great Dynasty." 

^ Griffiths, 2 he Paintings in the Buddhist Cave-Tempks of Ajanta^ P- i7' 

42 




if^^^^^^: 






MMKHMaitfSiMHlMMHaMlMM 



THE ROYAL PLEASURE-BOAT. 
(From the Ajanta Paintings.) 



Al/\NrA. 



[ To face p. 42. 



HINDU PERIOD 

The conquest of Ceylon, laying as it did the 
foundation of a Greater India, was a national 
achievement that was calculated to stir deeply the 
popular mind, and was naturally seized by the 
imagination of the artist as a fit theme for the 
exercise of his powers. It is thus that we can 
explain its place in our national gallery at Ajanta 
as we can explain that of another similar representa- 
tion suggestive of India's position in the Asiatic 
political system of old — I mean the representation 
of Pulakeshi II. receiving the Persian embassy. 
Truly, Ajanta unfolds some of the forgotten chapters 
of Indian history. 

The explanation of the complex picture before 
us can best be given after Mr. Griffiths, than whom 
no one is more competent to speak on the subject. 
On the left of the picture, issuing from a gateway, 
is a chief on his great white elephant, with a bow 
in his hand; and two minor chiefs, likewise on 
elephants, each shadowed by an umbrella. They are 
accompanied by a retinufe of foot-soldiers, some of 
w^hom bear banners and spears and others swords 
and shields. The drivers of the elephants, with 
goads in their hands, are seated, in the usual manner, 
on the necks of the animals. Sheaves of arrows are 
attached to the sides of the howdahs. The men are 
dressed in tightly-fitting short-sleeved jackets, and 
loin-cloths with long ends hanging behind in folds. 
Below, four soldiers on horseback with spears are 

43 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

in a boat, and to the right are represented again 
the group on their elephants, also in boats, engaged 
in battle, as the principal figures have just dis- 
charged their bows. The elephants sway their 
trunks about, as is their wont when excited. The 
near one is shown in the act of trumpeting, and the 
swing of his bell indicates motion. '' These may 
be thought open to the criticism on Raphael's 
cartoon of the Draught of Fishes, viz. that his boat 
is too small to carry his figures. The Indian artist 
has used Raphael's treatment for Raphael's reason ; 
preferring, by reduced and conventional indication 
of the inanimate and merely accessory vessels, to 
find space for expression, intelligible to his public, 
of the elephants and horses and their riders 
necessary to his story." 

Vijaya Sinha, according to legend, went (b.c. 543) 
to Ceylon with a large following. The Rakshasis or 
female demons inhabiting it captivated them by 
their charms ; but Vijaya, warned in a dream, 
escaped on a wonderful horse. He collected an 
army, gave each soldier a magic verse {mantra), and 
returned. Falling upon the demons with great 
impetuosity, he totally routed them, some fleeing 
the island and others being drowned in the sea. He 
destroyed their town, and established himself as king 
in the island, to which he gave the name of Sinhala.^ 

^ See Tumour's Mahdwanso, chs. 6-8. 

44 




LANDING OF VIJAYA IN CEYLON (ABOUT 543 B.C.). 



\To face p. 44. 



•7. 



HINDU PERIOD 

I shall now present a very important and in- 
teresting series of representations of ships which are 
found not in India but faraway from her, among the 
magnificent sculptures of the Temple of Borobudur 
in Java, where Indian art reached its highest ex- 
pression amid the Indian environment and civiliza- 
tion transplanted there. 

Most of the sculptures show in splendid relief 
ships in full sail and scenes recalling the history of 
the colonization of Java by Indians in the earlier 
centuries of the Christian era. Df one of them 
Mr. Havell ^ thus speaks in appreciation : " The 
ship, magnificent in design and movement, is a 
masterpiece in itself. It tells more plainly than 
words the perils which the Prince of Gujarat and 
his companions encountered on the long and 
difficult voyages from the west coast of India. But 
these are over now. The sailors are hastening to 
furl the sails and bring the ship to anchor." There 
are other ships which appear to be sailing tempest- 
tossed on the ocean, fuHy trying the pluck and 
dexterity of the oarsmen, sailors, and pilots, who, 
however, in their movements and looks impress 
us with the idea that they are quite equal to the 
occasion. These sculptured types of a 6th or 
7th century Indian ship — and it is the characteristic 
of Indian art to represent conventional forms or 

^ E. B. Havell's Indian Sculpture and Paintings p. 124. 

45 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

types rather than individual things — carry our 
mind back to the beginning of the 5th century a.d., 
when a similar vessel also touched the shores of 
Java after a more than three months' continuous 
sail from Ceylon with 200 passengers on board 
including the famous Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien. It 
is noteworthy that " astern of the great ship was 
a smaller one as a provision in case of the 
larger vessel being injured or wrecked during the 
voyage."^ 

The form of these ships closely resembles that 
of a catamaran, and somewhat answers to the fol- 
lowing description of some Indian ships given by 
Nicolo Conti in the earlier part of the 15th century : 
" 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 compart- 
ments that should one part be shattered the other 
portion remaining entire may accomplish the 
voyage."^ 

These ships will be found to present two types 
of vessels. To the first type belong Nos. i, 3, 5, 6. 
They are generally longer and broader than the 

^ Beal, Buddhist Records, vol. ii., p. 269. 

^ India iji the Fiftemth Century, in the Hakluyt Society publications, 
ii., p. 27. 

46 




INDIAN ADVENTURERS SAILING OUT TO COLONIZE JAVA. 
No. I. (Reproduced from the Sculptures of Borobudur.) 




INDIAN ADVENTURERS SAILING OUT TO COLONIZE JAVA. 
No. 2. (Reproduced from the Sculptures of Borobudur.) 



[To face p. 46. 



HINDU PERIOD 

vessels of the second type, have more than one mast, 
are many-ribbed, the ribs being curved, not straight. 
These vessels are built so narrow and top-heavy 
that it is necessary to fit outriggers for safety. An 
outrigger is a series of planks or logs joined to the 
boat with long poles or spars as shown in Fig. i. 
It is customary when a large amount of sail is being 
carried for the crew to go out and stand on the out- 
rigger as shown in Fig. 5. 

No. I has got two masts and one long sail. 
No. 3 has got square sails and one stay-sail in front. 
In No. 5 the crew appear to be setting sail or taking 
sail down. No. 6 has been interpreted by Mr. Havell 
as representing sailors "hastening to furl the sails 
and bring the ship to anchor," but this sugges- 
tion seems to be contradicted by the sea-gulls or 
albatrosses of the sculpture flying around the vessel, 
which without doubt indicate that the ship is in 
mid-ocean, far away from land. 

No. I shows probably a wooden figure-head and 
not a man ; so also do Nos. 3, 5, 6. There is also 
a sort of cabin in each of the vessels of the first 
type. Again, in No. i the figure aft appears to be a 
compass.^ 



1 This is the suggestion of a European expert, Mr. J. L. Reid, member 
of the Institute of Naval Architects and Shipbuilders, England, at present 
Superintendent of the Hugh Docks, Salkea (Howrah). In connection with 
Mr. Reid's suggestion, the following extract from the Bombay Gazetteer, 
vol. xiii.. Part ii.. Appendix A, will be interesting : " The early Hindu 

47 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

No. 5 appears to be in collision with some other 
vessel, or perhaps it shows a smaller vessel which 
used to be carried as a provision against damages 
or injury to the larger one from the perils of naviga- 
tion. This was, as already pointed out, true of the 
merchantman in which Fa-Hien took passage from 
Ceylon to Java. No. 5 illustrates also the use of 
streamers to indicate the direction of winds. 

There is another type of ships represented in 
Nos. 2 and 4. The fronts are less curved than in 
the first type ; there is also only one mast. No. 2 
shows a scene of rescue, a drowning man being 
helped out of the water by his comrade. No. 4 
represents a merrier scene, the party disporting 
themselves in catching fish. 

Some of the favourite devices of Indian sculpture 
to indicate water may be here noticed. Fresh and 
sea waters are invariably and unmistakably indicated 
by fishes, lotuses, aquatic leaves, and the like. The 
makara^ or alligator, showing its fearful row of 
teeth in Fig. 2, is used to indicate the ocean ; so 
also are the albatrosses or sea-gulls of Fig. 6. The 
curved lines are used to indicate waves. 



astrologers are said to have used the magnet as they still use the modern 
compass, in fixing the North and East, in laying foundations, and other 
religious ceremonies. The Hindu compass was an iron fish that floated in 
a vessel of oil and pointed to the North. The fact of this older Hindu 
compass seems placed beyond doubt by the Sanskrit word maccha-yantra, 
or fish machine, which Molesworth gives as a name for the mariner's 
compass." 

48 




INDIAN ADVENTURERS SAILING OUT TO COLONIZE JAVA. 
No. 3. (Reproduced from the Sculptures of Borobudur.) 




INDIAN ADVENTURERS SAILING OUT TO COLONIZE JAVA. 

No. 4. (Reproduced from the Sculptures of Borobudur.) 



IToface p. 48. 




INDIAN ADVENTURERS SAILING OUT TO COLONIZE JAVA. 

No. 5- (Reproduced from the Sculptures of Borobudur.) 




INDIAN ADVENTURERS SAILING OUT TO COLONIZE JAVA. 
No. 6. (Reproduced from .the Sculptures of Borobudur.) 



[To face p. 



HINDU PERIOD 

The trees and pillars appear probably to de- 
marcate one scene from another in the sculpture. 

Finally, in the Philadelphia Museum there is a 
most interesting exhibit of the model of one of these 
Hindu-Javanese ships, an " outrigger ship," with 
the following notes : — 

Length 60 feet. Breadth 15 feet. ... 

Method of construction. — A cage-work of timber above a great log 
answering for a keel, the hold of the vessel being formed by planking 
inside the timbers ; and the whole being so top-heavy as to make the outrigger 
essential for safety. 

Reproduced from the frieze of the great Buddhist temple at Borobudur, 
Java, which dates probably from the 7th century a.d. About 600 a.d. 
there was a great migration from Guzarat in ancient India near the mouths 
of the Indus to the island of Java, due perhaps to the devastation of Upper 
India by Scythian tribes and to the drying up of the country.^ 

Lastly, it may be mentioned that in the Great 
Temple at Madura, among the fresco paintings that 
cover the walls of the corridors round the Suvar- 
napushkarini tank, there is a fine representation 
of the sea and of a ship in full sail on the 
main as large as those among the sculptures of 
Borobudur. 

We shall now refer to the available numismatic 
evidence bearing on Indian shipping ; for besides 
the representations of ships and boats in Indian 



^ The Javanese chronicles relate that about a.d. 603 a ruler of Gujarat, 
forewarned of the coming destruction of his kingdom, started his son with 
5,000 followers, among whom were cultivators, artisans, warriors, physicians, 
and writers, in 6 large and loo small vessels, for Java, where they laid the 
foundation of a civilization that has given to the world the Sculptures of 
Borobudur. 

49 E 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

sculpture and painting, there are a few interesting 
representations on some old Indian coins which 
point unmistakably to the development of Indian 
shipping and naval activity. Thus there has been 
a remarkable find of some Andhra coins on the east 
coast, belonging to the 2nd and 3rd century a.d., on 
which is to be detected the device of a two-masted 
ship, " evidently of large size." With regard to the 
meaning of the device Mr. Vincent Smith has thus 
remarked : ** Some pieces bearing the figure of a 
ship suggest the inference that Yajna S'rl's 
(a.d. 184-213) power was not confined to the land." ^ 
Again: "The ship-coins, perhaps struck by Yajna 
S'ri, testify to the existence of a sea-borne trade on 
the Coromandel coast in the ist century of the 
Christian era." ^ This inference is, of course, amply 
supported by what we know of the history of the 
Andhras, in whose times, according to R. Sewell, 
" there was trade both by sea and overland with 
Western Asia, Greece, Rome, and Egypt, as well 
as China and the East."^ 

In his South Indian Buddhist Antiquities,^ 
Alexander Rea gives illustrations and descriptions 
of three of these ship-coins of the Andhras. They 



1 Early History of India, p. 202. 

2 Z.D.M.G., p. 613. (On Andhra Coinage.) 

3 Imperial Gazetteer, New Edition, vol. ii., p. 825. 

* Archaeological Survey of India, New Imperial Series, xv., p. 29. 

50 





No. I. 



No. 2. 




No. 3. 




No. 4. 



ANDHRA SHIP-COINS OF THE SECOND CENTURY A.D. 

[To face p. 51. 



HINDU PERIOD 

are all of lead, weighing respectively loi grains, 
65 grains, and 29 grains. The obverse of the first 
shows a ship resembling the Indian dhoni, with bow 
to the right. The vessel is pointed in vertical 
section at each end. On the point of the stem is a 
round ball. The rudder, in the shape of a post with 
spoon on end, projects below. The deck is straight, 
and on it are two round objects from which rise two 
masts, each with a cross-tree at the top. Traces of 
rigging can be faintly seen. The obverse of the 
second shows a ship to the right. The device 
resembles that of the first, but the features are not 
quite distinct. The deck in the specimen is curved. 
The obverse of the third represents a device similar 
to the preceding, showing even more distinctly than 
the first. The rigging is crossed between the masts. 
On the right of the vessel appear three] balls, and 
under the side are two spoon-shaped oars. No. 45 
in the plate of Sir Walter Elliot's Coins of Southern 
India is also a coin of lead with a two-masted ship 
on the obverse. 

Besides these Andhra coins there have been 
discovered some Kurumbar or Pallava coins on the 
Coromandel coast, on the reverse of which there is 
a figure of a " two-masted ship like the modern 
coasting vessel or d'honi, steered by means of oars 
from the stern." The Kurumbars were a- pastoral 
tribe living in associated communities and inhabiting 
for some hundred years before the 7th century *' the 

51 E 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

country from the base of the tableland to the Palar 
and Pennar Rivers. . . . They are stated to have 
been engaged in trade, and to have owned ships and 
carried on a considerable commerce by sea." ^ 

^ Sir Walter Elliot in the Numismafa Orientalia, vol. iii., Partii., pp. 36, 
37. (Coins of Southern India.) 



52 



HINDU PERIOD 

CHAPTER III. 

Indirect Evidences : References and 

Allusions to Indian Maritime Activity in 

Sanskrit and Pali Literature. 

I HAVE already said that though ancient Indian 
literature furnishes rather meagre evidences directly 
bearing on Indian shipping and shipbuilding, it 
abounds with innumerable references to sea voyages 
and sea-borne trade and the constant use of the 
ocean as the great highway of international inter- 
course and commerce ; which therefore serve as 
indirect evidence pointing to the existence and 
development of a national shipping, feeding and 
supporting a national commerce. We shall there- 
fore now adduce those passages in ancient Indian 
works which, in Biihler's ^ opinion, "prove the early 
existence of a complete navigation of the Indian 
Ocean, and of the trading voyages of Indians." 
The oldest evidence on record is supplied by the 
Rig-Veda, which contains several references to sea 
voyages undertaken for commercial and other 
purposes. One passage (I. 25. 7) represents Varuna 
having a full knowledge of the ocean routes along 
which vessels sail. Another (II. 48. 3) speaks of 
merchants, under the influence of greed, sending out 
ships to foreign countries. A third passage (I. 56. 2) 

^ Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet, p. 84. 

53 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

mentions merchants whose field of activity knows 
no bounds, who go everywhere in pursuit of gain, 
and frequent every part of the sea. The fourth 
passage (VII. 88. 3 and 4) alludes to a voyage 
undertaken by Va^istha and Varuna in a ship 
skilfully fitted out, and their "undulating happily 
in the prosperous swing." The fifth, which is the 
most interesting passage (I. 1 16. 3), mentions a 
naval expedition on which Tugra the Rishi king 
sent his son Bhujyu against some of his enemies in 
the distant islands ; Bhujyu, however, is shipwrecked 
by a storm, with all his followers, on the ocean, 
" where there is no support, no rest for the foot or 
the hand," from which he is rescued by the twin 
brethren, the Asvins, in their hundred-oar ed galley} 

^ The five passages are : — 

(I. 25. 7-) 

\i ^ 

(I. 48. 3-) 

(I. 56. 2.) 

(VII. 88. 3 & 4.) 

(I. 116. 3.) 
54 



HINDU PERIOD 

Among other passages may be mentioned that which 
invokes Agni thus : " Do thou whose countenance 
is turned to all sides send off our adversaries as if 
in a ship to the opposite shore ; do thou convey us 
in a ship across the sea for our welfare " ; or that in 
which Agni is prayed to bestow a boat with oars. 

The Rdmdyana also contains several passages 
which indicate the intercourse between India and 
distant lands by way of the sea. In the Kish- 
kindhyd Kdndam, Sugriva, the Lord of the Monkeys, 
in giving directions to monkey leaders for the quest 
of Sita, mentions all possible places where Ravana 
could have concealed her. In one passage he asks 
them to go to the cities and mountains in the islands 
of the sea ^ ; in another the land of the Kosakaras ^ 

1 The passage in question is : ^^Ji*i«(JlT^r^ T^WfTT^^ T^^lf^ -^ I 
{Kishkindhyd Kdndam^ 40. 25.) 

2 The passage in question is : '^'^'^ <*1v*K|-^t ^fw^ l*ldl4<.rHI 
(^Kishkindhyd Kdndam^ 40. 23.) The commentator explains wl*(<*"lTI«al 
^T^ as ^T^'I'fr"^''Tr^^«r'^'qfTi-^rr'5rHfrT-irt y^^^ or the land where grows 
the worm which yields the threads of silken clothes. The silken cloth for 
which China has been famous from time immemorial has been termed in 
Sanskrit literature ""^tTflj^ and ^l-t-^W to point to the place of its 
origin. Thus in Kalidasa's Saknntald we come across the following 
passage : — 

In the Ydtrdtattva of Raghunandana we find the following : — 

The following further evidence of a Western scholar may be adduced to 

55 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

is mentioned as the likely place of Sita's conceal- 
ment, which is generally interpreted to be no other 
country than China ; a third passage ^ refers to the 
Yavana Dvipa and Suvarna Dvipa, which are 
usually identified with the islands of Java and 
Sumatra of the Malaya Archipelago ; while the 
fourth passage alludes to the Lohita Sagara or the 



show that China was the prime producer of silk : " The manufacture of 
silk amongst the Chinese claims a high antiquity, native authorities tracing 
it as a national industry for a period of five thousand years. From China 
the looms of Persia and of Tyre were supplied with raw silk, and through 
these states the Greeks and the Romans obtained the envied luxury of silk 
tissues. The introduction of silkworm eggs into Europe was due to two 
missionaries who brought them concealed in a bamboo to Byzantium. 
The food also of the silkworm, the white mulberry {Alorus alba), is of 
Chinese origin." {Growth and Vicissitude of Commerce, by J. Yeats, 
LL.D., F.G.S., F.S.S., etc.) The same author, in his Technical History of 
Commerce, p. 149, says : " Fabrics of silk and cotton are of Oriental origin. 
For 600 years after its introduction from China (a.d. 552), silk cultivation 
was isolated within the Byzantine Empire. The rearing of the worms and 
the weaving of the silk was practised in Sicily during the 12th and in Italy 
during the 13th century, whence it was subsequently introduced into France 
and Spain." 



* The passages alluded to are : — 

'3fc .% A 



* 

Ptolemy adopted the Sanskrit name of the island of Java and mentioned 
its Greek equivalent, while modern writers like Humboldt call it the Barley 
Island. Alberuni also has remarked that the Hindus call the islands of the 
Malay Archipelago by the general name of Suvarna Island, which has been 
interpreted by the renowned French antiquarian Reinaud to mean the 
islands of Java and Sumatra. {fonrnal Asiatiqne, tome iv., IVe 
Sdrie, p. 265.) 

56 



HINDU PERIOD 

red sea. In the Ayodhyd Kdndam there is even a 
passage ^ which hints at preparations for a naval 
fight/ thus indirectly indicating a thorough know- 
ledge and a universal use of waterway. The 
Rdmdyana also mentions merchants who trafficked 
beyond the sea and were in the habit of bringing 
presents to the king. 

In the Mahdbhdrata the accounts of the 
Rajasuya sacrifice and the Digvijaya of Arjuna and 
Nakula mention various countries outside India 
with which she had intercourse. There is a passage 
in its Sabhd Parva which states how Sahadeva, 
the youngest brother of the five Pandavas, went to 
the several islands in the sea and conquered the 
Mlechchha inhabitants thereof.^ The well-known 



^ ^r^ 'arwT^t ■tr^rsrt <*«=niMt ^rrr -jni* i 

{Ayodhyd Kdndam, 84. 78.) 
[Let hundreds of Kaivarta young men lie in wait in five hundred ships 
(to obstruct the enemy's passage).] 

The following sloka from Manusanhitd, while enumerating the various 
and possible methods and means of warfare, includes also naval fight by 
means of ships : — 

•^•^^T^: -^^ ^-^^^ ^fT^-^-tTT I 

(Manu, 7. 192.) 

[The magnanimous Sahadeva conquered and brought under his 
subjection the Mlechchha kings and hunters and cannibals inhabiting the 
several islands in the sea, including the island called Tamra, etc.] 

57 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

story of the churning of the ocean, in the Mahdbhd- 
rata, in the boldness of its conception is not without 
a significance. In the Drona Parva there is a 
passage alluding to shipwrecked sailors who " are 
safe if they get to an island." ^ In the same Parva 
there is another passage in which there is a reference 
to a "tempest-tossed and damaged vessel in a wide 
ocean." ^ In the Karna Parva we find the soldiers 
of the Kauravas bewildered like the merchants 
"whose ships have come to grief in the midst of 
the unfathomable deep." ^ There is another sloka 
in the same Parva which describes how the sons 
of Draupadi rescued their maternal uncles by 
supplying them with chariots, "as the shipwrecked 
merchants are rescued by means of boats." In 
the Sdnti Parva the salvation attained by means 
of Karma and true knowledge is compared to the 
gain which a merchant derives from sea-borne 
trade/ But the most interesting passage in the 
Mahdbhdrata is that which refers to the escape of 

^ fwrsNrr ^^t^tw^ ■ft^wiwT'^ ffr^fri: i 
v"^^ ij'^^^rsr ■•iir«<*T: ^rrwTT^^ ii 

58 



HINDU PERIOD 

the Pandava brothers from the destruction planned 
for them in a ship that was secretly and specially 
constructed for the purpose under orders of the 
kind-hearted Vidura/ The ship was of a large size, 
provided with machinery and all kinds of weapons 
of war, and able to defy storms and waves. 

But besides the epics, the vast mass of Sutra 
literature also is not without evidences pointing to the 
commercial connection of India with foreign countries 
by way of the sea. That these evidences are suffi- 
ciently convincing will probably be apparent from 
the following remarks of the well-known German 
authority, the late Professor Blihler : " References 
to sea voyages are also found in two of the most 
ancient Dharma Sutras. Baudhayana, Dh. S. 
ii. 2. 2, forbids^ them to the orthodox Brahmans, 
and prescribes a severe penance for a transgression 
of the prohibition, but he admits,^ Dh. S. i. 2. 4, 
that such transgressions were common among the 
' Northerners ' or, strictly speaking, the Aryans 

^ " Now (follow the offences) causing loss of caste, (viz.) making voyages 
by sea." (Biihler's translation in S.B.E.) 

^ " Now (the customs peculiar) to the North are, to deal in wool, to 
drink rum, to sell animals that have teeth in the upper and in the lower 
jaws, to follow the trade of arms, to go to sea." {Ibid.) 

59 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

living north of the author's home, the Dravidian 
districts. The forbidden practices mentioned in the 
same Sutra as customary among the Northerners, 
such as the traffic in wool and in animals with two 
rows of teeth (horses, mules, etc.), leave no doubt 
that the inhabitants of Western and North- 
western India are meant. It follows as a matter 
of course that their trade was carried on with 
Western Asia. The same author,^ Dh. S. \. i8. 14, 
and Gautama,^ x. 33, fix also the duties payable by 
ship-owners to the king." The later Smritis also 
contain explicit references to sea-borne trade. 
Manu (iii. 158) declares a Brahman ^ who has gone 
to sea to be unworthy of entertainment at a Srdddha. 
In chapter viii. again of Manu's Code* there is an 
interesting sloka laying down the law that the rate 

^ "The duty on goods imported by sea is, after deducting a choice 
article, ten Panas in the hundred." (Biihler's translation in S.B.E.) 

^ " Hereby (the taxes payable by) those who support themselves by 
personal labour have been explained, and those payable by owners of 
ships and carts." {Ibid.') 

[** An incendiary, a prisoner, he who eats the food given by the son of 
an adulteress, a seller of soma, he who undertakes voyages by sea, a bard, 
an oilman, a suborner to perjury."] 

[" Whatever rate men fix, who are expert in sea voyages and able to 
calculate (the profit) according to the place, and the time, and the objects 
(carried), that (has legal force) in such cases with respect to the payment 
(to be made)."] 

60 



HINDU PERIOD 

of interest on the money lent on bottomry is to be 
fixed by men well acquainted with sea voyages or 
journeys by land. In the same chapter there is 
another passage^ which lays down the rule of 
fixing boat-hire in the case of a river journey and a 
sea voyage. But perhaps the most interesting 
passages in that important chapter are those which 
are found to lay down the rules regarding what 
may be called marine insurance. One of them 
holds the sailors collectively responsible for the 
damage caused by their fault to the goods of 
passengers, and the other absolves them from all 
responsibility if the damage is caused by an accident 
beyond human control.^ Manu also mentions a 

[" For a long passage the boat-hire must be proportioned to the places 
and times. Know that this (rule refers) to passages along the banks of 
rivers ; at sea there is no settled (freight)."] 

2 The passages in question are : — 

irxT^TT ^TTr-5f ^wJTHr ^frrs>-fr: ii 

{Afauu, viii. 409. 9.) 
["Whatever may be damaged in a boat by the fault of the boatmen, 

that shall be made good by the boatmen collectively (each paying) his 

share. 

" This decision in suits (brought) by passengers (holds good only) in 

case the boatmen are culpably negligent on the water; in the case of 

(accident) caused by (the will of) the gods, no fine can be (inflicted 

on them)."] 

61 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

particular caste of Hindus entrusted with the 
business of conducting trade, and upon them was 
enjoined the necessity of making themselves ac- 
quainted with the productions and requirements 
of other countries, with various dialects and lan- 
guages, and also with whatever has direct or indirect 
reference to purchase or sale. In the Ydjnavalkya 
Sanhitd^ there is a passage which indicates that 
the Hindus were in the habit of making adventurous 
sea voyages in pursuit of gain. 

The astronomical works also are full of passages 
that hint at the flourishing condition of Indian 
shipping and shipbuilding and the development of 
sea-borne trade. Thus the Vrihat Sanhitd has 
several passages of this kind having an indirect 
bearing on shipping and maritime commerce. One 
of these indicates the existence of shippers and 
sailors as a class whose health is said to be 
influenced by the moon.^ Another^ mentions the 
stellar influences affecting the fortunes of traders, 

1 ^ ^^f?^ •?^JT ^^ TZ^^T ^f^^^UTT^ STT^fcl Sf F'^^r?i:»l\S-l 4JJI W 
^5"^ »r==^?r ■« f^^ ^RTT^' iTTf^ ^if'ff ^^: I 

(4. 8.) 
(7. 6.) 

62 



HINDU PERIOD 

physicians, shippers, and the like. The third, ^ also, 
mentions a particular conjunction of stars similarly 
affecting merchants and sailors. The fourth pas- 
sage^ mentions the existence of a class of small 
shippers who probably are confined to inland 
navigation. The fifth ^ mentions the causes which 
bring about the sickness of passengers sailing in 
sea-going vessels on voyages, and of others. The 
last passage^ I would cite here is that which 
recommends as the place for an auspicious sea-bath 
the seaport where there is a great flow of gold due 
to multitudes of merchantmen arriving in safety, 
after disposing of exports abroad, laden with 
treasure. 

The Purdnas^ also furnish references to mer- 
chants engaged in sea-borne trade. The Vardha 



(9- 3I-) 
(lo. 3-) 

(lO. lO.) 

(44. 12.) 

^ E.g. the Vayu Purdna, the Mdrkandeya Put ana, and the Bhdgavata 
Purd^a. 

63 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Purdna mentions a childless merchant named 
Gokarna who embarked on a voyage for trading 
purposes but was overtaken by a storm on the sea 
and nearly shipwrecked. The same Purdna ^ 
contains a passage which relates how a merchant 
embarked on a voyage in a sea-going vessel in 
quest of pearls with people who knew all about 
them. In the Mdrkandeya Purdna ^ also there is 
a well-known passage repeated as mantram by 
thousands of Brahmans which refers as an illustra- 
tion to the dangerous plight of the man sailing on 
the great ocean in a ship overtaken by a whirlwind. 
But besides the religious works like the Vedas, 
the Epics, and the Sutras and Purdnas, the secular 
works of Sanskrit poets and writers are also full 
of references to the use of the sea as the high- 
way of commerce, to voyages, and naval fights. 
Thus in Kalidasa s Raghuvansa (canto 4, sloka 36) 
we find the defeat by Raghu of a strong naval 

IJ^ W^ ^Sn"^ ^'^Tnf «!!l«<«UI«U*|^ I 
TJTTT^fT^'rr: ^"^ TrtTf^^WtfTfTT II 

2 ^T'Slf^'JTT'^TnmTr^-^W^W — 

64 



HINDU PERIOD 

force with which the kings of Bengal attacked 
him, and his planting the pillars of victory on 
the isles formed in the midst of the River 
Ganges.^ The Raghuvansa also mentions the 
carrying even into Persia of the victorious arms 
of Raghu, though of course he reached Persia^ 
by the land route. But this express reference to 
land route implies that the water route was well 
known. In Kalidasa's Sakuntald we have already 
noted the reference to China as the land of silk 
fabrics. The Sakuntald also relates the story of a 
merchant named Dhanavriddhi whose immense 
wealth devolved to the king on the former's 
perishing at sea and leaving no heirs behind him. 
The popular drama of Ratndvalt, which is usually 
attributed to King Harsha, relates the story^ of the 
Ceylonese princess, daughter of King Vikramavahu, 

^ 1TTTW ^TT^rPU TIT^T -^T ^fT^rN "il <J d T"ir I 

[" Having by his prowess uprooted the Vaagas (Bengalis) arrayed for 
battle with a naval force, that excellent leader (Raghu) posted pillars of 
victory on the isles formed in the midst of Ganga."] 

^7?TT<I^rtT Tf^T^T^T: ^"WT^^ | 

[" Otherwise how was the attainment of a plank possible of the daughter 
of the king of Siiihala, shipwrecked on the sea, with her desire kindled by 
the faith bom of the words of saints ? How also was she observed in thai 
state by the merchant of Kausambi returning from Ceylon ? "] 

65 F 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

being shipwrecked in mid-ocean and brought thence 
by some merchants of the town of Kausambi. In 
the Dasakumdracharita of Dandin there is the story ^ 
of a merchant named Ratnodbhava who goes to an 
island called Kalayavana, marries there a girl, but 
while returning home is shipwrecked ; and another 
of Mitragupta,^ who goes on board a Yavana ship, 
and, losing his way, arrives at an isle different 
from his destination. The S'isupdlavadka ^ of the 
poet Magha contains an interesting passage which 
mentions how S'ri Krishna, while going from Dvaraka 
to Hastinapura, beholds merchants coming from 
foreign countries in ships laden with merchandise 
and again exporting abroad Indian goods. 

[Then, anxious to see his brother, Ratnodbhava, with the permission of 
his father-in-law, started for Pushpapur (Patna) on board a ship with his 
wife, having her eyes rolling. The vessel sank in the water of the sea, 
being beaten by rolling waves.] 

[At this very moment a fleet of many ships was in pursuit. The 
Yavanas were afraid. Then like dogs attacking a boar the pursuing 
vessels very soon surrounded the ship.] 

■frrtv TT^Tq^-qr^wT^ ^t^Tf 't <* I •! I cm fH ^^JTsrs^'rr a 

[He (Sri Krishna) was glad to see merchants of distant islands, after 
realizing great profits from the sale of the products of many countries, 
reload their vessels with merchandise of Indian origin.] 

66 



HINDU PERIOD 

In the vast Sanskrit literature of fables and 
fairy tales also there are many allusions to merchants 
and sea-borne trade. Thus the Kathdsarit Sdgara 
of the Kashmirian poet Somadeva bristles with 
references to sea voyages and intercourse with 
foreign countries. In the 9th book or Lambaka, 
1st chapter or Taranga, there is the story of Prithvi 
Raj going with an artist in a ship to the island of 
Muktipura ; the 2nd chapter relates the voyages of 
a merchant and his wife to an island, and their 
separation after a shipwreck by storm ; the 4th 
chapter describes the voyage of Samudrasura and 
another merchant to the Suvarna Island for com- 
merce, and their shipwreck ; the 6th chapter recounts 
the quest of his son by Chandrasvami, who goes to 
Ceylon and other islands in many a merchant's 
vessel for the purpose ; and so on. The Hitopade^a 
also mentions the story of Kandarpaketu, a mer- 
chant. In the Hitopadesa a ship is described as a 
necessary requisite for a man to traverse the ocean, 
and a story is given of a certain merchant who, 
after having been twelve years on his voyage, at 
last returned home with a cargo of precious stones. 
In the NUi^ataka of Vartrihari ^ there is a passage 

TTSi -W\ vf^ -irif^ TT^ f^f^^-iTT ^TTT^-f^^T W^\ 

67 F 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

which refers to ships as the means of crossing the 
illimitable expanse of water, even as lamps destroy 
darkness. The Rdja-Taranginl^ contains a passage 
describing the misfortunes of a royal messenger 
on the sea. 

Lastly, we may notice in this connection the 
frequent mention in ancient Sanskrit literature of 
pearls and references to pearl fishery as one of the 
important national industries of India, and especially 
in the land of the Tamils towards the south. It is 
hardly necessary to point out that pearls could not 
have been procured without the aid of adventurous 
mariners and boats that could breast the ocean wave 
and brave the perils of the deep. According to 
Varahamihira, Garuda Purdna, and Bhoja, pearl- 
fishing was carried on in the whole of the Indian 
Ocean as far as the Persian Gulf, and its chief centres 
were off the coasts of Ceylon, Paralaukika, Saura- 
shtra, Tamraparnl, Parasava, Kauvera, Pandyava- 
taka, and Haimadesha. According to Agastya, the 
chief centres of Indian pearl-fishing were in the 
neighbourhood of Ceylon, Arabia, and Persia. 
Pearls were also artificially manufactured by 
Ceylonese craftsmen, but the Tamils were through- 

^r^ TTT f?rf(nn'?TfTrfVT-g7qr5r fsdw- ii 
[The royal messenger fell into the sea while proceeding on a vessel, 
and a whale devoured him ; but ripping open its belly, he came out and 
crossed the sea.] 

68 



HINDU PERIOD 

out the most famous among Indians for pearl fishery, 
and they gave to the Gulf of Mannar the name of 
Salabham, "the sea of gain." 

Thus Sanskrit literature in all its forms — such 
as the Vedas, the Sutras, the Purdnas, poetry 
epic and dramatic, romance, etc. — is replete with 
references to the maritime trade of India, which 
prove that the ocean was freely used by the Indians 
in ancient times as the great highway of international 
commerce. 

Further, the conclusions pointed to by these 
evidences from Sanskrit literature receive their 
confirmation again from the evidences furnished 
by the Buddhistic literature — the ancient historical 
works or the chronicles of Ceylon, the canonical 
books, and the ydtakas or Re-birth stories. The 
accounts of the Vijayan legends as set forth in 
the Mahdwanso and other works are full of references 
to the sea and sea-borne trade. According to the 
Rdjavalliya, Prince Vijaya and his seven hundred 
followers were banished by the king Sinhaba 
(Sinhavahu) of Bengal for the oppressions they 
practised upon his subjects, and they were put on 
board a ship and sent adrift, while their wives and 
children were placed in two other separate ships and 
sent away similarly. The ships started from a 
place near the city of Sinhapura, and on their way 
touched at the port of Supara, which, according to Dr. 
Burgess, lay near the modern Bassein on the western 

69 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

coast of the Deccan. Vijaya landed in Ceylon " on 
the day that the successor of former Buddhas 
reclined in the arbour of the two delightful Sal-trees 
to attain Nirvana," approaching the island from 
southwards, and became the founder of the " Great 
Dynasty." Vijaya then sent a present of precious 
stones to the king of Pandya, and caused to be 
brought a princess whom he took to wife, and also 
seven hundred women attendants whom his followers 
married. According to Tumour's Mahdwanso, the 
ship in which Vijaya's Pandyan bride was brought 
over to Ceylon was of a very large size, having the 
capacity to accommodate eighteen officers of state, 
seventy-five menial servants and a number of slaves, 
besides the princess herself and seven hundred other 
virgins who accompanied her. A period of inter- 
regnum followed after the death of Vijaya without 
issue till his nephew, " attended by thirty-two 
ministers, embarked from the city of Sagal," reached 
Ceylon, and assumed the reins of sovereignty. 
There are two further sea voyages ^ mentioned in 
this connection, the first undertaken by a princess 
who afterwards became the consort of Vijaya's 
nephew, and the second by her six brothers, both of 
which had the same starting-point in the city of 
Morapura on the Ganges, and the same destination, 

^ Upham's Sacred and Historical Books of Ceylon, i. 71 ; ii. 177. Tur- 
nour's Mahdwanso, 55. 

70 



HINDU PERIOD 

viz. Ceylon, and the latter voyage, according to 
Tumour's Mahdwanso, occupied twelve days. 

Next in importance to the Vijayan legends,^ so 
far as sea-borne trade is concerned, are the legends 
of Punna, a merchant of Supparaka, who carried on 
a large trade, in partnership with his younger 
brother Chula Punna, with the distant region of 
Northern Kosala. At Sravasti he heard Buddha 
preach, and became his disciple, and afterwards 
induced his former mercantile associates of Sup- 
paraka to erect a Vihara with a portion of the 
red-sanders timber which Chula Punna and his 
three hundred associate merchants brought home 
on one of their sea voyages. The ship in which 
they made their trading voyage was of so large a 
size that besides accommodating over three hundred 
merchants there was room left for the cargo of that 
timber which they brought home. The legends 
next requiring notice in this connection are those of 
the two Burmese ^ merchant brothers Tapoosa and 
Palekat, who crossed the Bay of Bengal in a ship 
that conveyed full five hundred cartloads of their 
own goods, which they landed at Adzeitta, a port in 
Kalinga in the northern section of the eastern coast, 
on their way to Suvama in Magadha. Again, in 
the legend of the conveyance of the Tooth-relic, as 

^ Hardy, Manual of Buddhism, 56, 57, and 60. 
^ Bishop Bigandet's Life of Godama, loi. 

71 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

related in the Ddthddhdtuwanso, there is mention 
of the voyage of Dantakumara conveying the relic 
from Dantapura to Ceylon. The voyage was 
performed in one of those ships which carried 
on a regular and ceaseless traffic between the 
port of Tamralipta in Bengal and the island of 
Ceylon. 

The Tibetan legend of the Sinhalese princess 
Ratnavali may also be mentioned, which tells of the 
voyage of the merchants of Sravasti who were 
driven down the Bay of Bengal by contrary winds, 
but who subsequently completed their voyage to 
Ceylon and back. Again, in one of the Chinese 
legends of the lion-prince Sinhala,^ it is related 
how the boat in which the daughter of the Lion was 
cast away was driven by the winds westwards into 
the Persian Gulf, where she landed and founded a 
colony " in the country of the Western women." 
The tradition embodied in the Dipavansa version 
of the legend ^ makes her land on an island which 
was afterwards called the " Kingdom of Women." 
As the Rev. T. Foulkes^ remarks, ''underneath the 
legendary matter we may here trace the existence of 
a sea route between India and the Persian coasts in 
the days of Buddha." 



^ Si-yu-kif ii. 246. 

^ Si-yu-ki, xiii. 55. 

^ Indian Antiquary, 1879. 

72 



HINDU PERIOD 

Among the Pitakas, the Vinaya mentions a 
Hindu merchant named Poorna who made six sea 
voyages, and in the seventh voyage he was in the 
company of some Buddhist citizens of Sravasti 
and was converted by them to Buddhism. The 
Sutta Pitaka contains also several allusions to 
voyages in distant seas far remote from land. In 
the Sanyutta Nikaya (3, p. 115, 5. 51) and in the 
Anguttara (4. 127) there are interesting passages 
which mention voyages, lasting for six months, made 
in ships {ndva, which means boats) which could be 
drawn up on shore in the winter. Very inter- 
esting and conclusive evidence is supplied by a 
passage in the Digha Nikaya (i.. 222) which 
distinctly mentions sea voyages out of sight of land. 
It describes how merchants carrying on sea-borne 
trade would take with them in their sea-going 
vessels certain birds of strong wing which, when 
the vessels were out of sight of land, would be let 
loose and used to indicate in which direction the 
land lay. If the shore were not near or within easy 
reach, the birds woiild return to the ships after 
flying in all directions to get to land, but if there 
were land within a few miles the birds would not 
return. 

Some very definite and convincing allusions to 
sea voyages and sea-borne trade are also contained 
in the vast body of Buddhist literature known as the 
ydtakas, which are generally taken to relate them- 

73 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

selves to a period of one thousand years beginning 
from 500 B.C. The Baveru-ydtaka ^ without doubt 
points to the existence of commercial intercourse 
between India and Babylon in pre-Asokan days. 
The full significance of this important ydtaka is 
thus expressed by the late Professor Biihler : " The 
now well-known Baveru-ydtaka, to which Professor 
Minayef first drew attention, narrates that Hindu 
merchants exported peacocks to Baveru. The 
identification of Baveru with Babiru or Babylon is 
not doubtful," and considering the " age of the 
materials of the ydtakas, the story indicates that 
the Vanias of Western India undertook trading 
voyages to the shores of the Persian Gulf and of its 
rivers in the 5th, perhaps even in the 6th century 
B.C. just as in our days. This trade very probably 
existed already in much earlier times, for the 
ydtakas contain several other stories, describing 
voyages to distant lands and perilous adventures by 
sea, in which the names of the very ancient Western 
ports of Surparaka-Supara and Bharukaccha-Broach 
are occasionally mentioned." The Samudda-Vanija- 
ydtaka ^ tells the story of the village ^ of wood- 
wrights who, failing to deliver the goods ^ (furniture, 

^ Jataka iii., no. 339, in the Cambridge Edition. 

^ Jataka iv. 159, no. 466. 

^ " There stood near Benares a great town of carpenters containing a 
thousand families." — Ibid. 

* " The carpenters from this town used to profess that they would make 
a bed or a chair or a house." — Ibid. 

74 



HINDU PERIOD 

etc.) for which they had been paid in advance, built a 
ship secretly, embarked their families, and emigrated 
down the Ganges and out to an island over-sea.^ 
The Vdlahassa-yataka (jFat. ii. 128, no. 196) 
mentions - five hundred dealers ^ who were fellow 
passengers on an ill-fated ship. The Supparaka- 
ydtaka^ {jfat. iv. 138-142) records the perilous 
adventures on the sea undergone by a company of 
seven hundred merchants ^ who sailed from the sea- 
port town of Bharukaccha^ in a vessel under the 
pilotage of a blind but accomplished mariner.^ The 
Mahdjanaka-ydtaka {ydt. vi. 32-35, no. 539) 



^ " There they sailed at the wind's will until they reached an island 
that lay in the midst of the sea." — Ibid. 

* The Valahassa-Jdtaka relates how "some shipwrecked mariners 
escaped from a city of goblins by the aid of a flying horse." — Ibid. 

3 " Now it happened that five hundred shipwrecked traders were cast 
ashore near the city of these sea-goblins." — Ibid. 

* "The story mentions how a blind mariner was made the king's 
assessor and valuer, and how he was pilot to a vessel which traversed the 
perilous seas of Fairyland." — Ibid. 

^ " It happened that some merchants had got ready a ship and were 
casting about for a skipper. . . . Now there were seven hundred souls 
aboard the ship." — Ibid. 

^ " There was a seaport town named Bharukacch or Marsh of Bharu. 
At that time the Buddhisatta was born into the family of a master mariner 
there. . . . They gave him the name of Supparaka Kumara. . . . After- 
wards, when his father died, he became the head of his mariners. . . . With 
him aboard no ship ever came to harm." — Ibid. 

' " Four months the vessel had been voyaging in far-distant regions ; 
and now, as though endowed with supernatural powers, it returned in one 
single day to the seaport town of Bharukacch." — Ibid. 

IS 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

recounts the adventures^ of a prince who, with other 
traders, is represented as setting out ^ from Champa 
with export goods ^ for Suvannabhumi on the same 
ship which is wrecked in mid-ocean — Suvanna- 
bhumi is " probably either Burma or the ' Golden 
Chersonese ' or the whole Farther-Indian coast " — 
and this ydtaka also shows that the Ganges was 
navigable right away to the sea from Champa or 
modern Bhagalpur. The Sdnkha-ydtaka ijdt. 
vi. 15-17, no. 442) tells the story of a Brahman 
given to charity who sails in a ship for the Gold 
Country in quest of riches by which he can replenish 
the store* his philanthropy was exhausting. He 
was a native of Benares, and gave away daily in 



^ The following is a brief summary of its story : A prince suspects 
his brother, without reason, rebels against him, and kills him. The king's 
consort, being with child, flees from the city. Her son is brought up without 
knowledge of his father, but when he learns the truth goes to sea on a 
merchant venture. He is wrecked, and a goddess brings him to his 
father's kingdom, where, after answering some difficult questions, he marries 
the daughter of the usurper. By-and-bye he becomes an ascetic, and is 
followed by his wife. (Cambridge edition of the Jdtakas.) 

^ " Having got together his stock-in-trade (viz. store of pearls, jewels, and 
diamonds) he put it on board a ship with some merchants bound for 
Suvannabhumi, and bade his mother farewell, telling her that he was 
sailing for that country." — Ibid. 

^ " There were seven caravans with their beasts embarked on board. 
In seven days the ship made seven hundred leagues, but having gone too 
violently in its course it could not hold out." — /did. 

* " One day he thought to himself, ' My store of wealth once gone I shall 
have nothing to give. While it is still unexhausted I will take ship, and sail 
for the Gold Country, whence I will bring back wealth. So he caused a ship 
to be built, filled it with merchandise, and, bidding farewell to his wife and 
child, set his face towards the seaport, and at mid-day he departed." — find. 

76 



HINDU PERIOD 

alms 600,000 pieces of money. His ship, how- 
ever, sprang a leak ^ in mid-ocean, but he is 
miraculously saved by a kind fairy in a magic 
ship^ filled with the seven treasures of gold, silver, 
pearls, gems, cats'-eyes, diamonds, and coral. The 
Sussondi-y dtaka {J at. iii. 188, no. 360) mentions 
the voyage of certain merchants of Bharukaccha 
for the Golden Land,^ from which, as also from 
other ydtakas such as the Mahdjanaka-y dtaka, 
it is evident that besides Ceylon, Suvannabhumi 
or Burma was another commercial objective of 
traders coasting around India from western sea- 
ports such as Bharukaccha. Lastly, there are 
several other ydtakas in which we are told 
explicitly of a successful, if sporadic, deal in 
birds between Babylon and Benares, and of horses ^ 



^ " When they were come to the high seas, on the seventh day the ship 
sprang a leak, and they could not bale the water clear." — Ibid. 

"^ The following contains a full description of the ship : " The deity, 
well pleased at hearing these words, caused a ship to appear made of the 
seven things of price ; in length it was 800 cubits, 20 fathoms in depth ; it 
had three masts made of sapphire, cordage of gold, silver sails, and of gold 
also were the oars and the rudders." — Ibid. 

3 " At that time certain merchants of Bharukaccha were setting sail for 
the Golden Land." — Ibid. 

* Jdtaka i. 124, or Tandulanali-Jdtaka, no. 5, which tells the story of an 
incompetent valuer declaring five hundred horses worth a measure of rice, 
which measure of rice in turn he is led to declare worth all Benares, contains 
a passage of which the following is the English translation : " At that time 
there arrived from the North Country a horse-dealer with five hundred 
horses." Similarly, Jdtaka ii. 31, Suhanu-Jafaka, no. 158, has the following : 
*' Some horse-dealers from the North Country brought down five hundred 
horses." Again, Jdtaka ii. 287, or Kundaka-Kticchi-Sindhava-Jdtaka, 

77 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

imported by hundreds from the North and from 
Sindh.i 

The conclusions regarding the state of Indian 
trade to which these various hints in the jFatakas 
point may be thus summed up in the words of Mrs. 
Rhys Davids : — ' ^ 

Communication both inland and foreign was of course effected by 
caravans and water. The caravans are described as consisting of five 
hundred carts drawn by oxen. They go both east and west from Benares 
and Patna as centres. The objective was probably the ports on the west 
coast, those on the sea-board of Sobira (the Sophir (Ophir) of the Septua- 
gint) in the Gulf of Cutch or Bharukaccha, From here there was inter- 
change by sea with Baveru (Babylon) and probably Arabia, Phoenicia, 
and Egypt. . . . Westward merchants are often mentioned as taking ships 
from Benares, or lower down at Champa, dropping down the great river, 
and either coasting to Ceylon or adventuring many days without sight of 
land to Suvannabhumi (Chryse Chersonesus, or possibly inclusive of all the 
coast of Farther India). ^ 



no. 254, mentions how the " Boddhisatta was born into a trader's family 
in the Northern Province; and five hundred people of that country, 
horse-dealers, used to convey horses to Benares and sell them there." 

^ Jdtaka i. 178, or Bhojajanuya-Jdtaka, no. 23, mentions how " Bod- 
dhisatta came to life as a thoroughbred Sindh horse." Similarly, Jdtaka 
i. 181, or the Ajamia-Jdtaka^ no. 24, refers to a warrior \dio fought from a 
chariot to which were harnessed two Sindh horses. 

"^ Economic Jotirnal dXi^L J. R. A. S. for 1901. 



78 



BOOK I.— PART 11. 
The History of Indian Maritime Activity. 



BOOK I.— PART II. 



CHAPTER I. 
The Pre-Mauryan Period. 

Both Brahminical and Buddhistic texts are thus 
replete with references to the sea-borne trade of 
India that directly and indirectly demonstrate the 
existence and development of a national shipping 
and shipbuilding. It is now necessary to narrate 
the facts of that trade, and for this we shall have to 
draw upon all sorts of evidence, literary, inscriptional, 
and numismatic, and both Indian and foreign. For 
India alone has not the monopoly of these evidences ; 
and if she really had commercial connection with 
the outside world it is natural, and in fact necessary, 
that they be also supplied by those countries with 
which she carried on her intercourse, thus con- 
firming those conclusions that are reached by a 
study of the purely Indian evidences. And so do 
we find, as a matter of fact, in various foreign works 
abundant allusions to India's commerce, arts, and 
manufactures, indicating the glorious position she 
once occupied and for long maintained as the Queen 
of the Eastern Seas. 

8i G 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

x/^ Indeed, all the evidences available will clearly 
show that for full thirty centuries India stood 
out as the very heart of the commercial world, 
cultivating trade relations successively with the 
Phoenicians, Jews, Assyrians, Greeks, Egyptians, 
and Romans in ancient times, and Turks, Venetians, 
Portuguese, Dutch, and English in modern times. 
A genial climate and a fertile soil, coupled with the 
industry and frugality of the Indian people, rendered 
them virtually independent of foreign nations in 
respect of the necessaries of life, while their 
secondary wants were few. Of the latter, tin, lead, 
glass, amber, steel for arms, and perhaps coral and 
to a small extent medicinal drugs, were all that 
India had need to import from Europe and Western 
Asia, while to Arabia she was indebted for the 
supply of frankincense used in her temples. On the 
other hand, India provided Europe with wool from 
the fleeces of the sheep bred on her north-western 
mountain ranges, famous since the days of Alexander 
the Great ; with onyx, chalcedony, lapis-lazuli, and 
jasper, then esteemed as precious stones ; with a 
resinous gum, furs, assafoetida, and musk ; with 
embroidered woollen fabrics and coloured carpets 
which were as highly prized in Babylon and Rome 
as their modern reproductions are in London and 
Paris at the present day. But the most valuable 
of the exports of India was silk, which, under the 
Persian Empire, is said to have been exchanged by 

82 



HINDU PERIOD 

weight with gold. It was manufactured in India, 
as well as obtained for re-export from China. Next 
to silk in value were cotton cloths ranging from 
coarse canvas and calicoes to muslins of the finest 
texture. India also supplied foreign countries with 
oils, brassware, a liquid preparation of the sugar- 
cane, salt, drugs, dyes, and aromatics, while she had 
also a monopoly in the matter of the supply of 
pepper, cinnamon, and other edible spices, which 
were in great request throughout Europe. 

Through ages India thus occupied a unique 
position in the commercial world as the main 
supplier of the world's luxuries. As a consequence 
she throughout had the balance of trade clearly in 
her favour, a balance which could only be settled 
by the export of treasure from European and other 
countries that were commercially indebted to her. 
For India desired nothing which foreigners could 
give her but the precious metals. Thus has she 
been for many centuries the final depository of a 
large portion of the metallic wealth of the world. 
Her supply of gold she obtained not as did 
Europe from America in the i6th century by con- 
quest or rapine, but by the more natural and peaceful 
method of commerce, " by the exchange of such of 
her productions as among the Indians were super- 
fluities but were at the same time not only highly 
prized by the nations of Western Asia, Egypt, and 
Europe, but were obtainable from no other quarter 

83 G 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

^except India, or from the farther East by means of 
the Indian trade. "^ It was this flow or " drain " of 
gold into India that so far back as the i st century 
A.D. was the cause of alarm and regret to Pliny, who 
calculated that fully a hundred million sesterces, 
equivalent, according to Delmar, to ;^70,ooo of 
modern English money, were withdrawn annually 
from the Roman Empire to purchase useless Oriental 
products such as perfumes, unguents, and personal 
ornaments.^ It was probably also the same flow of 
gold into India from outside that even earlier still, 
in the 5th century B.C., at least partially enabled the 
Indian satrapy of Darius, naturally the richest and 
most populous part of his empire (including as much 
of Afghanistan, Kashmir, and the Punjab as the 
Persian monarchs could keep in subjection), to pay 
him " the enormous tribute of 360 Euboic talents 
of gold-dust or 185 hundredweights, worth fully a 
million sterling, and constituting about one-third of 
the total bullion revenue of the Asiatic provinces."^ 
We shall now enter upon a relation of the facts 
of this trade which served to create "the wealth 
of Ind," a brief survey of its course which un- 
doubtedly is an important, though neglected, aspect 



^ C. Daniell, F.S.S., I.C.S., Industrial Competition of Asia, p. 225. 

^ Pliny, Natural History, xii. 18. See also Mommsen's Provinces of 
the Roman Empire, vol. ii., 299-300. 

3 Herodotus, iii. (V. A. Smith's Early History of India, New Edition, 
P- 34)- 

84 



HINDU PERIOD 

of Indian history, the story of her old, abounding 
international life. 

The antiquity of this trade will be evident from 
the fact that it is foreshadowed even in the &g- 
Veda, one of the oldest literary records of humanity, 
which, as I have already shown, speaks in many 
places of ships and merchants sailing out into the 
open main for the sake of riches, braving the perils 
of the deep, " where there is no support, nothing to 
rest upon or cling to." India thus began her sea- 
borne trade with the very beginning of recorded time, 
and the trade of the Rig- Veda was very probably 
carried on with countries on the west like Chaldaea, 
Babylon, and Egypt. I do not feel myself com- 
petent to deal with this subject of India's pre- 
historic trade relations ; Egyptologists or Assyrio- 
logists alone can do full justice to it. I can but 
briefly refer to some of the conclusions reached in 
regard to this subject and the evidences on which 
they are based. According to Dr. Sayce,^ the 
famous Assyriologist, the commerce by sea between 
India and Babylon must have been carried on as 
early as about 3000 B.C., when Ur Bagas, the first 
king of United Babylonia, ruled in Ur of the 
Chaldees. This is proved by the finding of Indian 
teak in the ruins of Ur. Mr. Hewitt is of opinion 



^ See his Hibbert Ledtires for 1887 on the Origin and Growth of 
Religion among the Babylonians. 

85 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

that this wood must have been sent by sea from 
some port on the Malabar coast, for it is only there 
that teak grew near enough to the sea to be exported 
with profit in those early times. Again, Dr. Sayce 
points to the use of the word sindhu for muslin in 
an old Babylonian list of clothes as the clearest 
proof " that there was trade between Babylonia and 
people who spoke an Aryan dialect and lived in the 
country watered by the Indus." This trade must 
have been sea-borne, and the muslin must have 
been brought by sea, for, as Mr. Hewitt points out, 
if Zend-speaking traders had brought it by land they 
would have called the country by the Zend name, 
Hindhu, altering the s into an h} These conclusions 
of Dr. Sayce and Mr. Hewitt regarding the extreme 
antiquity of the Indian maritime trade with Baby- 
lon are not, however, accepted by all scholars. Mr. 
J. Kennedy,^ for instance, in a learned article on the 
subject, says that he "can find no archaeological or 
literary evidence for a maritime trade between India 
and Babylon prior to the yth century B.C. . . . but 
for the 6th century B.C. direct evidence is forth- 
coming." This direct evidence, which is so very 
interesting, may be thus presented after him : — 
(i) Mr. Rassam found a beam of Indian cedar in 

^ J.R.A.S., 1888, p. 337. Mr, Hewitt, late Commissioner of Chota 
Nagpur, is the author of many works on primitive history, 

^ See J.H.A.S., 1898, on the Early Commerce between India and 
Babylon, 

86 



HINDU PERIOD 

the palace of Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 B.C.) at Birs 
Nimrud, part of which is now exhibited in the 
British Museum. (2) In the second storey of the 
Temple of the Moon-god at Ur, rebuilt by Nebu- 
chadnezzar and Nabonidus (555-538 B.C.) Mr. 
Taylor found " two rough logs of wood, apparently 
teak, which ran across the whole breadth of the 
shaft," and Mr. Rassam thus says of it in a letter : 
" Most probably the block of wood which Taylor 
discovered was Indian cedar like the beam I dis- 
covered in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar. There is 
no doubt that this wood was imported into Baby- 
lonia from India." (3) The Baveru-ydtaka, as we 
have already seen, relates the adventures of certain 
Indian merchants who took the first peacock by sea 
to Babylon. Mr. Kennedy remarks, " the ydtaka 
itself may go back to 400 B.C., but the folks-tale on 
which it is based must be much older." We have 
already cited the opinion on this Jdtaka of the late 
Professor Biihler, according to whom, if the age of 
the materials of the ydtakas be considered, " the 
story indicates that the Vanias of Western India 
undertook trading voyages to the shores of the 
Persian Gulf or its rivers in the 5th, perhaps even 
in the 6th century B.C., just as in our days. This 
trade very probably existed already in much earlier 
times ; for the ydtakas contain several other 
stories, describing voyages to distant lands and 
perilous adventures by sea, in which the names of 

87 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

the very ancient Western ports of Surparaka-Supara 
and Bharukaccha-Broach are occasionally men- 
tioned." ^ We may also note in this connection 
that in the Digha Nikaya (i. 222) of Sutta-Pitaka,' 
the date of which has been placed by Mr. Rhys 
Davids ^ in the 5th century B.C., there is an explicit 
reference to " ocean-going ships out of sight of 
land." (4) Certain Indian commodities, e.g. rice, 
peacocks, sandal-wood, were known to the Greeks 
aiid others under their Indian names in the 5th 
century b.c. "It follows that they were imported 
from the west coast of India into Babylon directly 
by sea; and this conclusion is borne out by the 
statements of the Baveni-ydtaka. And we must 
further conclude that they were first imported into 
Babylon in the 6th century B.C., not only because 
direct intercourse between Babylon and India 
practically came to an end after 480 B.C., but 
because rice and peacocks must have reached Greece 
at the latest in 460 or 470 B.C. in order to become 
common at Athens in 430 B.C." After this review 
of the evidence Mr. Kennedy puts forward the 
following conclusion : " The evidence warrants us 
in the belief that maritime commerce between India 
•.and Babylon flourished in the 7th and 6th, but 
more especially in the 6th, centuries B.C. It was 



^ Origin of the Indian Brahma Alphabet^ p. 84. 
2 See/.Ji.A.S., April, 1899, p. 482. 

88 



HINDU PERIOD 

chiefly in the hands of Dravidians, although Aryans 
had a share in it ; and as Indian traders settled 
afterwards in Arabia and on the east coast of Africa, 
and as we find them settling at this very time on 
the coast of China, we cannot doubt that they had 
their settlements in Babylon also." And he further 
remarks : " The history of the trade between Baby- 
lon and India suggests one remark : the normal 
trade route from the Persian Gulf to India can 
never have been along the inhospitable shores of 
Gedrosia." 

Mr. Rhys Davids,^ who has also dealt with 
this subject, has thus stated his conclusions : — 
(i) Sea-going merchants, availing themselves of 
the monsoons, were in the habit, at the beginning 
of the 7th (and perhaps at the end of the 8th) 
century b.c, of trading from ports on the south- 
west coast of India (Sovira at first, afterwards 
Supparaka and Bharukaccha) to Babylon, then a 
great mercantile emporium. (2) These merchants 
were mostly Dravidiai)s, not Aryans. Such Indian 
names of the goods imported as were adopted in the 
West (Solomon's ivory, apes, and peacocks, for 
instance, and the word " rice ") were adaptations 
not of Sanskrit or Pali, but of Tamil words. 

The same view of this Indian trade with the 
West has been held by Mr. A. M. T. Jackson, 

^ Buddhist India, p. ii6. 

89 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

I.C.S.^ According to him, " the Buddhist yatakas- 
and some of the Sanskrit law-books^ tell us that 
ships from Bhroach and Supara traded with 
Babylon (Baveru) from the 8th to the 6th cen- 
tury B.C." 

There have been also other scholars who are dis- 
posed to view this maritime commerce of India with , 
the West as of very great antiquity. Recording to 
Lenormant, the bas-reliefs of the temple of Deir-el- 
Bahari at Thebes represent the conquest of the land 
of Pun under Hatasu. " In the abundant booty 
loading the vessel of Pharaoh for conveyance to the 
land of Egypt appear a great many Indian animals 
and products not indigenous to the soil of Yemen — 
elephants' teeth, gold, precious stones, sandal-wood, 
and monkeys." Again, " The labours of Von Bohlen 
Xfia£ altej^tdien, vol. i., p. 42), confirming those of 
Heeren, and in their turn confirmed by those of 
Lassen {Ind. Alt., vol. ii., p. 580), have established 
the existence of a maritime commerce between 
India and Arabia from the very earliest period of 
humanity.'"^ The principal commodities imported 
from India were gold, precious stones, ivory, etc. 



^ Bombay City Gazetteer^ vol. ii., ch. vi., p. 3. 

* Nos. 339 and 463 (FausboU). 

^ S.B.E., ii. 228; xiv. 146, 200, 217. 

* Hist. Anc. del Orient^ English edition, vol. ii., pp. 299, 301, quoted in 
J. A., vol. xiii., p. 228. 

90 



HINDU PERIOD 

Further, according to Wilkinson/ the presence of 
indigo, tamarind-wood, and other Indian products 
has been detected in the tombs of Egypt, and 
Lassen also has pointed out that the Egyptians 
dyed cloth with indigo and wrapped their mummies 
in Indian muslin. 

Lastly, this early maritime commerce of India, 
first vaguely hinted at in the Rig-Veda, and proved 
by the evidence of Egyptian and Assyrian archaeo- 
logy, is further supposed by many competent 
authorities to be alluded to in several places in the 
Bible itself. "Even in the Mosaic period (1491- 
1450 B.C.) precious stones which were to a great 
extent a speciality of India and the neighbouring 
countries appear to have been well known and were 
already highly valued. It is probable that some of 
the stones in the breast-plate of the high priest may 
have come from the far East."^ In the Book of 
Genesis ^ there is mention of a company of traders 
with their camels bearing spicery, balm, and myrrh, 
going to Egypt. In the days of Solomon (about 
1015 B.C.) there could be supplied from India alone 



^ Ancient Egyptians, ii. 237, quoted by Delmar, Director of the Bureau 
of Statistics, U.S.A. 

2 Professor V. Ball, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., in his highly valuable 
article on " A Geologist's Contribution to the History of Ancient India," in 
the I. A. for August, 1884. 

^ Gen. xxxvii. 25 : " Behold, a company of Ishmeelites came from 
Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going to 
carry it down to Egypt." 

91 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

^ the ivory, garments, armour, spices, and peacocks 
which found customers in ancient Syria. In the 
Book of I Kings it is stated ^ how the ships of 
Solomon came to Ophir and fetched from thence 
gold, plenty of almug trees, precious stones, and the 
like. In the Book of Ezekiel, which dwells on the 
commerce of Tyre, there are mentioned commodities 
which are undoubtedly of Indian origin.^ Thus the 
ivory and ebony included in them are characteristic 
Indian products and were recognized as such by 
classical writers like Megasthenes,^ Theophrastus,'^ 
md Virgil.^ Besides, another proof that the Bible 
really refers to the foreign trade of India may be 
found in the fact that there have been discovered 
some old Dravidian words in the Hebrew text of 
the Books of Kings and Chronicles of the Old 



^ I Kings jx. 26, 27, 28 : " And King Solomon made a navy of ships 
in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea . . . And 
Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the 
sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and fetched 
from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King 
Solomon." i Kings x. 1 1 : " And the navy also of Hiram, that brought 
gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees and 
precious stones." 

^ Ezekiel xxvii. 24 : " These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, 
in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound 
with cords." Ibid. 15 : "They brought thee for a present horns of ivory 
and ebony." 

^ Sirabo, xv. 37 : "Ebony grows there." 

* History of Plants, iv. 4, 6, quoted by McCrindle. 

* Georg. i. 57 : "India produces ivory." The Periphis also mentions 
logs of ebony exported from Barygaza-Broach. 

92 



HINDU PERIOD 

Testament, where there is given the list of the 
articles of merchandise brougfht from Tarshish 
or Ophir in Solomon's ships "about looo B.C." 
Thus the word for " peacock " in the Hebrew text is 
tuki in Kings, tukim Chronicles, while " the ancient, 
poetical, purely Tamil-Malayalam name of the pea- 
cock is tokei, the bird with the (splendid) tail."^ 
Again, the Hebrew words ahalim or ahaloth for the 
fragrant wood called "aloes" in Proverbs vii. 17, 
etc., is derived from the Tamil-Malayalam form of 
the word aghil. 

Without dwelling at any further length on the 
meaning of these Biblical allusions, I quote below 
the following interpretation put upon them by the 
learned bishop Dr. Caldwell, in his monumental 
work, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidiaii 
Languages : — 

It seems probable that Aryan merchants from the mouth of the Indus 
must have accompanied the Phoenicians and Solomon's servants in their 
voyages down the Malabar coast towards Ophir (wherever Ophir may have 
been) or at least have taken part in the trade. ... It appears certain from 
notices contained in the Vedas that the Aryans of the age of Solomon 
practised foreign trade in ocean-going vessels, but it remains uncertain to 
what parts their ships sailed.^ 

Bishop Caldwell's opinion is further supported by 
another erudite clergyman and scholar, the Rev. 



^ Dr. Caldwell, in his Grainmar of the Dravidiaii Languages^ p. 91. 
We may remember also in this connection the well-known reference in the 
Baveru-Jdtaka to voyages made by Indian merchants to Babylon, in the 
second of which they took thither the first peacock for sale. 

^ Grammar of the Dravidian Languages^ p. 122. 

93 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

T. Foulkes,^ who, in a very learned essay, comes to 
the same conclusion, and says : — 

The fact is now scarcely to be doubted that the rich Oriental mer- 
chandise of the days of King Hiram and King Solomon had its starting- 
place in the seaports of the Dakhan ; and that with a very high degree of 
probability some of the most esteemed of the spices which were carried 
into Egypt by the Midianitish merchants of Genesis xxxvii. 25, 28, and by 
the sons of the patriarch Jacob (Gen. xliii. ii), had been cultivated in the 
spice-gardens of the Dakhan. 

\/ Thus the first trade of India of which there is 
any record was with Western Asia and Palestine. 
King Solomon tried to appropriate a share of this 
trade for the Jewish people by creating facilities for 
his Eastern traders both on land and sea routes. 
On the land route he built as resting-places for 
caravans the cities of Tadmor (Palmyra), Baalbec 
(Heliopolis), and Hamath (Epiphania), and his fore- 
sight in protecting these caravan routes bore fruit 
in the great trading centres of Mesopotamia, viz. 
Babylon, Ctesiphon, Seleucia, and Ossis, which all 
flourished for a long time on the profits of their 
commerce with the East. The Jewish monarch 
was also equally interested in the sea-borne trade of 
the East. His fleets made periodical voyages to 
and from the head of the Red Sea and the ports in 
the Persian Gulf, and we know from Holy Writ that 
" Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth on the shore 
of the Red Sea in the land of Edom," was the 

^ The Indian Antiquary, vol. viii. 

94 



HINDU PERIOD 

Syrian port for the arrival and departure of the 
fleets sent on these voyages. Their cargoes were 
carried by caravans to Petra and distributed some 
to Egypt and others to Rhinocolura, a port of the 
Mediterranean, for transhipment to Europe. The 
Phoenicians also took an active part in this trade, 
with Tyre as their headquarters. After the conquest 
of Tyre by Alexander the Great, and the foundation 
of Alexandria, the Egyptians came into the field, 
and after the successive decline of the Jewish, f 
Phoenician, and Persian powers in Western Asia, 
they retained with the Arabians a monopoly of this 
commerce for about 900 years between Alexander's 
death and the conquest of Egypt by the Musalmans 
in the year 640 a.d. 

We have now dealt with the foreign trade of 
India in the age of the Bible, and proceed to consider 
the notices left by the Greek writers of this period 
of the international intercourse of India. The 
earliest, probably, is that of Herodotus (450 B.C.), the 
father of history, whose reference to the Indian 
contingent ^ of Xerxe^' army, clad in cotton gar- 
ments and armed with cane bows and iron-tipped ^ 
cane arrows, is well known. Herodotus also speaks 



^ Herodotus, vii. 65, viii. 13, ix. 91. V. A. Smith remarks: "The 
archers from India formed a valuable element in the army of Xerxes, and 
shared the defeat of Mardonius at PJataea." 

2 Cf. V. Smith, Early History of India, p.- 35 : " The fact that the 
Indian troops used iron in 480 B.C. is worth noting." 

95 



INDIAN SHIPPINCx 

of the inclusion of a part of India as the twentieth 
satrapy of the Emperor Darius/ a fact which in the 
opinion of scholars accounts for the traces of Persian 
influence^ on old Indian art, architecture, and 
administrative methods. Among Indian products 
Herodotus noted the wool which certain wild trees 
bear instead of fruit, " that in beauty and quality 
excels that of sheep," ^ of which Indians make their 
clothing. 

\/ Herodotus also gives us some insight into the 
nature and extent of certain Indian mineral pro- 
ductions. Babylon obtained precious stones and 
dogs (probably Tibetan mastiffs) from India.^ In 
the enumeration of the nations and tribes which 
paid tribute to the Persian monarch Darius, the 
Indians alone, we are told, paid in gold, all the 
others paying in silver. The amount of this gold 
was 360 Euboic talents, equivalent to ;^i, 290,000. 
Herodotus also pointedly speaks of India as being 
" rich in gold," ^ and he relates the famous and wide- 
spread fable of the gold-digging ants, which has 
been shown by Sir Henry Robinson and Dr. Schiern^ 



^ Herodotus, iii. 

2 See Smith's Early History of India, pp. 137, 153, 225, for an account 
of this Persian influence. 

3 Herodotus, iii. 106, in McCrindle's Ancient India as Described in 
Classical Literature. 

* Ibid., i. 192. 

^ Ibid., iii. io6. 

^ I. A., vol. iv., pp. 225 ff. 

96 



HINDU PERIOD 

to have originated in the peculiar customs of the 
Tibetan gold-miners ; and the name " ant gold " was 
possibly first given to the fragments of gold-dust 
brought from Tibet on account of their shape and 
size. The " horns of the gold-digging ants " men- 
tioned by Pliny and others have been supposed to 
be simply samples of the ordinary pickaxes used by 
miners, which in Ladakh and Tibet were made of the 
horns of wild sheep, mounted on handles of wood. 
Herodotus may also have meant the gold-diggers of 
the desert of Gobi, who were in the habit of excavat- 
ing gold from beneath the earth, and from them 
Indian traders of the Punjab neighbourhood could 
obtain their supply of gold. The portion of India 
conquered by Darius was situated chiefly to the north- 
west of the Indus, and, according to the authoritative 
testimony of Professor V. Ball, F.R.S., the eminent 
geologist, " the Indus itself, as well as some of its 
tributaries, is known to be auriferous." Professor 
Ball also rejects the view held by Lassen, Heeren, 
and many others that gold (and silver) was not indi- 
genous to India, but iniported from abroad, e.g. from 
Tibet, Burma, or even Africa ; ^ for as he points out, 
" our most recent knowledge of India affords evidence 
that the amount of gold derived from indigenous 
sources must have been very considerable before 
the alluvial deposits were exhausted of their gold." 



^ Asiatic Nations (Bohn's ed.), vol, ii., p. 32. 

97 



H 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

The further remarks of Professor Ball in this 
connection are worth quoting in full : — 

When it is remembered that about 80 per cent, of the gold raised 
throughout the world is from alluvial washings, and when this fact is con- 
sidered in connection with the reflection that wide tracts in Australia and 
America, formerly richly productive, are now deserted, being covered with 
exhausted tailings, it can be conceived how these regions in India — and 
there are very many of them — which are known to be auriferous, may, in 
the lapse of time, after yielding large supplies of gold, have become too 
exhausted to be of much present consideration. More than this, however, 
recent explorations have confirmed the fact, often previously asserted, that 
in Southern India there are indications of extended mining operations 
having been carried on there. 

Evidence exists of the most conclusive kind of large quantities of gold 
having been amassed by Indian monarchs, who accepted a revenue in gold- 
dust only from certain sections of their subjects, who were consequently 
compelled to spend several months of every year washing for it in the 
rivers.^ 

^ In Ctesias' Indica (400 b.c), the earliest Greek 
treatise on India, is to be found, among other things, 
the existence of a really Dravidian word which 
Ctesias used for cinnamon.^ The word used by 
Ctesias is karpion, which Dr. Caldwell derives from 
the Tamil-Malayalam word karuppa or karppu^ to 
which is akin the Sanskrit word karpura " camphor."^ 

1 I. A., August, 1884. 

^ Ctesias^ translated by McCrindle, p. 29. His Indica embodies the 
information he had gathered about India, " partly from the reports of 
Persian ofificials who had visited that country on the King's service, and 
partly also perhaps from the reports of Indians themselves who in those 
days were occasionally to be seen at the Persian Court, whither they 
resorted either as merchants or as envoys bringing presents and tribute 
from the princes of Northern India, which was then subject to Persian 
rule." (McCrindle's Ctesias^ Introduction, p. 3.) 

3 Dr. Caldwell in his Grammar of the Dravidian Languages, p. 105. 

98 



HINDU PERIOD 

Ctesias also refers to a lake in the country of v 
the Pygmies upon the surface of which oil is pro- 
duced. This is supposed to mean Upper Burma, 
where there is a tribe answering to this description, 
and where " there are also the only largely pro- 
ductive petroleum deposits, which, moreover, we 
know to have been worked since the earliest times." ^ 
Ctesias also mentions gold being obtained on 
certain " high-towering mountains " inhabited by 
the Griffins, which have been recognized as Tibetan 
mastiffs, " specimens of which, by the way, appear 
to have been taken to the Persian Court as ex- 
amples of the gold-digging ants first described by 
Herodotus." 2 



^ Professor Ball in the /.A., vol. xiii., p. 230. 
2 Udd. 



99 H 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



\) 



CHAPTER II. 
The Maurya Period. 

We now reach the age of the Mauryas, which 
may be taken roughly to begin from the date of 
Alexander's Indian campaigns, about 325 B.C. In 
the accounts of these campaigns by Greek writers 
like Arrian, Curtius, and others, interesting light is 
sometimes thrown on the economic life of the 
period. Thus it may be stated with certainty that 
shipbuilding was in those very ancient days (so far 
back as 325 B.C.) a very flourishing industry giving 
employment to many, and the stimulus to its 
development must have come from the demands of 
both river and ocean traffic. Alexander's passage 
of the Indus was effected by means of boats ^ 
supplied by native craftsmen. A flotilla of boats was 
also used in bridging the difficult river of the 
Hydaspes.^ For purposes of the famous voyage of 
Nearchus ^ down the rivers and to the Persian Gulf, 
all available country boats were impressed for the 
service, and a stupendous fleet was formed, num- 

1 v. A. Smith's Early History of India^ p. 55. 

"^ Ibid.^ pp. 59, 60 : " He found the fleet of galleys, boats, and rafts in 
readiness.' Also Arrian, v. 8. 
3 Ibid., p. 87. 

100 



HINDU PERIOD 

bering, according to Arrian/ about 800 vessels, ^ 
according to Curtius and Diodorus about 1,000 
vessels, but according to the " more reliable estimate 
of Ptolemy" nearly 2,000 vessels, which between 
them accommodated 8,000 troops, several thousand 
horses, and vast quantities of supplies. It was 
indeed an extraordinarily huge fleet, built entirely of 
Indian wood by the hands of Indian craftsmen. In 
this connection the remarks made by the two great 
authorities on the history of ancient Oriental com- 
merce, namely Dr. Vincent and Dr. Robertson, are 
of considerable interest. Says Dr. Vincent : — 

The Ayeen Akbari reckons the Panje-ab as the third province of the 
Mogul Empire, and mentions 40,000 vessels employed in the commerce of 
the Indus, It was this commerce that furnished Alexander with the means 
of seizing, building, hiring, or purchasing the fleet with which he fell down 
the stream ; and when we reflect that his army consisted of 124,000 men, 
with the whole country at his command, and that a considerable portion of 
these had been left at the Hydaspes during the interval that the main body 
advanced to the Hyphasis and returned to the Hydaspes again, we shall 
have no reason to accuse Arrian of exaggeration when he asserts that the 
fleet consisted of 800 vessels of which 30 only were ships of war and the 
rest such as were usually employed in the navigation of the river. . . . 
Strabo mentions the proximity of Emodus, which afforded plenty of fir, 
pine, cedar, and other timber ;^ and Arrian informs us that Alexander in the 
country of the Assaconi, and before he reached the Indus, had already 
built vessels which he sent down the Koppenes to Taxila. All these cir- 
cumstances contribute to prove the reality of a fact highly controverted ; 
and even though we were to extend the whole number of the fleet, com- 
prehending tenders and boats, with some authors to 2,000, there is no 
improbability sufficient to excite astonishment.^ 



^ Indica, ch. xix. 

^ Commerce of the Ancients, vol. i., p. 12. 
lOI 



INDIAN SHIPPING 
Dr. Robertson also expresses the same opinion : — 

That a fleet so numerous should have been collected in so short a time 
is apt to appear at first sight incredible. But as the Punjab country is full 
of navigable rivers, on which all the intercourse among the natives was 
carried on, it abounded with vessels ready constructed to the conqueror's 
hands, so that he might easily collect that number. If we could give credit 
to the account of the invasion of India by Semiramis, no fewer than 4,000 
vessels were assembled in the Indus to oppose her fleet {Diod. Sicul., lib. ii., 
cap. 74). It is remarkable that when Mahmud of Ghazni invaded India, 
a fleet was collected on the Indus to oppose his, consisting of the same 
number of vessels. We learn from the Ayeen Akbari that the inhabitants 
of this part of India still continue to carry on all their communication with 
each other by water ; the inhabitants of the Circar ot Tatta alone (in Sindh) 
have not less than 40,000 vessels of various construction.^ 

Further, we have the actual mention made by 
Arrian of the construction of dockyards, and the 
supply by the tribe called Xathroi of galleys of 
thirty oars and transport vessels which were all 
built by them.^ 

All this clearly indicates that in the age of the 
Mauryas shipbuilding in India was a regular and 
flourishing industry of which the output was quite 
large. The industry was, however, in the hands of 
rthe State and was a Government monopoly ; for, as 
N Megasthenes ^ informs us, while noticing the exis- 
tence of a class of shipbuilders among the artisans, 
they were salaried public servants and were not 
permitted to work for any private person. These 



^ Disquisition concerning Ancient India, T^. 196. 
^ Anab., vi. 15, and Curtius, ix. 9. 

3 Strabo, xv. 46 : '* But the armour-makers and shipbuilders receive 
wages and provisions from the kings for whom alone they work." 

102 



HINDU PERIOD 

ships built in the royal ship-yards were, however, 
as Strabo ^ informs us, let out on hire both to 
those who undertook voyages and to professional 
merchants. 

A few more interesting details regarding the 
shipping and navigation of the period are given by 
Pliny^ in his description of Taprobane (Ceylon) : 
"The sea between the island of Ceylon and India 
is full of shallows not more than six paces in 
depth, but in some channels so deep that no 
anchors can find the bottom. For this reason 
ships are built with prows at each end, for turn- 
ing about in channels of extreme narrowness. In 
making sea voyages the Taprobane mariners make 
no observations of the stars, and indeed the 
Greater Bear is not visible to them, but they take 
birds out to sea with them which they let loose 
from time to time and follow the direction of 
their flight as they make for land."^ Pliny also 
indicates the tonnage of these ancient Indian 
vessels, which is said to be 3,000 amphorae, the 



^ Strabo, xv. 46. 

^ Fliny, vi. 22, quoted in McCrindle's Ancient India, p. 55. 

3 Fliny, vi. 22. The fact of mariners using birds for ascertaining the 
direction in which the land lay is also alluded to in the Digha Nikaya 
(i. 222) of Sutta-Pitaka, the famous Pali text. Mr. Rhys Davids places 
the date of the Diglia in the 5th century B.C. and takes this reference to be 
" the earliest in Indian books to ocean-going ships out of sight of land." 
{See /.F.A.S., April, 1899, p. 432.) 

103 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

amphora being regarded as weighing about a 
fortieth of a ton.^ 

r The development of this national shipping made 
possible and necessary the creation and organization 
of a Board of Admiralty ^ as one of the six Boards 
which made up the War Office of Emperor Chandra 
Gupta (321 B.C. to 297 B.C.), ''one of the greatest 
and most successful kings known to history." For- 
tunately, for information regarding this Board of 
Admiralty and the Naval Department we can depend 
not only on foreign notices like those of Mega- 
sthenes and Strabo, but also on the much more 
elaborate and reliable account given in the invalu- 
able Sanskrit work of the period, the Arthasdstra 
of Kautilya, which is undoubtedly one of the most 
important landmarks not only in the literary history 
of India but also in the history of Indian civilization 
itself. The book ^ requires to be thoroughly studied, 

^ Pliny ^ vi. 22. With regard to the equivalent of the amphora and 
the tonnage of these ancient vessels, McCrindle says : " The amount of 
cargo carried by ancient ships was generally computed by the talent or the 
amphora, each of which weighed about a fortieth of a ton. The largest 
ships carried 10,000 talents or 250 tons. The talent and the amphora 
each represented a cubic foot of water, and as the Greek or Roman foot 
measured about • 97 of an English foot, the talent and the amphora each 
weighed very nearly 57 lbs. See Torr's Ancient Ships, p, 25." 

"^ V. A. Smith's Early History of India, p. 124. Cf. also Strabo, 

XV. 52: " Next to the city magistrates there is a third governing body 

1 which directs military affairs. This also consists of six divisions with five 

members to each. One division is associated with the Admiral of the Fleet." 

^ In using this book for my purposes I was greatly helped by the 
translations of Pandit R. Syama Sastry in the Mysore Review. 

104 



HINDU PERIOD 

being a unique production of its kind in the entire 
Sanskrit literature, and a most valuable historical 
document, conveying as it does a perfectly complete 
picture of the extraordinarily rich and varied civili- 
zation that was developed in Maurya India over 
2,000 years ago. I have, therefore, no hesitation in 
drawing largely upon the contents of this remark- 
able work of Chanakya and placing before the 
reader all such passages as tend to throw any light 
on the condition of the national shipping, naviga- 
tion, and sea-borne trade of India in the glorious 
age of the Mauryas. 

The Naval Department seems to have been very'^ 
well organized. At its head was placed an officerC 
who was called the ^tttut^ or the Superintendent C 
of Ships. ^ He was entrusted with the duty of 
dealing with all matters relating to navigation, 
including not only navigation of the oceans, but 
also inland navigation on rivers and lakes, natural 
or artificial.^ The matters relating to navigation 
were of course manifold. The Superintendent of 
Ships seems to have been something like a modern 
Port Commissioner, and his first duty was to see 
that all the dues of his port were paid, and not one 
evaded. 



^ Artha^dstra, bk. ii., ch. xxviii. 

105 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

The kind and degree of the maritime activity of 
the period will be evident from the various kinds of 
port-taxes that were levied. Thus villages on sea- 
shores or on the banks of rivers and lakes had to 
pay regularly a fixed amount of tax.^ Fishermen 
had to yield one-sixth of their haul as fees for 
fishing license.^ Merchants also had to pay the 
customary tax levied in port towns. ^ Passengers 
arriving on board the State or the king's ship had 
to pay the fixed and requisite amount of sailing 
fees.^ State boats were also let out to those who 
wanted to use them for pearl-fishery or for fishing 
for conch shells, and they had to pay the required 
amount of hire ^ ; but they were also free to use 
their own boats for the purpose.^ Besides these 
taxes payable to the Port Commissioner, there were 
the various sorts of ferry fees, which are also very 
interesting and equally indicative of a brisk trade and 
a throbbing commercial life. A man with a minor 
quadruped carrying some load had to pay a ferry 



r: -ara ^•^: i 

1 06 



HINDU PERIOD 

fee of one masha} A load carried on the head, a 
load carried on the shoulders, a cow, and a horse 
had each to pay two mashas} Four mashas were 
demanded for each camel or buffalo that was trans- 
ported across the river.^ Five mashas were levied 
for a small cart, six mashas for a cart of medium size 
that was drawn by bulls, and seven mashas for a big 
cart."^ Four mashas had to be paid for a load of mer- 
chandise whether for sale or not.^ Again, for big 
rivers involving greater risks, double the ferry fees 
above mentioned were charged.^ Thus conveyances 
and beasts of burden as well as loads of merchandise 
were subject to ferry fees. 

But besides seeing to the realization and collec- 
tion of all proper taxes and dues, the Superintendent 
of Ships was also entrusted with the duty of en- 
forcing many humane harbour regulations. Thus 
whenever any weather-beaten, tempest-tossed ship 
arrived at his port, his first duty was to lend her 
the protecting hand of a father." He was also 

"' ^T^TTrnrfrt ^t fq^^r^^z^l^Tir i 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

empowered to exempt from toll any ship laden with 
merchandise that was damaged and spoiled by 
water, or to charge only half the due toll, and then 
allow it to sail when the proper time for setting sail 
approached.^ Again, whenever a ship laden with 
merchandise foundered owing to want of hands or 
on account of ill-repair, it was the duty of the Super- 
intendent of Ships to make good the loss of mer- 
chandise in part or full, as the case might be, because 
presumably the loss was due not to any fault of the 
merchants but to defects in the State vessel, and 
therefore must be made good from State funds. ^ 

But besides relieving ships in distress the Super- 
intendent had to adopt many preventive measures 
to ensure safety. Thus during the period from the 
yth day of Ashadha till the month of Kartika, i.e. 
when rivers are swollen owing to rains, the crossing 
of rivers by State or licensed ferries was strictly 
enforced.^ Again, in those large rivers which cannot 
be forded during either the winter or summer 
seasons the Superintendent of Ships had to see 
that large and perfectly safe vessels were launched, 

1 08 



HINDU PERIOD 

manned with all necessary officers and hands, viz. 
a captain, a steersman, and a number of servants 
who would hold the oars and the ropes and bale out 
water.^ Small boats were launched only in small 
rivers that overflowed during the rainy seasons.^ 

To ensure safety there were also in force many 
strict regulations regarding the fording or crossing 
of rivers. Fording or crossing of rivers without 
permission was prohibited in order to ensure that 
no traitor or enemy could escape.^ The time and 
even the place for fording and crossing rivers were 
definitely fixed, so that any person fording and 
crossing outside the proper place and in unusual 
times was punished with first amercement ; ^ and 
the man who forded or crossed a river at the usual 
place and time but without permission had to 
pay a fine oi 26% panasJ' Exceptions to this strin- 
gent rule were, however, allowed in the interests of 
trade and public good. Thus the following ^ were 






109 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

freely allowed to cross rivers at any time and 
place : — 

(i) Fishermen, whose business would be seri- 
ously hampered by the above regulations. 

(2) Carriers of firewood, grass, flowers and fruits ; 
gardeners and vegetable dealers who had to go far 
and wide to find the things they dealt in. 

(3) Persons pursuing suspected criminals. 

(4) Messengers following other messengers go- 
ing in advance. 

(5) Servants engaged to carry things (provisions 
and orders) to the army. 

(6) Persons using their own ferries ; and 

(7) Dealers supplying villages of marshy dis- 
tricts with seeds, necessaries of life, commodities, 
and other accessory things. Again, Brahmans, 
ascetics, children, the aged and afflicted, royal 
messengers, and pregnant women had all to be 
provided by the Superintendent with free passes to 
cross rivers.^ There was also another regulation 
permitting foreign merchants who had often been 
visiting the country, as also those who were well 
known to local merchants, to land freely in port 
towns.^ 

V Lastly, the Superintendent of Ships was also 
entrusted with the duty of punishing all violations 

no 



HINDU PERIOD 

of harbour regulations, and miscreants that were 
dangerous to public peace. Thus to destruction 
were doomed the ships of pirates, the ships which 
were bound for the enemy's country, and the ships 
that violated the customs and rules in force in port 
towns.^ The Superintendent had also to arrest 
persons of the following descriptions ^ : Any person 
who eloped with the wife or daughter of another ; 
one who carried off the wealth of another ; a sus- 
pected person ; one having a perturbed appearance ; 
one who had no baggage ; one who attempted to 
conceal or evade the cognisance of a valuable load in 
his hand ; one who had just put on a different garb ; 
one who had just turned out an ascetic ; one who 
pretended to be suffering from a disease ; one who 
seemed to be alarmed ; a person stealthily carrying 
valuable things ; a person going on a secret mission ; 
a person carrying weapons or explosives or holding 
poison in his hand ; and lastly, one who came 
from a long distance without a pass. The Super- 
intendent finally was to direct the confiscation 
of the commodities of those who were found to 
travel without a pass and of those also who with 

^ ■^K'^wraft ^<^t f^'rt ^Tg^^-s^ ^f^fr^rf^ VT^'lirfi ^jt^vt^^ 

III 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

a heavy load forded a river at an unusual place 
and time.^ 

We now have some idea of the organization of 
the Naval Department, the development of the 
national shipping, and the abounding commercial 
life in the India of the Mauryas. All this no doubt 
was due to the vast extent of the empire founded by 
Chandra Gupta that extended over the whole of 
Northern India from sea to sea, including even the 
provinces of the Paropanisadai, Aria, and Arachosia, 
beyond the modern frontiers of British India. The 
alliance of such a powerful emperor was courted 
even by the potentates of the Hellenistic world of 
his time. The consequence of this vast and varied 
realm was no doubt the constant stream of visitors, 
travellers, and envoys to and from India, and the 
resulting growth of elaborate regulations for their 
care and entertainment which were framed by 
the municipal commission under Chandra Gupta. 
"All foreigners were closely watched by officials, 
who provided suitable lodgings, escorts, and, in 
case of need, medical attendance.'"^ As Mr. 
Vincent Smith remarks, " the existence of these 
elaborate regulations is conclusive proof that the 
Maurya Empire in the 3rd century B.C. was in 

"^ V. A. Smith's Early History of India^ p. 125. 
112 



HINDU PERIOD 

constant intercourse with foreign states, and that ^ 
large numbers of strangers visited the capital on L 
business."^ So great was the growth of foreign / 
commerce that the mere taxes on imports formed a 
good and expanding source of revenue. 

In the days of Asoka, whose empire embraced a 
much wider area than that of his grandfather, India 
was brought into systematic connection with the 
distant Hellenistic monarchies of Syria, Egypt, 
Cyrene, Macedonia, and Epirus,^ and she soon 
became, through the efforts of merchants, and mis- 
sionaries preaching the gospel of universal brother- 
hood, at once the commercial and spiritual centre, 
the very heart, of the Old World. This was possible 
only through the instrumentality of an efficient 
national shipping and system of communications. 
As Mr. V. A. Smith observes : " When we re- 
member Asoka's relations with Ceylon and even 
more distant powers, we may credit him with a 
sea-going fleet as well as an army."^ 

In that monumental work called Bodhisattvd- 
vadana Kalpalatd, by the Kashmirian poet Kshe- 
mendra, of the loth century a.d., is preserved a 
very interesting story regarding Indian mercantile 
activity in the Eastern waters, which clearly * 

^ V. A. Smith's Early History of India, p. 125. 

2 Hock Edicts II. and xiii. 

' Edicts of Asoka^ Introduction, p. viii. 

113 I 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

indicates that the progress of the foreign intercourse 
and naval activity of India during the days of the 
Emperor Chandra Gupta was continued also in the 
days of Asoka the Great. The 73rd Pallava or 
chapter of Kshemendra's work above referred to 
relates how the Emperor Asoka, seated on the throne 
in the city of Pataliputra, while holding his court, 
was one day approached by some Indian merchants 
who traded to the distant islands. They informed 
him of their losses and complete ruin brought about 
by the depredations of seafaring pirates called 
Nagas (probably the Chinese, who are worshippers 
of the Dragon), who destroyed all their ships and 
plundered their treasure. They said that if the 
Emperor was disposed to be indifferent to them they 
would no doubt be forced to take to other ways of 
earning their livelihood, but the imperial exchequer 
in that case was liable to be emptied owing to 
absence of sea voyages (i.e. if there was a slackening 
of the sea-borne trade and a consequent falling off 
in the export and import duties). Then the story 
goes on to relate how Asoka, after bestowing some 
thought on the seafaring Nagas, was persuaded by a 
Buddhist priest to issue a sort of edict (which we 
may call Asoka's Marine Edict) inscribed on a 
copper plate, which was, however, contemptuously 
set at naught by those for whom it was meant. It 
was only when Asoka became a devout Buddhist 
that he was able to make the Nagas respect his 

114 



HINDU PERIOD 

edict and give up all their booty, which was after- 
wards distributed among the merchants robbed.^ 

We have now narrated some of the facts in the 
sea-borne trade of India from the earliest times 
recorded to the glorious epoch of the Mauryas, 
seeking humbly to unroll the ample pages of one of 
the many forgotten but brilliant chapters in the 
early history of our country. 

li ^^f'^^ ^VTT^^ -^fTiraft ^^MJllflTiT: I 

^ <)**,< H I JusiTi+Tfrr: wnr^r^ ^Psrw^: r 
■^^m^^ ^f^^rnr^r^-T^T -g- -^ f^^ i 

XffT "^^ "^f^- ■^«TT TTWT ^*^T-^rr5|«<: | 
f^TTt"^ •fT'R-J^Tft ^TJTT-^T^ ^f^-^:j: II 

■^n»TTni'?rTf^?r^RfwT^*rTx:T: ^^??^: n 

115 I 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



CHAPTER III. 

The Andhra-Kushan Period : Intercourse 
WITH Rome. 

The age of the Mauryas, of Chandra Gupta and 
Asoka, was followed by the age of the Andhras of 
the South and Kushans of the North, which 
witnessed an equal development of the foreign 
trade and intercourse of India. This is apparent not 
only from the writings of Greek, Roman, and other 
foreign authors, but also from the numismatic 
\ evidences discovered in India itself. With regard 
to the commerce of the Andhra period (200 B.C. to 
A.D. 250), R. Sewell, the well-known authority on 
the early history of Southern India, makes the 
following general remarks : " The Andhra period 
seems to have been one of considerable prosperity. 
There was trade, both overland and by sea, with 
Western Asia, Greece, Rome, and Egypt, as well as 
with China and the East. Embassies are said to 
have been sent from South India to Rome. Indian 
elephants were used for Syrian warfare. Pliny 
mentions the vast quantities of specie that found its 
way every year from Rome to India, and in this he 
is confirmed by the author of the Periplus. Roman 
coins have been found in profusion in the Peninsula, 

116 



HINDU PERIOD 

and especially in the south. In a.d. 68 a number 1 
of Jews, fleeing from Roman persecution, seems to 
have taken refuge among the friendly coast-people 
of South India, and to have settled in Malabar." ^ 
In respect of the same period. Dr. Bhandarkar, 
also, remarks, "trade and commerce must have been 
in a flourishing condition during this early period."^ 

In the north, under the Kushans, there was a 
great development of the intercourse of India with 
the West. " During the Kushana period the Roman 
influence on India was at its height. When the 
whole of the civilized world, excepting India and 
China, passed under the sway of the Caesars, and 
the Empire of Kaniska marched, or almost marched, 
with that of Hadrian, the ancient isolation of India 
was infringed upon, and Roman arts and ideas 
travelled with the stream of Roman gold which 
flowed into the treasuries of the Rajas in payment 
for the silks, gems, and spices of the Orient."^ 

The result of it was the rise of a new school 
of Indian art, the school of Gandhara, which is 
admitted on all hands to be closely related to the 
art of the Roman Empire in the Augustan and 
Antonine periods, and was at its best between 
A.D. 100-300. Indian coins were also affected like 



^ Imperial Gazetteer, New Edition, vol. ii., p. 325. 
"^ Early History of the Deccan, p. 32. 
3 J.R.A.S.y January, 1903, p. 56. 
117 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Indian art. " Kadphises I., who struck coins in 
bronze or copper only, imitated, after his conquest 
of Kabul, the coinage either of Augustus in his 
later years, or the similar coinage of Tiberius (14 to 
38 A.D.). When the Roman gold of the early 
^emperors began to pour into India in payment for 
the silks, spices, gems, and dye-stuffs of the East, 
Kadphises II. perceived the advantage of a gold 
currency, and struck an abundant issue of Oriental- 
ized aurei, agreeing in weight with their prototypes, 
and not much inferior in purity. In Southern 
India, which during the same period maintained an 
active maritime trade with the Roman Empire, the 
local kings did not attempt to copy the imperial 
aurei, which were themselves imported in large 
quantities, and used for currency purposes just as 
English sovereigns are now in many parts of the 
world." 1 

/ Numismatic evidences point unmistakably to 
/the growth of an active Indian commerce with the 
/West, chiefly Rome. They also show that the main 
' centre of this commercial activity was towards the 
south, in Tamilakam, the land of the Tamils, which 
figures so largely in the early history of the com- 
merce of India. For we have already seen how, in 
the ancient days of Solomon, this land supplied the 
merchandise of his ships and kept up a commercial 

^ Early History^ p. 238. 
118 



HINDU PERIOD 

intercourse that has resulted in the incorporation of 
several Tamil words into the language of the Bible 
itself. The Roman coins found in Southern India 
in and near the Coimbatore district and at Madura 
are more numerous than the finds in the north.^ 
The chief reasons for the dearth of coins in the 
north are that the export to Rome of which we 
have mention in classical writers, in exchange for 
which Roman coins were brought to India, was 
mostly of products of South India and the Deccan,^ 
while the Kushan kings had the Roman coins \ 
melted down in a mass and new coins issued from / 
the metal having exactly the weight of the aurei. ' 
Besides this significance of these finds of Roman 
coins, one interesting feature "^ of the Andhra coins 
deserves to be carefully noted in this connection, ^ 
conveying as it does a sure hint at maritime com- 
merce, viz. that on many of these coins found on 
the east coast is to be detected the device of a two- 
masted ship, "evidently of large size," the sugges- 
tion of which is quite clear. 

The stimulus to this Occidental trade of India / 
came from the Roman Empire under Augustus. ' 



^ ** Roman Coins found in India," by Robert Sewell in the J.R.A.S., 
1904. 

2 Imperial Gazetteer, New Edition, vol. ii., p. 324; V. A. Smith's Early 
History, p. 202 : " Some pieces bearing the figure of a ship . . . suggest 
the inference that Yajna Sri's (184-213 a.d.) power was not confined to 
the land." 

119 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Before that time India carried on her trade chiefly 
with Egypt ; whose king, Ptolemy Philadelphus 
(285-247 B.C.), with whom Asoka the Great had 
intercourse,^ founded the city of Alexandria, that 
afterwards became the principal emporium of trade 
between East and West. With Alexandria com- 
munication was established of two seaports founded 
on the Egyptian coast, viz. Berenica and Myos 
Hormos, from which ships sailed to India along the 
coasts of Arabia and Persia. Strabo^ mentions 
that in his day he saw about 120 ships sailing from 
Myos Hormos to India. There were of course 
other overland routes of commerce between India 
and the West, such as that across Central Asia along 
the Oxus to the Caspian and the Black Seas, or that 
through Persia to Asia Minor, or that by way of the 
Persian Gulf and the Euphrates through Damascus 
and Palmyra to the Levant. But this caravan 
traffic was by no means of any great importance, 
and was further reduced by the Parthian wars. 
"It was by the sea, and after Claudius by the open 
sea, that the bulk of merchandise from Indian south- 
coast ports was carried to the Arabian marts and 
Alexandria." ^ The Egyptian Greeks were the 
principal carriers of this extensive trade in Indian 

^ Rock Edict II. 
"^ Strabo, ii. v. 12. 
3 "Roman Coins," /^•^•'S'., 1904. 
120 



HINDU PERIOD 

commodities that sprang up under the Ptolemies, 
and as usual this commercial intercourse has left 
some marks on their language. Thus the Greek 
names for rice {oryza), ginger {zingiber), and 
cinnamon {karpion) have a close correspondence 
with their Tamil equivalents, viz. arisi, inchiver, 
and karava respectively ; and this identity of Greek 
with Tamil words clearly indicates that it was Greek 
merchants who conveyed these articles and their 
names to Europe from the Tamil land. Again, the 
name Vavana, the name by which these Western 
merchants were known, which in old Sanskrit 
poetry is invariably used to denote the Greeks,^ is 
derived from the Greek word laones, the name of 
the Greeks in their own language. The same 
word also occurs in ancient Tamil poems, and is 
exclusively applied to the Greeks and Romans. On 
this point the remarks of the late Mr. Pillay, our 
authority on Tamil literature, require to be quoted. 
He says : ** The poet Nakkirar addresses the Pan- 
dyan prince Nan-Maran in the following words : ' O 
Mara, whose sword is ever victorious, spend thou thy 
days in peace and joy, drinking daily out of golden 
cups, presented by thy handmaids, the cool and 
fragrant wine brought by the Yavanas in their good 
ships.' " The Yavanas alluded to by these poets were 
undoubtedly the Egyptian Greeks, because, as stated 

^ Weber's Indian Literature, p. 220. 
121 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Ain the Periplus, it was Greek merchants from Egypt 
who brought wine, brass, lead, glass, etc., for sale to 

/ Muziris and Bakare, and who purchased from these 
ports pepper, betel, ivory, pearls, and fine muslins.^ 
These Greek traders sailed from Egypt in the month 
of July and arrived at Muziris in forty days. They 
stayed on the Malabar coast for about three months 
and commenced their return voyage from Muziris 
in December or January. 
\/The activity of this Occidental trade of India 

breached its height during the earlier days of the 
/ Roman Empire, especially the period from Augustus 

)to Nero, the period of Rome's Asiatic conquests 
^ which made her a world power controlling the trade 
routes between the East and the West. Then a great 
demand arose on the part of the wealthy Romans for 
the luxuries of the East, which shocked the more 
sober-minded citizens of Rome. Thus we find 
Pliny ^ (about a.d. 77) lamenting and condemning 
the wasteful extravagance of the richer classes and 
their reckless expenditure on perfumes, unguents, 
and personal ornaments, saying that there was " no 
year in which India did not drain the Roman Empire 
of a hundred million sesterces,"^ sending in return 



* The Tamils Eighteen Hwidred Years Ago, ch. iii. 

* Natural History, yi\\, i8. 

^ ;;^i,ooo,ooo, of which _;^6oo,ooo went to Arabia and ;^40o,ooo to 
India ; see Mommsen's Provinces of the Roman Empire, vol. ii., pp. 299-300. 

122 



HINDU PERIOD 

wares which were sold for a hundred times their 
original value, " so dearly do we pay for our luxury 
and our women." What gave a great impetus to 
this Roman trade, and increased considerably its 
volume and variety, was, besides this steady and 
growing demand, the discovery of the regularity of 
the monsoons in the Indian Ocean. This discovery 
was made about the year 47 a.d. by a pilot named 
Hippalus,^ and ships began to sail direct to the port 
of Muziris (Muyirikolu) in Malabar — a circumstance 
which added immensely to the security of the cargoes 
which no longer had to fear the attack of Arabs on 
caravans crossing the deserts or of pirates on vessels 
hugging the coast. 

The articles of this Roman trade comprised \y 
chiefly (i) spices and perfumes, (2) precious stones 
and pearls, and (3) silks, muslins, and cotton. The 
consumption of aromatics in Rome was stimulated 
by religious and funeral customs. Incense was 
burnt at every worship. At the funeral of Sylla 
210 loads of spices were strewn upon the pile. Nero 
is reported to have burnt at the funeral of Poppoea 
fully a year's produce of cinnamon and cassia. 
These spices were supplied to Rome by Arabians, 
who obtained them from India, famous from time 
immemorial as the land of aromatics. Pliny '^ 

^ Periphis of the Erythraean Sea, ch. Ivii. 
* Natural History, xii. 7 (14). 
123 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

refers to the pepper^ and ginger of India and 
the great demand for them in Rome, where they 
were bought by weight like gold and silver. Besides 
aromatics and spices, the articles for which there was 
a great inquiry in Roman markets were precious 
stones, pearls, and minerals, which have been 
carefully noticed and described by Pliny ^ with a 
skill rivalling that of a modern lapidary. The most 
highly prized of these stones was the beryl, found in 
India in only one place, namely Padiyur in the 
Coimbatore district, or at most in two, Vaniyambadi 
in the Salem district being said to also possess a 
mine ; and these beryls were believed to be the best 
and purest in the world. And it is in the neigh- 
bourhood of these mines that the largest number of 
Roman coins has been found. Thirdly, the demand 



J 



^ Cf. McCrindle, Ancient India, p. 121 : "Pepper was in ancient times 
produced chiefly in those parts of India which adjoin the Malabar coast. 
The author of the Periplus names Tyndis, Muziris, Nelkynda, and Bacare 
as the ports from which pepper was exported. The ships, he tells us, 
which frequent these ports are of a large size on account of the great 
amount and bulkiness of the pepper and betel which form the main part of 
their cargoes." Cf. also Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, 
vol. ii., p. 301 : " In the Flavian period, in which the monsoon voyages had 
already become regular, the whole west coast of India was opened up to 
the Roman merchants as far down as the coast of Malabar, the home of 
the highly esteemed and dear-priced pepper, for the sake of which they 
visited the ports of Muziris (probably Mangulura) and Nelcynda (in Indian 
doubtless Nilkantha, from one of the surnames of the god Shiva, probably 
the modern Nileswara). Somewhat farther to the south, at Kananor, 
numerous Roman gold coins of the Julio-Claudian epoch have been found, 
formerly exchanged against the spices destined for the Roman kitchens." 

"^ Natural History, xxxvii. c. i. 

124 



HINDU PERIOD 

on India in Rome was also for silk, muslin, and 
cotton, which were sold at fabulously high prices. 
In the reign of Aurelian, silk was worth fully its 
weight in gold. Tiberius Caesar had to pass a law 
forbidding transparent silk as an indecent dress. 
Mr. Vincent A. Smith has thus summarized the 
information regarding the Roman trade with 
Southern India: "Tamil land had the good for- 
tune to possess three precious commodities not 
procurable elsewhere, namely pepper, pearls, and 
beryls. Pepper fetched an enormous price in the 
markets of Europe. . . . The pearl-fishery of the 
Southern Sea, which still is productive and valu- 
able, had been worked for untold ages, and always 
attracted a crowd of foreign merchants. The mines 
of Padiyur in the Coimbatore district were almost 
the only source known to the ancient world from 
which good beryls could be obtained, and few gems 
were more esteemed by both Indians and Romans. 
The Tamil states maintained powerful navies, and 
were visited freely by ships from both east and 
west, which brought ' merchants of various places 
eager to buy the pearls, pepper, beryls, and other 
choice commodities of India, and to pay for them 
with the gold, silver, and art ware of Europe."^ 

Numismatic evidences bring to light the fact I 
that the Indian trade with Rome was most active 

^ Early History , p. 400. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

1 during the period of eighty years from Augustus to 

I Nero (a.d. 68) ; for the largest number of coins ^ 

\discovered in Southern India refers to this period. 

As already noticed, the locale of these discoveries 

points also to the conclusion that the things which 

India exported comprised mostly spices and precious 

stones. In the long interval between Nero and 

Caracalla (a.d. 217) there must have been a decline 

of this trade, considering the very small number of 

coins discovered which belong to this period, and the 

finds have been mostly in cotton-growing districts, 

so that the conclusion is irresistible that the trade 

with Rome in such luxuries as spices, perfumes, and 

precious stones must have ceased after the death of 

Nero, and only a limited trade in necessaries, such 

as cotton fabrics, continued. This fact is almost in 

keeping with, and indeed explained by, the rise of a 

new era in social manners in Rome at this period 

under Vespasian, when, to use the words of Merivale, 

^ " the simpler habits of the Plebeians and the Pro- 

\vincials prevailed over the reckless luxury and 

1 dissipation in which the highest classes had so long 

^ According to Sewell, " Roman Coins," in the J.R.A.S. for 1904, 
"612 gold coins and 1187 silver, besides hoards discovered which are 
severally described as follows : of gold coins ' a quantity amounting to five 
cooly- loads' ; and of silver coins (i) 'a great many in a plate,' (2) 'about 
500 in an earthen pot,' (3) 'a find of 163,' (4) * some,' (5) ' some thousands,' 
also (6) of metal not stated, * a potfuU.' These coins are the product of 
fifty-five separate discoveries, mostly in the Coimbatore and Madura 
districts." 

126 



HINDU PERIOD 

indulged." The trade with Rome was at a low ebb 
from the days of Caracalla, when Rome was a prey- 
to confusion, both internal and external, and her 
inhabitants could hardly think of spending large 
sums of money on spices, perfumes, and ornaments. 
There have been accordingly but few finds of coins 
belonging to this period, while the discoveries in the 
north are larger than in Southern or Western India. 
The Occidental trade revived again, though slightly, 
under the Byzantine emperors. The localities of 
the coins discovered suggest the conclusion that 
precious stones, cottons, and muslins were not in 
much request in Rome, but that an export trade was 
brisk in pepper and spices shipped from the southern 
ports both on the east and west. And so the fact 
need not surprise us that when Alaric spared Rome 
in A.D. 408 he demanded and obtained as part of 
the ransom 3,000 pounds of pepper.^ The most 
interesting discoveries of this period are the finds at 
Madura, comprising two classes of Roman coins, the 
copper issues of the regular Roman coinage, and 
small copper coins locally minted for daily use ; and 
the suggestion has been made that Roman com- 
mercial agents took up their residence in some of 
the capitals and marts of South India for trade 
purposes at a time when the Roman Empire was 
being overrun by barbarians. Vincent Smith is 

^ Gibbon, ch. xxxi. 
127 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

also of the same opinion, and remarks ^ : "There is 
good reason to believe that considerable colonies of 
Roman subjects engaged in trade were settled in 
Southern India during the first two centuries of our 
era, and that European soldiers, described as power- 
ful Yavanas, and dumb Mlecchas (barbarians) clad 
in complete armour, acted as bodyguards to Tamil 
kings, while the beautiful large ships of the Yavanas 
lay off Muziris (Cranganore) to receive the cargoes 
of pepper paid for by Roman gold." More in- 
teresting and conclusive is the evidence derived 
from the Tamil literature which may be adduced 
here in the words of Mr. Pillay again^ : " Roman 
soldiers were enlisted in the service of the Pandyas 
and other Tamil kings." " During the reign of the 
Pandya Aryappadai- Kadantha- Nedunj - Cheliyan, 
Roman soldiers were employed to guard the gates of 
the fort of Madura." * A poet of this period describes 
a Tamil king's tent on a battlefield as follows : "A 
tent with double walls of canvas firmly held by iron 
chains, guarded by powerful Yavanas, whose stern 
looks strike terror into every beholder, and whose 
long and loose coats are fastened at the waist by 
means of belts, while dumb Mlecchas, clad in com- 
plete armour, who could express themselves only by 



^ Early History of India, pp. 400-401. 
"^ The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, ch. iii. 
' Chilappathikaratn, xiv. ii. 66-67. 
128 



HINDU PERIOD 

gestures, kept close watch throughout the night in the 
outer chamber, constantly moving round the inner 
apartment, which was lighted by a handsome lamp."^ 
It is evident from this description that Yavana and 
other Mlechchhas or foreigners were employed as 
bodyguards by ancient Tamil kings. Mr. Vincent 
Smith further says : " It is even stated, and no doubt 
truly, that a temple dedicated to Augustus existed at 
Muziris. Another foreign (Yavana) colony was 
settled at Kaviripaddanam, or Pukar, a busy port 
situated on the eastern coast at the mouth of the 
northern branch of the Kaviri (Cauveri) river. Both 
town and harbour disappeared long since, and now lie 
buried under vast mounds of sand. The poems tell 
of the importation of Yavana wines, lamps, and vases, 
and their testimony is confirmed by the discovery 
in the Nilgiri megalithic tombs of numerous bronze 
vessels similar to those known to have been pro- 
duced in Europe during the early centuries of the 
Christian era, and by statements of the Peripius!' 

We have now dealt with the numismatic 
evidences that point unmistakably to the trade of 
India with Rome. But the fact of this Roman 
intercourse is further very satisfactorily established 
by the various references ^ we find in the native 



^ Mullaipaddu^ ii. 59-66. 

^ These references have been dealt with in ihe/.A.S.B. for 1906, New 
Series, vol. ii., by Dr. Satischandra Vidyabhusana, M.A., Ph.D. 

129 K 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

literature of India, in the ancient Sanskrit and Pali 
works, to Romaka or the city of Rome. Thus the 
Mahdbhdrata speaks of the Romaka or Romans 
coming to the Emperor Yudhisthira with precious 
presents on the occasion of the Rajasuya Yajna at 
Indraprastha or Delhi. ^ In the five famous astro- 
nomical works named Paitdmaha, Vdsishtha^ 
Suryya^ Paulisa, and Romaka Siddkdntas, some 
of which were compiled in the 3rd or 2nd century a.d., 
Romaka is often mentioned as a Mahdpuri, Pat- 
tana, or Visaya, i.e. a great city, state, or dominion. 
Varahamihira, who flourished about a.d. 505, also 
mentions Romaka in his well-known works Pancha- 
Siddhdntika and Vrihat-Sanhitd. In a passage * 
in the former work he says that while there is sun- 
rise at Lanka there is midnight at Romaka, and in the 
1 6th chapter of the Vrihat-Sanhitd he speaks of the 
Romaka ^ or Romans standing under the influence 
of Chandra or the moon. Lastly, in the Pali Pitaka 
Romaka is mentioned the Romaka-ydtaka, which 
describes a sham priest killing a pigeon to eat it 

{Mahdbhdrata, Sabha Parva, ch. 51.) 
2 ^^^f^^fr^WT ^T^: f^T^' ^^^-^ I 

130 



HINDU PERIOD 

contrary to Buddhist practices, evidently to show 
the contrast of a Buddhist ascetic with a Roman 
ascetic. 

Besides these evidences from ancient Indian 
works regarding the intercourse with Rome, there 
are also evidences from foreign works bearing on" 
the subject. We have already referred to the 
enumeration and description of the vegetable and 
mineral products which India sent abroad, by Pliny, 
who calls India " the sole mother of precious stones," 
'* the great producer of the most costly gems." 
Even as far back as 177 B.C., Agatharcides, who 
was President of the Alexandrian Library, and is 
mentioned with respect by Strabo, Pliny, and 
Diodorus, describes Sabaea (Yemen) as being the 
centre of commerce between Asia and Europe, 
and very wealthy because of the monopoly of the 
Indian trade. He also saw large ships coming 
from the Indus and Patala. But the more im- 
portant works in this connection are undoubtedly 
the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (a.d. 100) and 
Ptolemy's Geography (a.d. 140). The Periplus, a 
sort of marine guide-book, is the record of an 
experienced sailor who navigated the Red Sea, 
Persian Gulf, Malabar and Coromandel coasts, and 
resided for many years at Barygaza-Bharoach. 
According to the Periplus, Bharoach was the princi- 
pal distributing centre of Western India, from 
which the merchandise brought from abroad was 

131 K 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

carried to the inland countries. Paithan, situated 
at twenty days' journey to the south of Barygaza, 
and Tagara, ten days' east of Pithan (modern 
Dharur in the Nizam's territory), were two inland 
towns of great commercial importance, of which the 
former sent into Bharoach for export waggons 
containing large quantities of onyx stones, and the 
latter ordinary cottons, muslins, mallow-coloured 
cottons, and other articles of local production. The 
other seaport towns mentioned in the Periplus are 
Souppara (modern Supara, near Bassein), Kalliena 
(modern Kalyan), a place by the way "of great 
commercial importance, since a good many of the 
donors whose names are inscribed in the caves at 
Kanhiri and some mentioned in the caves at Junnar 
were merchants residing in Kalyan," ^ Semulla 
(identified with Chembur by some and Chaul by 
others), Mandagora (modern Mandad), Palaipatamai 
(probably Pal near Mahad), Melizeigara (modern 
Jayagad), and others. To the south three great 
emporia are mentioned, viz. Tyndis, Muziris, and 
Nelkynda, from which were exported pepper, spices, 
pearl, ivory, fine silks, and precious stones, such as 
diamonds, rubies, and amethysts. It may also be 
\ mentioned that the P^^^i^^^ noticed large Hindu 
I ships off East African, Arabian, and Persian ports 



^ J.B.B.R.A.S., vol. vi. ; Arch. Sur. W. India, No. lo; and Dr. 
Bhandarkar's Early History of the Deccan, 

132 



HINDU PERIOD 

and Hindu settlements on the north coast of Socotra.7 
In fact, as pointed out by Dr. Vincent, " in the age 
of the Periplus, the merchants of the country round 
Barygaza traded to Arabia for gums and incense, to 
the coast of Africa for gold, and to Malabar and 
Ceylon for pepper and cinnamon,^ and thus com- 
pleted the navigation of the entire Indian Ocean." 
The Periplus also throws some light on the shipping 
of the period. According to it, the inhabitants of 
the Coromandel coast traded in vessels of their own 
with those of Malabar, and at all seasons there 
was a number of native ships to be found in the 
harbour of Muziris. Three marts are mentioned 
on the Coromandel coast in which " are found the 
native vessels which make coasting voyages to 
Limurike — the monoxyla of the largest sort, called 
sangara, and others styled colandiophonta, which are 
vessels of great bulk and adapted to the voyages 
made to the Ganges and the Golden Chersonese." ^ 



^ Commerce of the AndentSyyiS^. ii., p. 404. 

^ Dr. Vincent makes the following interesting comment in this con- 
nection : " The different sorts of vessels constructed in these ports are 
correspondent to modern accounts; the monoxyla are still in use, not 
canoes, as they are improperly rendered ; but with their foundation formed 
of a single timber, hollowed, and then raised with tiers of planking till they 
will contain 100 or 150 men. Vessels of this sort are employed in the 
intercourse between the two coasts ; but the colandiophonta, built for the 
trade to Malacca, perhaps to China, were exceedingly large and stout, 
resembling probably those described by Marco Polo and Nicolo di Conti." 
Varthema likewise mentions vessels of this sort at Tamasari (Masulipatam) 
that were of 1000 tons burthen (lib. vi., ch. 12) designed for this very 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Some details are also given regarding the trade- 
routes. The ships carrying on the Indian trade 
started from Myos Hormos or Berenika, and sailed 
down the Red Sea to Mouza (twenty-five miles 
south of Mokha) and thence to the watering-place 
Okelis at the straits. They then followed the 
Arabian coast as far as Kane, passing on the way 
Eudaimon (Aden), Arabia, once a great mart for 
Indian traders. From Kane the routes to India 
diverge, some ships sailing to the Indus and on to 
Barygaza, and others direct to the ports of Limy- 
rike (Malabar coast). There was also another 
route to Limyrike, starting from Aromata (Cape 
Guardafui). In all three voyages the ships made 
use of the monsoon, then called Hippalos, starting 
from Egypt in July. 

Ptolemy's Geography describes the whole sea 
coast from the mouths of the Indus to those of the 
Ganges, and mentions many towns and ports of 
commercial importance. These are, among others, 
Syrastra (Surat), Monoglosson (Mangrol) in Guzerat, 
Ariake (Maharasthra),^ Soupara, Muziris, Bakarei, 
Maisolia (Maslipatam), Kounagara (Konarak), and 
other places. Bishop Caldwell has pointed out that 



trade to Malacca. The other vessels employed on the coast of Malabar, 
as Trapagga and Kotumba, it is not necessary to describe ; they have still 
in the Eastern Ocean germs, trankees, dows, grabs, galivats, praams, junks, 
champans, etc." {Commerce of the Ancients, vol. ii., p. 521.) 

^ Grammar of the Dravidian Languages, p. 94. 



HINDU PERIOD 

in these three works, viz. Pliny's Natural History, ] 
the Peripiiis, and Ptolemy's Geography, is to be\ 
found the largest stock of primitive Dravidian words ( 
contained in any written documents of ancient times. 
More interesting and reliable information re- 
garding some of these South Indian ports is supplied 
by the Tamil literature of the times, in which are 
contained descriptions of their magnitude and 
magnificence which cannot fail to bring home to our 
minds the throbbing international life pervading 
entire Tamilakam. Thus Muchiri, an important 
seaport near the mouth of the Periyar, is described 
by a Tamil poet as follows : " The thriving town of 
Muchiri, where the beautiful large ships of the 
Yavanas, bringing gold, come splashing the white 
foam on the waters of the Periyar which belongs to 
the Cherala, and return laden with pepper."^ "Fish 
is bartered for paddy, which is brought in baskets 
to the houses," says another poet : " sacks of pepper 
are brought from the houses to the market ; the 
gold received from ships, in exchange for articles 
sold, is brought to sHore in barges at Muchiri, where 
the music of the surging sea never ceases, and where 
Kudduvan (the Chera King) presents to visitors the 
rare products of the seas and mountains."^ The 
description given of Kaviripaddinam (the Kamara 

* Erukkaddtir Thayan Kannanar-Akam, 148. 

* Oaranar-Puram, 343. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

of the Periplus and Khaberis of Ptolemy) or Pukar 
are equally important and inspiring. It was built 
on the northern bank of the Kaviri river, then a 
broad and deep stream into which heavily laden 
ships entered from the sea without slacking sail. 
The town was divided into two parts, one of which, 
Maruvar-Pakkam, adjoined the sea-coast. Near the 
beach in Maruvar-Pakkam were raised platforms and 
godowns and warehouses where the goods landed 
from ships were stored. Here the goods were 
stamped with the Tiger Stamp (the emblem of the 
Chola kings) after payment of customs duty, and 
passed on to merchants' warehouses.^ Close by 
were the settlements of the Yavana merchants, where 
many attractive articles were always exposed for 
sale. Here were also the quarters of foreign traders 
who had come from beyond the seas and who spoke 
various tongues. Vendors of fragrant pastes and 
powders, of flowers and incense, tailors who worked 
on silk, wool, or cotton, traders in sandal, aghil, 
coral, pearl, gold, and precious stones, grain mer- 
chants, washermen, dealers in fish and salts, butchers, 
blacksmiths, braziers, carpenters, coppersmiths, 
painters, sculptors, goldsmiths, cobblers, and toy- 
makers — all had their habitation in Maruvar- 
Pakkam.^ Another account thus describes the 



^ Paddinappalai^ 134-136. 
^ Chilappathikarant. 



HINDU PERIOD 

markets of Kaviripaddinam : " Horses were brought 
from distant lands beyond the seas ; pepper was 
brought in ships ; gold and precious stones came 
from the northern mountains ; sandal and aghil 
came from the mountains towards the west ; 
pearls from the Southern seas, and coral from 
the Eastern seas. The produce of the regions 
watered by the Ganges ; all that is grown on the 
banks of the Kaviri ; articles of food from Elam or 
Ceylon and the manufacturers of Kalakam " (in 
Burma) were brought to the markets of Kaviripad- 
dinam.^ What is again worth noting is the fact 
that in these Chola ports there were lighthouses 
built of brick and mortar which exhibited blazing 
lights at night to guide ships to ports. It is also 
said that the palace of the Chola king in the city of 
Kaviripaddinam was built by ''skilled artisans from 
Magadha, mechanics from Maradam, smiths from 
Avanti, carpenters from Yavana, and the cleverest 
workmen in the Tamil land." ^ 

It may be noted in passing that in the period we 
are considering, India also maintained a sort of 
political connection with Rome, besides the com- 
mercial. Strabo ^ mentions that a mission or an 
embassy was sent to Augustus Caesar in 20 b.c. by 



^ Paddinappalai, 1-40. 

* The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, pp. 16, 24, 25, and 26. 

' Book XV., ch. iv., 73. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

the Indian king Pandion. It is now settled beyond 
doubt that Pandion was the king of the Pandyas of 
the south, who were then the only people in India 
that perceived the advantages of a European 
alliance that was first entered into in the days of the 
Mauryan emperors of Northern India. Strabo also 
mentions the name of Zarmano-Khegas, i.e. one of 
the Germanae, still called Sarmanes by the Hindus, 
as one of the ambassadors from Porus, king of 600 
kings, to Augustus, who burnt himself at Athens ; 
his epitaph was, " Here rests Khegas or Khegan the 
Jogue, an Indian from Barugaza (or Bhroach), who 
rendered himself immortal according to the custom 

{ of his country."^ The embassies to Augustus are 
) also alluded to by Dion Cassius,- by Florus,^ and 

^^ Orosius.^ Dion Cassius ^ (a.d. 180) also speaks of 
Trajan receiving many embassies from Indians. 
With regard to this embassy Mr. Vincent A. Smith 
remarks : " The Indian embassy which offered its 
congratulations to Trajan after his arrival in Rome 
in 99 A.D. probably was dispatched by Kadphises II. 
to announce his conquest of North- Western India." ^ 

\# Dr. Vincent's Commerce of the Ancients , vol. i., p. 19. 
^ Hist. jRomey ix. 73. 
^ Epitome of Roman History, iv, 12. 

* History, vi. 12. 

* Hist. Rome, ix. 58. Dion Cassius also says (Lxvii. 28) : " Trajan 
having reached the ocean (at the mouth of the Tigris) saw a vessel setting 
sail for India." 

* Early History of India, New Edition, p. 238. 






HINDU PERIOD 

Eusebius Pampheli ^ speaks of Indian ambassadors 
bringing presents to Constantine the Great ; and 
Ammianus Marcellinus^ of embassies sent by' 
Indians to the Emperor Julian in 361 a.d. 

The explanation of this intercourse of India with\A 
Rome is to be found in the fact that " from the time 
of Mark Antony to the time of Justinian, i.e. from 
B.C. 30 to A.D. 550, their political importance as 
allies against the Parthians and Sassanians, and 
their commercial importance as controllers of one of 
the main trade routes between the East and the 
West, made the friendship of the Kusans or Sakas, 
who held the Indus Valley and Baktria, a matter of 
the highest importance to Rome."^ How close was 
the friendship is shown in a.d. 60 by the Roman 
general Corbulo escorting the Hyrcanian ambas- 
sadors up the Indus and through the territories of 
the Kushans or Indo-Scythians on their return from 
their embassy to Rome.* This close connection 
between India and the Roman Empire during the 
period of the Kushans also explains the mass of 
accurate information regarding the Indus valley 
and Bactria which Ptolemy in the ist century a.d., 
and the author of the Periplus had been able to 
record, while it also accounts for the special value 



^ De Vita Constant^ iv. 50. 

^ xxii. vii. 10, 

^ Bombay Gazetteer, vol. i., Part i., p. 490. 

* Rawlinson's /'d'r/'/^ia, 271. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

of the gifts which the Periplus notices were set 
apart for the rulers of Sindh. One other result of 
this long-continued alliance was, as has been already 
indicated, the gaining by the Kushan and other 
rulers of the Peshawar and the Punjab of a know- 
ledge of Roman coinage and astronomy. 

After Pliny, Ptolemy, and the Periplus, the next 
important foreign notice of Indian commerce is that 
.^f^Cosims Jn^icopleust^ (a.d. 535), which, though 
of a later date, may be most conveniently considered 
here. His Christian Topography furnishes some 
interesting particulars respecting Ceylon and the 
Malabar coast, included in which he preserves 
for us also a few Tamil words. He speaks of 
Mala or Malabar as the chief seat of the pepper 
trade, and mentions the five pepper marts of 
Poudopatana, Nalopatana, Salopatana, Manga- 
routh, and Parti, and also other ports farther 
northward on the western coast, such as Kallyan 
and Surat. He describes Ceylon under the name 
of Serendip as the place where '' were imported the 
silk of Sinae-Roman China and the precious spices 
of the Eastern countries, and which were conveyed 
thence to all parts of India and to other countries." 
He then considers Ceylon ^ as the centre of commerce 
between China and the Gulf of Persia and the Red 
Sea. It was also " a great resort of ships from all 

^ McCrindle's Ancient India, p. i6i. 
140 



HINDU PERIOD 

parts of India and from Persia and Ethiopia, and in 
like manner it dispatches many of its own to foreign 
ports." He is the first Western author who " fully 
asserts the intercourse by sea between India and 
China," ^ and alludes to the Eastern trade of India, 
of which we now must give an account. 

v ^ Dr. Vincent's Commerce of the Ancients, vol. ii., pp. 507-600. -^ 



141 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Period of Hindu Imperialism in North- 
ern India under the Guptas and Har- 

SHAVARDHANA — ThE FOUNDATION OF A 

Greater India : Intercourse with Farther 
India. 

Throughout the centuries when India carried on 
her maritime and political intercourse with Rome 
she also maintained an equally active commerce 
with the farther East. The trade with the West 
alone was unable to give a full scope to her 
throbbing international life. We have already indi- 
cated some of the evidences supplied by Buddhist 
texts belonging to a period of a thousand years 
from 600 B.C., which all point to a complete naviga- 
tion of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean and 
the flow of a steady and ceaseless traffic between 
Bengal and Ceylon, Madras and Burma. Those 
evidences have been set forth in great detail, and 
need not be reproduced here. As Elphinstone ^ has 
pointed out, "the inhabitants of the coast of Coro- 
mandel seem early to have been distinguished by 

^•History of India^ p. 185. 
142 



HINDU PERIOD 

their maritime enterprise from their countrymen onA 
the west of India." Mr. Vincent Smith ^ also says : / 
" Ancient Tamil literature and the Greek and Roman 
authors prove that in the first two centuries of the 
Christian era the ports on the Coromandal or Chola 
coast enjoyed the benefits of active commerce with 
both West and East. The Chola fleets did not 
confine themselves to coasting voyages, but boldly 
crossed the Bay of Bengal to the mouths of the 
Ganges and the Irrawaddy, and the Indian Ocean to 
the islands of the Malay Archipelago." Of the 
precise part played by the Tamils and their trade 
with Eastern nations, no detailed accounts are 
available, but according to our authority on this 
subject, Mr. Pillay, there are many allusions in 
ancient Tamil poems to voyages undertaken by 
merchants and others to Nagapuram in Chavakam 
(Sumatra or Java), Kalakam in Burma, and sea- 
ports in Ceylon and Bengal. Thus a ship sailing 
from the coast of Madura to Chavakam (Java) is 
said to have touched at Manipallavam, an island 
between Ceylon andTndia on which was one of the 
sacred seats of Buddha. Again, in another Tamil 
poem of the ist century a.d. it is said that ships 
from Kalakan (the ancient name of Kaddaram in 
Burma) brought articles of merchandise to Kavirip- 
paddinam, the great emporium at the mouth of the 

* Early History of India, p. 415. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Kaveri.^ Lower Burma or Pegu was conquered 
by emigrants from the Telugu kingdoms bordering 
on the Bay of Bengal, and consequently the people 
of Pegu have long been known to the Burmese and 
to all foreigners by the name of Talaing.^ 

Next to the Tamils in the eastward maritime 
activity of India the pioneering work seems to have 
been done and the lead taken by the ancient king- 
dom of Kalinga on the eastern sea-board, which is 
said to have been founded " at least eight centuries 
before Christ,"^ and which extended from the mouth 
of the Ganges to the mouth of the Krishna. " It 
formed one of the five ^ outlying kingdoms of ancient 
India, with its capital about halfway down the coast 
and still surviving in the present city of Kalinga- 
patam." ^ This kingdom was ruled for many 
centuries by princes of the Buddhist persuasion, 
a religion which did not tolerate any antipathy 
against foreign nations. The materials for the 
early history of this kingdom are mainly monu- 
mental in their character. Some of the inscrip- 
tions " speak of navigation and ship-commerce as 
forming part of the education of the princes of 



^ Paddinappalaiy 1. 191. 

' Sir A. P. Phayre's History of Burma, pp. 28 and 31. 
^ Hunter's Orissa, p. 188. \ 

* Viz. Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Shuma, and Pundra. 
' Hunter's Orissa^ vol. i., p. 170. 
144 



HINDOk PERIOD 



Kalinga."^ The Chilk^Lake in those days made 
an excellent harbour for anchorage, "crowded with 
ships from distant countries."^ The conjecture may- 
be hazarded that the great sea-king Bali of the Rdma- 
yana might have been no other than a monarch of 
the sea-coast kingdom of Kalinga. At first confining 
their maritime efforts to Ceylon, the Klings from 
mere coasting soon began to make bolder voyages 
across the Bay of Bengal. From the evidences 
furnished by the Buddhagat, or the sacred scripture 
of the Burmese in particular, it is clear that a steady 
commercial intercourse was cultivated with Burma 
by the Buddhist merchants of Kalinga, which soon 
led to missionary undertakings for the propagation 
of their religion, and afterwards to the assumption 
of political supremacy in the land.^ One of Asoka's 
religious missions was to Suvarna-bhumi or Burma, 
and one of the most famous of Hindu settlements, 
the remains of which still exist, was Thara-khetra 



^ Hunter's Orissa, vol. i., p, 197. Hunter remarks : " This and others 
of the inscriptions prove, in the opinion of the scholar to whom we owe 
their decipherings, that Kalinga was at that time an emporium of trade. 
We know from other sources that, shut out as Orissa was from the general 
policy of India, it boasted of fabrics which it could send as valuable 
presents to the most civilized monarchs of the interior. So fine was the 
linen which the prince of Kalinga sent to the King of Oudh, that a priestess 
who put on the gauzy fabric was accused of appearing naked." (" Cosma's 
Analysis of the Dulva," Journal As. Soc. of Bengal^ vi., 1837.) 

2 History of Puri, by Brojokishore Ghosh. 

3 " History of the Burma Race," by Col. Sir A. Phayre, A.SJ., no. i, 
1864, and no. 2, 1868. 

145 L 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

near Prome.^ According to R. F. St. Andrew St. 
John,^ " somewhere about 300 a.d. people from the 
west coast of the Bay of Bengal founded colonies 
on the coasts of the Gulf of Martaban, of which 
the principal appears to have been Thaton or 
Saddhammanagara." The intercourse between 
Kalinga and Burma also appears from Sir A. P. 
Phayre's statement of coins and medals with Hindu 
symbols being found in Pegu.^ "That there was 
intercourse also with Malacca is evident from many 
words in the Malayan language which Marsden has 
traced to an Indian or Sanskrit origin. To this day 
there are Klings or descendants of settlers from 
ancient Kalinga at Singapore." The Klings are the 
lowest class of Indians, and their name is derived 
from Kalinga in India, from whence they are said 
to have come. Indians, moreover, of a higher 
grade, Madrasees, Tamils, etc., are also called Klings 
at Singapore.^ With reference to this ancient trade 
Sir Walter Elliot observes: ''There is no doubt 
that the intercourse between the east coast of India 
and the whole of the opposite coast of the Bay of 
Bengal and the Straits of Malacca was far greater in 
ancient times. ... It had attained its height at the 
time the Buddhists were in the ascendant, i.e. during 



1 " History of the Burma Race," by Col. Sir A. Phayre in A.SJ. 

a J.R.A.S., 1898. 

3 History of Burma, p. 31. 

* Mission Life, May, 1867. 

146 




HINDU PERIOD # ^^ 





the first five or six centuries of our era. The first great (y^ \^ 
Buddhist persecution both checked it and also drove ^ ^ 
great numbers of the victims to the opposite coast. v 

The Tamil and Telugu local histories and tradition ^ 
are full of such narratives. When the Chalukya 
prince, brother of the King of Kalyan, was founding 
a new kingdom at Rajamundry, which involved the 
rooting out and dispersion of the pre-existing rulers, 
nothing is more probable than that some of the ^ 
fugitives should have found their way to Pegu. 
One Tamil MS. refers to a party of Buddhist exiles, 
headed by a king of Manda, flying in their ship 
from the coast." ^ 



Sir A. p. Phayre, " History of Pegu," in A.SJ., 1873. 



147 L 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



CHAPTER V. 

The Period of Hindu Imperialism in Northern 
India (continued) : The Colonization of Java. 

Perhaps the most interesting and conspicuous fact 
in connection with the Indian maritime activity 
towards the East is the Hindu colonization of Java, 
one of the most glorious achievements recorded in 
the entire history of the country. And yet the first 
impulse to this colonizing activity and expansion of 
India had its origin in the obscure kingdom of 
Kalinga, whose early history nobody knows or cares 
to know. As far back as the 75th year of the 
Christian era a band of Hindu navigators sailed 
from Kalinga, and, instead of plying within the 
usual limits of the Bay of Bengal, boldly ventured 
out into the open limitless expanse of the Indian 
Ocean and arrived at the island of Java. There 
the adventurous navigators planted a colony, built 
towns and cities, and developed a trade with the 
mother country which existed for several centuries. 
The history of this Hindu colonization of Java is 
thus briefly put by Elphinstone : " The histories of 
Java give a distinct account of a numerous body of 
Hindus from Clinga (Kalinga) who landed on this 

148 



HINDU PERIOD 

island, civilized the inhabitants, and who fixed the 
date of their arrival by establishing the era still 
subsisting, the first year of which fell in the 75th 
year after Christ. The truth of this narrative is 
proved beyond doubt by the numerous and magnifi- 
cent Hindu remains that are still existing in Java, 
and by the fact that, although the common language 
is Malay, the sacred language, that of historical and 
political compositions and of most inscriptions, is a 
dialect of Sanskrit. The early date is almost as 
decisively proved by the journal of the Chinese 
pilgrim in the end of the 4th century who found 
Java entirely peopled by Hindus, and who sailed 
from the Ganges to Ceylon, from Ceylon to Java, 
and from Java to China in ships manned by crews 
professing the Brahminical religion." ^ 

That Kalinga had a large share in the coloniza- 
tion of Java and the adjacent islands is hinted at 
not only in the native chronicles of Java but is also 
accepted as truth by many competent scholars. 
Crawford (a.d. 1820) held that all Hindu influence 
in Java came from Kalinga or North-East Madras. 
Fergusson ^ also observes : " The splendid remains 
at Amravati show that from the mouths of the 
Krishna and Godavari the Buddhists of North 
and North-West India colonized Pegu, Cambodia, 

^ History of India, Cowell's Edition, p. 185. 
* Indian Architecture, p. 103. 
149 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

and eventually the island of Java." Tavernier^ in 
A.D. 1666 remarked that " Masulipatam is the only 
place in the Bay of Bengal from which vessels 
sailed eastwards for Bengal, Arrakan, Pegu, Siam, 
Sumatra, Cochin China, and the Manillas, and west 
to Hormuz, Makha, and Madagascar." Inscriptions 
also bear out the correctness of the connection 
between the Kalinga coast and Java which Java 
legends have preserved.^ Besides, as Dr. Bhan- 
darkar has pointed out ^ in his article on the eastern 
passage of the Sakas, certain inscriptions also show 
a Magadhi element which may have reached Java 
from Sumatra, and Sumatra from the coast either 
of Bengal or Orissa. It is further observed, in the 
Bombay Gazetteer, that " the Hindu settlement of 
Sumatra was almost entirely from the east coast of 
India, and that Bengal, Orissa, and Masulipatam 
had a large share in colonizing both Java and 
Cambodia cannot be doubted."'^ 

There is, however, another legend preserved in 
the native chronicles of Java which transfers the 
credit of its colonization from Kalinga on the 
eastern coast to Gujarat on the west. According 



* Ball's Translation, i, 174 

2 Indian Antiquary^ v. 314, vi. 356; referred to in the Bombay 
Gazetteer, vol. i.. Part i., p. 496. 

3 Journal, Bombay Branch of R.A.S., xvii. 

* Vol. i., Part i., p. 493. 



HINDU PERIOD 

to this legend, a great and powerful prince from 
Gujarat named Aji Saka made his descent on the 
island about a.d. 75, but was soon compelled to 
withdraw in consequence of a pestilence or some 
other calamity. This story was perhaps invented 
only to show the connection of the ancient royal 
dynasty of Java with the Saka kings of Northern 
India. The Javanese chronicles, however, record, 
besides this abortive attempt, another more success- 
ful attempt^ at colonization, made again from the 
west coast of India, about a.d. 603, when a ruler 
from Gujarat, forewarned of the coming destruction 
of his kingdom, started his son with five thousand 
followers, among whom were cultivators, artisans, 
warriors, physicians, and writers, in six large and a 
hundred small vessels towards Java. After some 
difficulty they got to the western coast of Java, and 
built there the town of Mendang Kumulan. The 
son soon sent for more men to his father, who dis- 
patched a reinforcement of 2,000, including carvers 
in stone and brass. An extensive commerce sprang 
up with Gujarat and other countries, and the foun- 
dations were laid of temples that were afterwards 
known as Prambanam and Borobudur, the grandest 
specimens of Buddhist art in the whole of Asia. 
These legendary facts are probably connected with 
some central event in a process which continued 

* History ofjava^ by Sir Stamford Raffles, vol. ii., p. 82. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

for at least half a century before and after the 
beginning of the 7th century, a process of Saka 
migration that was stimulated by the then con- 
dition of Northern India, and was almost a 
sequence of the final collapse of the Saka power 
at the beginning of the 5th century, when the Saka 
kingdom of Surashthra or Kathiawar was conquered 
by Chandra Gupta 11.,^ and Brahmanism supplanted 
Buddhism as the dominant State religion in India. 
Then " the Buddhist art-traditions went with the 
Saka immigrants into Java, where they reached 
their highest expression in the magnificent sculpture 
of Borobudur." ^ There were, however, other forces 
at work which conspired to bring about a general 
movement among Northern Indians. The defeat of 
the White Hunas bySassanians and Turks between 
A.D. 550 and 600 intercepted their retreat north- 
wards ; secondly, there were the conquests of 
Prabhakaravardhana, the father of S'ri-Harsha of 
Magadha, who defeated the king of Gandhara, the 
Hunas, the king of Sindh, the Gurjjaras, the Latas, 
and the king of Malava ; and thirdly, there followed 
close upon them the further defeats inflicted by 
S'ri-Harsha himself about twenty years later (a.d. 
610-642), so that there would be quite swarms of 
refugees at the Gujarat ports eager to escape further 

^ See v. A. Smith's Early History of India, pp. i86, 187. 
* Indian Sculpture and Fainting, by E. B. Havell, p. 113. 



HINDU PERIOD 

attack and to share in the prosperity of Java. If we 
add to these the following further events which all 
took place during the second half of the 7th century, 
viz. the advance of the Turks from the north, and 
of the Arabs both by sea (a.d. 637) and through 
Persia^ (a.d. 650-660), the conquering progress ^ of 
a Chinese army from Magadha to Bamian in a.d. 
645-650, the overthrow (a.d. 642) of the Buddhist 
Saharais by their usurping Brahmanist minister 
Chach, and his persecution of the Jats, we have 
a concatenation of circumstances which sufficiently 
explains the resulting movement, fairly constant, of 
Northern Indians southwards from the ports of 
Sindh and Gujarat, a movement which, though 
caused by fear, would be strengthened by the tidings 
of Javan prosperity reaching the leaders. For the 
same enterprise and ambition that led Alexander to 
put to sea from the mouths of the Indus, Trajan 
from the mouth of the Tigris, and Mahmud of 
Ghazni from Somnath, must also have driven the 



^ In 637 A.D. raiders attacked Thana from Oman and Bhroach, and 
Sindh from Bahrein. — Reinaud's Memoire sur Plnde, 170, 176. 

^ The Chinese emperor sent an ambassador, Ouang-h-wuentse, to Sri- 
Harsha, who, on his arrival, found he was dead (a.d. 642) and hi% place 
usurped by a minister who drove him off. The envoy retired to Tibet, and 
with help from Tibet and Nepal he returned, defeated the usurper, and 
pursued him to the Gandhara river. The passage was forced, the army 
captured, the king, queen, and their sons were led prisoners to China, and 
580 cities surrendered ; the magistrates proclaimed the victory in the Temple 
of the Ancients, and the emperor raised the rank of the triumphant 
ambassador. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Saka, Huna, and Gurjjara chiefs to lead their men 
south to the land of rubies and gold/ 



* In comparing the relative importance of the western and eastern 
Indian strains in Java, it is to be remembered that the western element has 
been overlaid by a late Bengal and Kalinga layer of fugitives from the 
Tibetan conquest of Bengal in the 8th century and during the gth and 
later centuries by bands of Buddhists withdrawing from a land where their 
religion was no longer honoured. — Bombay Gazetteer^ vol. i., p. 498. 



154 



HINDU PERIOD 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Period of Hindu Imperialism in 

Northern India {continued) \ The Maritime 

Activity of the Bengalis. 

There was also another people that played a very 
prominent part in the sea-borne trade and colonizing 
activity of India towards the East. The testimony 
that history bears to the military, religious, and 
maritime enterprise and achievements of the ancient 
Buddhistic Bengali in the earlier centuries of the 
Christian era now scarcely wins belief and accept- 
ance. Yet it is an incontrovertible fact that Bengal 
of old gave birth to men who marched armies 
beyond the frontiers of modern India and ruled for 
a time as the paramount power in the land ; who 
braved the perils of the deep in armed galleys, and 
carried home foreign itinerants in their ships. It is 
also equally noteworthy that from very early times 
she has been the home of many a religious move- 
ment whose influence penetrated to lands far beyond 
her limits. It is hardly sufficiently known that 
during the first few centuries of the Christian era 
an enthusiastic band of devoted Bengalis, burning 
with a proselytizing zeal, went as far as China, Corea, 
and Japan, carrying with them the torch of the 

155 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Buddhistic faith, while her Buddhistic scholars and 
reformers, like Atisha, Dipankara, and S'ilabhadra, 
achieved an Asiatic fame, and were known through- 
out the wider Buddhistic world. It is also a recent 
discovery that some of the scriptures of the Japanese 
priests preserved in the Horiuzi temple of Japan 
are written in Bengali characters of the nth century,^ 
thus testifying to the extraordinary vitality of Ben- 
gali religious activity that made itself felt even 
in the Land of the Rising Sun. Artists and art- 
critics also see in the magnificent sculptures of the 
Burobudur temple in Java the hand of Bengali 
artists who worked side by side with the people of 
Kalinga and Gujarat in thus building up its early 
civilization. And the numerous representations of 
ships which we find in the vast panorama of the 
bas-reliefs of that colossal temple reveal the type of 
ships which the people of Lower Bengal built and 
used in sailing to Ceylon, Java, Sumatra, China, 
and Japan, in pursuit of their colonizing ambition, 
commercial interests, and artistic and religious 
missions. The Mahdwansa and other Buddhistic 
works tell us how as early as about 550 B.C. Prince 



^ The priests of the temple worship the manuscript of a Buddhistic 
work called Usnisa Vijaya Dharmi, written in a character considered by 
experts to be identical with that prevalent in Bengal in the 6th century. 
Vide Anecdota Oxoniensis, vol. iii. For information regarding this and 
some other points connected with ancient Bengali enterprise, I am indebted 
to Srijukta Dineshchander Sen, the learned author of the History of Bengali 
Literature. 



156 



HINDU PERIOD 

Vijaya of Bengal with his 700 followers achieved 
the conquest and colonization of Ceylon, and gave 
to the island the name of Sinhala after that of his 
dynasty — an event which is the starting-point of 
Sinhalese history. It is also said that in a still 
earlier period the Bengalis of Champa, near Bha- 
galpur, founded a settlement in Cochin China, and 
named it after their famous native town.^ No less 
creditable also were the artistic achievements of 
Bengal ; ^ besides, as we have seen, influencing the 
art of Borobudur, Bengali art has influenced that 
of Nepal through the schools of painting, sculpture, 
and works in cast metal founded about the middle 
of the 9th century by Dhiman and his son Bitpal, 
inhabitants of Barendra, and from Nepal the art of 
the Bengali masters spread to China and other 
parts of the Buddhistic world. 

This tradition of Bengalis being once famous 
for their maritime enterprises and commercial 
activities has also been, as may be naturally 
expected, well preserved in their literature. No 
folk-lore is so popular in Bengal as those volumes of 
poetry evoked by devotion to the goddesses of 



^ Rhys David's Buddhist India, p. 35. 

^ Indian Antiquary, vol. iv., p. loi. Mr. Havell, in his Indian Sculpture 
and Painting, writes : " From the seaports of her eastern and western coasts 
India sent streams of colonists, missionaries, and craftsmen all over 
Southern Asia, Ceylon, Siam, and far-distant Cambodia. Through China 
and Korea Indian art entered Japan about the middle of the 6th century." 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Chandi and Manasa, and in them are contained 
accounts of the maritime adventures of merchants 
like Dhanapati, S'rimanta, and Chand Saodagara, 
which, in spite of the miraculous details invented and 
imported into them by a pious imagination and warm 
religious feeling, contain a nucleus of truth, and 
unmistakably point to one of the ways through which 
the national genius of the country chose to express 
itself. In the same manner that Shakespeare's 
Antonio had '* an argosy bound for Tripoly, another 
for the Indies, a third for Mexico, and a fourth for 
England," is our Indian S'rimanta represented to 
possess merchantmen trading to the Coromandel 
coast, to Ceylon, to Malacca, Java, and China. 
The vast collection of poems known as the Padma 
Purdfia or Manasdmangala is formed by the con- 
tributions of more than fifty authors who have all 
described sea voyages. About eight or nine poems 
form the group of poems celebrating the glories of 
the goddess Chandi, and in nearly all of them are 
also contained accounts of sea voyages. These 
works belong to so late a period as the i6th century, 
and their value lies in the fact that they thus carry 
down to comparatively late times the tradition of the 
Bengalis being once known for their commercial and 
maritime pursuits. The oldest record in Bengali 
literature is that of Narayanadeva, a poet who 
lived about the latter part of the 13th century, and 
who has given a graphic account of the sea voyage 

158 



HINDU PERIOD 

of Chand Saodagara. Another account, free from 
exaggerations and fabulous details, and hence more 
reliable, is that given by Ban^i Dasa, who of course 
profusely borrows from Narayanadeva. 

These poems together throw a great light on the 
then condition of commerce in Bengal. Sailors for 
sea-going vessels were then, as now, recruited from 
the people of East Bengal, who have been the object 
of genial banter in the writings of Kavikankana, 
Ketakadasa, Kshemananda, and others. Ships had 
more poetical names in those days than now. In 
Manasdmangala poems we come across such names 
as Gangdprasdd (^nsTti^nTttf), Sdgarafend (>rt^f?c^Rl), 
Hansarava (^^t^), Rdjavallava i^Awm^)^ and the 
like. There is a very detailed account of the fleet 
of Dhanapati sailing towards Ceylon in Kavi- 
kankana Chandf, which is well worth a notice.^ It 

^ v2f^ ^f%^ fswi 5^tT ^^;i^ 

^tf*f ^1^ ^U ^f^ ^tCSF CRT ^ I 

159 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

is made up of seven vessels. The head ship is 
called Madhukara (t^^), generally meant for 
princes and big merchants : its cabin is made all of 
gold. The second ship is named Durgdvara, the 
third Gooardkhi, the fourth Sankshachura, the 
fifth Sinhamukht, shining like the sun, the sixth 
Chandrapdna, which is used for goods, and the 
seventh Chotamukht, meant to carry provisions.^ 
The whole fleet sailed merrily, propelled by the 
lustily singing oarsmen. There were also trading 
fleets carrying merchandise and provisions for 
long voyages ; and worthless things were often 
exchanged in distant countries for very valuable 



ones.^ 



The great trading centres of Bengal in those 



\5f5<^ ^sr^ f5Wl Ttf^ ¥tcTt¥ II 

c^tc!5? ^f^ ^tc^ fs^l c^dTt? V^'m 



^ ^? -w:^ f^ ^m^ I (f^¥ ^^) 



i6o 



HINDU PERIOD 

days were Satgaon, called Tcharitrapoura in the 
time of the Chinese pilgrim's visit, and described 
by Ptolemy as a royal city of immense size, as 
well as Sonargaon, the great harbour of Eastern 
Bengal. Champa or Bhagalpur was also one of the 
commercial centres from which merchants could sail 
for SMbarnabhumi or the Burmese coast. But by 
far the most important emporium of ancient Bengal 
was Tamralipta, the great Buddhist harbour of the 
Bengal sea-board. It is referred to in the 
Mahdwanso (ch.'xix.) as Tamalitta, and was probably 
meant by the author of Per ip 1ms when he spoke of 
"a great commercial city near the mouth of the 
Ganges, the trade of which consisted chiefly in 
cloths of the most delicate texture and extreme 
beauty." The place is of very great antiquity, and 
existed prior to the days of Asoka, for it figures 
even in the sacred writings of the Hindus. The 
Chinese pilgrim, Fa-Hien, when he visited India in 
A.D. 399-414, found it a maritime settlement of the 
Buddhists. " There are twenty-four Sangharamas 
in this country," he says; ''all of them have resident 
priests." After his residence there for two years 
he shipped himself on board a great merchant 
vessel which he found in the harbour of Tamluk, 
and putting to sea, they proceeded in a south- 
westerly direction, and catching the first fair wind 
of the winter season (i.e. of the N.E. monsoon), 
they sailed for fourteen days and nights, and arrived 

161 M 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

at Ceylon. Two hundred and fifty years later, a 
yet more celebrated pilgrim from China speaks of 
Tamluk as still an important Buddhist harbour, 
with ten Buddhist monasteries, a thousand monks, 
and a pillar by Asoka 200 feet high. It was 
"situated on a bay, could be approached both by 
land and water, and contained stores of rare and 
precious merchandise and a wealthy population." 
And another Chinese traveller, I-Tsing, who fol- 
lowed Hiuen Tsang, thus wrote of the Bengal port : 
"Tamalipti is ioviy yojanas south from the eastern 
limit of India. There are five or six monasteries ; 
the people are rich. . . . This is the place where 
we embarked when returning to China. "^ 

^ Takakusu's I-Tsing, xxxiii., xxxiv. 



162 



HINDU PERIOD 



CHAPTER VII. 

The Period of Hindu Imperialism in 
Northern India {continued) : The Intercourse 

WITH China. 

It was also in the age of the Guptas and Harsha- 
vardhana that we find the field of Indian maritime 
activity in the eastern seas extending as far as 
China and Japan in the farthest East, beyond the 
small colonies of Java and Sumatra. As Mr. 
Kakasu Okakura remarks, '' Down to the days of 
the Mohammedan conquest went, by the ancient 
highways of the sea, the intrepid mariners of the 
Bengal coast, founding their colonies in Ceylon, 
Java, and Sumatra, and binding Cathay (China) 
and India fast in mutual intercourse."^ The inter-' 
course of India with China by way of the sea began 
at least as early as the commencement of the 
Christian era, while " the Chinese did not arrive in 
the Malay Archipelago before the 5th century, and 
they did not extend their voyages to India, Persia,} 
and Arabia till a century later." ^ Throughout the 



^ Ideals of the East, pp. i, 2. 

2 Mr. G. Phillips in the J.R.A.S., 1895, p. 525. According to Pro- 
fessor Lacouperie {Western Origin of Chinese Civilization) the maritime 
intercourse of India with China dates from a much earlier period, from 
about 680 B.C., when the " sea-traders of the Indian Ocean," whose " chiefs 

163 M 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

1st and 2nd centuries of the Christian era, during the 
reigns of the Chinese Emperor Hoti (a.d. 89-105) 
and of the Emperor Hiwanti (a.d. 158-9), there 
arrived, according to Chinese annals, many em- 
bassies from Indian sovereigns bringing merchan- 
dise under the name of tribute to the Chinese court, 
which alone had the monopoly of the trade with 
foreign nations.^ Thus, as the Milinda Panha 
informs us (pp. 127, 327, 359), during the 2nd 
century after Christ, when under the great Satrap 
Rudradaman (a.d. 143-158) the Kshatrapa dynasty 
of Kathiavad was at the height of its power, chal- 
lenging the supremacy even of the great Andhra 
Empire, Indians of the Tientes, i.e. Sindhu, brought 
presents by sea to China. Chinese annals point 
also to a continued intercourse of Ceylon with 
China by way of the sea, which was due to a 
common national worship. Among those men who 
shared in the propagation of Buddhism and in the 



were Hindus," founded a colony called Lang-ga, after the Indian name 
Lanka of Ceylon, about the present Gulf of Kiao-tchoa, where they arrived 
in vessels having the prows shaped like the heads of birds or animals 
after the patterns specified in the Yiiktikalpataru and exemplified in the 
ships and boats of old Indian art. These Indian colonists had, how- 
ever, to retreat before the gradual advance of the Chinese till they became 
merged in the kingdom of Cambodia, founded by Hindus in the Indo- 
Chinese peninsula about the ist century a.d. But throughout this period 
the monopoly of the sea-borne trade of China was in their hands, and the 
articles of this trade were the well-known Indian products, such as rubies, 
pearls, sugar, aromatics, peacocks, corals, and the like. 

1 See/.Ji.A.S., 1896, pp. 64-66. 

164 



HINDU PERIOD 

translations of its scriptures in China, there were 
many who took the sea route between India and 
China. Some particulars about them are contained in 
the Kwai-Yuen Catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka 
compiled in a.d. 730.^ The first eminent Buddhist 
who succeeded in finishing a sea journey from Ceylon 
to China was of course the well-known Fa-Hien. 
But a little before him an Indian called Buddha- 
bhadra, a descendant of the Sakya prince Amito- 
dana, arrived in China in 398, i.e. two years before 
Fa-Hien entered India. He embarked from Cochin 
for China after travelling through Northern India 
and Indo-China. After him the Kwai-Yuen Cata- 
logue, as well as other Chinese works, mentions a 
series of names of Buddhist priests who sailed 
between Southern India and China. Thus in a.d. 420 
Sanghavarmi, a Sinhalese and the translator of the 
Mahisasaka Vinaya, arrived in China. In a.d. 424 
Gunavarman, grandson of an ex-king of Kabul, 
arrived at the capital of the Sung dynasty. He 
had sailed from Ceylon and visited Java on the 
way, like Fa-Hien. In the year 429 a.d., in the 
reign of the Emperor Wun, three Sinhalese visited 
China. Again, it is mentioned in the work called 
Bhikshuni Niddna that in the year 433 a.d. the 
ship called Nandi brought to China a second party 
of Sinhalese nuns who established the Bhikshuni 

^ Professor M. Anesaki in Xhe/.R.A.S., April, 1903. 

165 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

order in China. In a.d. 434 there arrived in China 
quite a number of Sinhalese nuns, under the leader- 
ship of a certain Tissara, to further Gunavarman's 
work for the foundation of the monastic system in 
China after the model of Sinhalese Buddhism. In 
A.D. 435 Gunabhadra, the translator of the San- 
yukta-dgama (of which the MS. was brought by 
Fa-Hien from Ceylon), arrived at the province of 
Kau in China from Ceylon. Again, in a.d. 438 
another group of eight Bhikshunis came from 
Ceylon. In a.d. 442 Sanghavarman, who had 
come to China by the overland route, sailed from 
the southern coast of China for India. In a.d. 453 
a Chinese Buddhist called Dharmakrama took the 
sea route from Southern India on his way back to 
China. Sanghabhadra, who was born in a western 
country but educated in Ceylon, came to China 
with his teacher, a Tripitak-Acharyya, and trans- 
lated Buddhaghosa's Sdmantapasadika in a.d. 488. 
In the 6th century there was a continued develop- 
ment of the maritime intercourse between India 
and China. In the year 526 a.d, Bodhidharma, 
the great patriarch of Indian Buddhism, who was 
the son of a king of Southern India, embarked in 
his old age from India, and "reached Canton by 
sea." He was received with the honour due to his 
age and character, and invited to Nanking, where 
the Emperor of South China held his court. As 
the Chinese geographer, Chia-Tau, also records in 

166 



HINDU PERIOD 

his Huang-hua-hsi-ta-chi, " Ta-mo (i.e. Bodhi- 
dharma) came floating on the sea to Pan-yu (i.e. 
Canton)." ^ The arrival of Bodhidharma gave 
a great impetus to Indian missionary activity 
in China, where it is recorded that there were at 
work at one time and in one province, viz. Lo-Yang, 
"more than 3,000 Indian monks and 10,000 Indian 
families to impress their national religion and art 
on Chinese soil."^ Specific mention of individual 
sea voyages to China also appears in Chinese works. 
Thus the Kwai-Yuen Catalogue records that in a.d. 
548 Paramati, who was a native of Ujjaini, being 
invited by the Emperor Wu, of the Llan dynasty, 
arrived on the southern coast of China. In the 
Suyshoo, a Chinese history of the Suy dynasty, it 
is stated that in a.d. 607 the King of Ceylon " sent 
the Brahman, Kewmo-lo, with 30 vessels to meet 
the approaching ships which conveyed an embassy 
from China." Ceylon had at that time a fully 
developed national marine which, according to the 
Mahdwanso (ch. xl.), was founded as early as 
A.D. 495 by the king Mogallana for the defence of 
the coast. 

^ J.R.A.S., 1896, and Edkins' Chinese Buddhism, p. loo. 
* Okakura's Ideals of the East, p. 113. 



167 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Period of Hindu Imperialism in 

Northern India {conitnued) : Maritime Activity 

ON THE West Coast. 

During the latter days of the Gupta Empire, i.e. 
during the 5th and 6th centuries a.d., Indian 
maritime activity was equally manifest towards the 
West. In the 5th century, according to Hamza of 
Ispahan, the ships of India and China could be 
seen constantly moored at Hira, near Kufa, on 
the Euphrates.^ The ports of Sindh and Gujarat 
appear among the chief centres of this naval enter- 
prise of the time. It was from these ports that 
the Indian adventurers sailed to colonize Java. In 
a.d. 526 Cosmas found Sindhu or Debal and 
Orhet, i.e. Soratha or Veraval, as leading places of 
trade with Ceylon.^ In the 6th century, apparently 
driven out by the White Hunas, the Jats from the 
Indus and Cutch occupied the islands in the 
Bahrein Gulf. About the same time, as Fergusson 
has pointed out, Amravati, at the mouth of the 
Krishna, was superseded as the port for the Golden 
Chersonese by the accomplishment of the direct 
voyage from Gujarat and the west coast of India. 

^ Yule's Cathay^ I, Ixxviii. ^ Ibid. I, clxxviii. 

168 



HINDU PERIOD 

In the time of the empire of S'ri Harsha, 
succeeding that of the Guptas, the people of 
Surastra were described by Hiuen Tsang (about 
A.D. 630) as deriving their livehood from the sea 
by engaging in commerce and exchanging com- 
modities.^ He further notices that in the chief 
cities of Persia, Hindus were settled enjoying the 
full practice of their religion.^ Again, the Jats 
were probably the moving spirit in the early 
Mahomedan sea raids (a.d. 630-770) against the 
Gujarat and Konkan coasts. During the 7th and 
8th centuries, when the chief migrations by sea 
from Gujarat to Java and Cambodia seem to have 
taken place, Chinese fleets visited Diu under the 
pilotage probably of the Jats. On the Sindh, Cutch, 
and Gujarat coasts, besides the Jats there were 
other tribes that showed notable energy at sea. 
Thus in the 7th and 8th centuries the Gurjjaras, 
chiefly of the Chapa or Chavada clan, both in 
Dwarka and Somnath, and inland, rose to power, 
and about a.d. 740 established themselves at 
Anahilavada Patari. They tried to put down the 
piracy of the Jats, but afterwards themselves became 
more dangerous pirates. 

^ Beal, Buddhist Records^ vol. ii., p. 269. 
* Reinaud's Abulfeday ccclxxxv. 



169 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



CHAPTER IX. 

The Period of Hindu Imperialism in Southern 
India : The Rise of the Chalukyas and 

THE ChOLAS — FROM THE MiDDLE OF THE 7TH 

Century to the Time of the Mahomedan 
Conquests in Northern India. 

The period succeeding that of the Guptas and 
Harshavardhana was also equally characterized by 
remarkable outbursts of naval enterprise and 
colonizing activity, bringing about a further ex- 
pansion of India. The field of maritime activity 
in the Eastern waters was considerably widened. 
For along with the intercourse of India with China 
there was developed in this period the intercourse 
with Japan in the farthest East. As regards the 
intercourse with China we have fresh facts to record. 
The Chu-fan-chih of Chao Jukua, a Chinese 
traveller of the 13th century, relates that during the 
periods Cheng-Kuan (a.d. 627-650) and T'ien-shou 
(a.d. 690-692) of the Tang dynasty, the people of 
T'ien-chu (i.e. India) sent envoys with tribute to 
China.^ According to the Kwai-Yuen Catalogue, 
Punya-upachaya, who was a native of Central India, 
came to China from Ceylon in a.d. 655, while 

^ See/.Ji.A.S., 1896, p. 490. 
170 



HINDU PERIOD 

Jnana-bhadra, a Buddhist from Palyan of the 
" Southern Ocean," came to China for the second 
time after having visited India from China by sea. 
Some very interesting facts regarding the maritime 
intercourse between China and India are furnished 
by the famous Chinese traveller I-Tsing,^ who 
visited India in a.d. 673. He has recorded the 
itineraries of about sixty Chinese pilgrims who 
visited India in the 7th century a.d., from which it 
is clear that there was constant traffic across the sea 
between India and China. The whole coast of 
Farther India from Suvarnabhumi or Burma to 
China, and also of the islands of the Malay 
Archipelago, was studded with prosperous Indian 
colonies and naval stations, which ocean-liners 
regularly plying in the Eastern waters between 
India and China constantly used as convenient 
halting-places. I-Tsing refers to more than ten 
such colonies where Indian manners, customs, and 
religious practices prevailed together with Sanskrit 
learning. These ^ were S'ri-Bhoja in Sumatra, 
Kalinga in Java, Mahasin in Borneo, and the 
islands of Bali, Bhojapara, etc., which had all 
Indian names, and afforded to Chinese pilgrims to 
India a good preparatory training. In these 
colonies or naval stations passengers often changed 
their ship, though many would come direct to 

1 I-Tsing, by Dr. Taka-kusu. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Bengal, like I-Tsing, who disembarked at the port 
of Tamralipti, while others would halt at Ceylon, 
that sacred place of Buddhism, to re-ship them- 
selves for Bengal, like Fa-Hien. I-Tsing has also 
recorded the names of some of his contemporaries 
who like him visited India by way of the sea. One 
was Tao-lin, the Master of the Law, who came to 
Tamralipti by way of Java and Nicobars. Another 
was Ta-tcheng-teng, who came by way of Ceylon 
and lived at the monastery named Varaha in 
Tamralipti. 

Throughout this period we have also frequent 
notices in Chinese annals of Indian Buddhist 
devotees visiting China, as we have those of 
Chinese Buddhists visiting India with the per- 
mission of their emperor. Thus the Kwai-Yuen 
Catalogue, to which we have already referred, 
mentions the name of the Indian Vajrabodhi, who 
came to China by sea and entered the capital in 
A.D. 720 He was born in Malaya, a mountainous 
district in either Southern India or Ceylon, trans- 
lated many Mantra texts, and became the founder 
of Mystical Buddhism in China, The son of an 
Indian king, Manju Sri by name, a very zealous 
Buddhist, came to China, but left the royal court 
through misunderstanding, and went off indignant 
to the southern coast to embark in a merchant 
vessel for India. At the time of Yung-hsi (a.d. 984- 
988) a Buddhist devotee, by name Lo-hu-na, 

172 



HINDU PERIOD 

arrived in China by sea ; he called himself a native 
of T'ien-chu (India). In Col. Yule's Cathay and 
the IVay Thither we have a record of the various 
instances of intercourse between China and India 
from the earliest times downwards, both by sea and 
land. 

As regards the intercourse with Japan, which 
also developed during this period, we have a few 
conclusive facts and evidences to adduce. Japanese 
tradition records the names of Indian evangelists 
who visited Japan to propagate the Buddhistic 
faith. Thus Bodhidharma, of South India, after 
working in China, came to Japan and had an 
interview with Prince Shotoku (a.d. 573-621). 
Subkakara was another Indian, a native of Central 
India, who, while working in China (716-735), 
privately visited Japan and left at the Kumedera 
Temple, in the province of Yamato, a book of the 
Mahdvairochanabhisambodhi Sutra, consisting of 
seven books, the fundamental doctrines of Bud- 
dhistic Tantrism.^ The visit of the Indian 
missionary, Bodhisena, to Japan in ad. 736 is a 
historical fact. Bodhisena had originally gone to 
China to see a Chinese sage, Manju S'ri, and while 
staying in a temple there came in contact with a 
Japanese envoy to the Celestial court, and was 



^ Rev. Daito Shimaji on " India and Japan in Ancient Times," in the 
Journal of the Indo-Japanese Association, January, 1910. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

persuaded by the latter to visit Japan. He settled 
in Japan, and taught Sanskrit to Japanese priests. 
He was most bountifully provided by the Imperial 
Court, and most devotedly loved by the populace. 

But India contributed not only to the religion of 
Japan but also to her industry. The official annals 
of Japan record how eleven centuries ago cotton 
was introduced into Japan by two Indians. The 
eighth volume of the Nihon-Ko-Ki records how in 
July, 799, a foreigner was washed ashore in a little 
boat somewhere on the southern coast of Mikwa 
Province in Japan. He confessed himself to be a 
man from " Ten-jiku," as India was then called in 
Japan. Among his effects was found something 
like grass-seeds, which proved to be no other than 
some seeds of the cotton-plant. Again, it is written 
in the 199th chapter of the Ruijukokushi (another 
official record) that a man from Kuen-lum was cast 
up on Japanese shores in April, 800, and that the 
cotton-seeds he had brought with him were sown in 
the provinces of Kii, Awaji, Sanuki, Jyo, Tosa, and 
Kyushu. These two records are enough to convince 
us that cotton was introduced into Japan through 
the Indians who were unfortunately carried over to 
that country by the " black current." ^ 
•sjowards the end of the loth and the early part 



^ Dr. Taka-Kusu on " What Japan Owes to India " in the Journal of 
the Indo-Japanese Association, January, 1910. 



HINDU PERIOD 

of the nth century, Southern India witnessed 
a remarkable outburst of naval activity under 
the strong government of a succession of Chola 
kings. The first of this line of rulers was Raja-raja 
the Great, who ascended the throne in a.d. 985. 
He began his career of conquest by the destruction 
of the Chera fleet in the roads of Kandalur 
(probably on the west coast), and passed from 
victory to victory till, in the course of a busy reign 
of twenty-seven years, he made himself beyond 
dispute the Lord Paramount of Southern India, 
ruling a realm which included the whole of the 
Madras Presidency and a large part of Mysore, 
together with Kalingam, which he conquered in the 
sixteenth year of his reign. Ceylon (Ham) also was 
added to his empire in the twentieth year, for he 
built up a powerful navy, and his operations were 
not confined merely to the land. Raja-raja Chola 
(a.d. 984-1013) was succeeded by his son Rajendra 
Choladeva I., under whose long and brilliant rule 
from A.D. 1013 to 1044 the power of the Cholas 
reached its high-water mark and their empire its 
widest extent. In inscriptions dated in the twelfth 
year of his reign (a.d. 1025) he is said to have 
conquered Orissa, Gujarat, Behar, and Bengal, and 
reached the banks of the Ganges, for which he 
assumed the title of Gangaikonda-chola (the Chola 
who seized the Ganges). In the inscriptions of his 
thirteenth year detailing his conquests we find 

175 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

that he also conquered " the whole kingdom of Ham 
(Ceylon) in the raging ocean girt by the crystal 
waves of the sea," as well as " countless old islands 
(about 12,000 in number) in the midst of the ocean 
in which conches resound," which were probably 
the Laccadives and Maldives. In the same inscrip- 
tion it is also recorded that he achieved a great 
naval victory over " Sangrama Vijayottunga Var- 
man, the King of Kadaram, whom he caught by 
dispatching (his army in) many ships across the 
stormy sea and his huge elephants furious as the 
roaring sea." This " stormy sea " was no doubt 
the Bay of Bengal if Kadaram is identified with 
the ancient kingdom of Prome or Pegu, also known 
as Tharekhettra. The inscription also describes 
Kadaram as being "difficult to attack, being 
defended by the sea." All this, therefore, indicates 
that the naval power of the Cholas was considerably 
developed, making itself felt even on the opposite 
coast of the Bay of Bengal. In addition to 
Kadaram there were also taken on the same coast 
the flourishing seaports of Takkolam (the Takola 
of Ptolemy, where, according to the Indian Anti- 
quary, vol. xxi., p. 383, " cables, ropes, and other 
vestiges of sea-going vessels are still frequently 
dug up ") and Matama or Martaban. Then followed 
the annexation of the whole of the kingdom, which 
was named S'rl Vishaya and Nakkavaram or the 
Nicobar and Andaman Islands. These exploits are 

176 



HINDU PERIOD 

thus referred to in the Tamil poem ICalinga 
Huparani : " The war-elephants of the Chola drank 
water of the Ganges at Mannai : and Kadaram, 
where the roaring crystal waves washed the sand 
mixed with red gold, was annexed " (canto viii., 
stanza 25).^ 

The naval activity of the Chola emperors was 
not, however, confined within the limits of the Bay 
of Bengal. They appear to have carried on their 
intercourse with countries of the farther East as far 
as China. In the Smigshih, a. Chinese work, the 
names of the two Chola kings are mentioned who 
sent embassies with tribute to China, viz. : in 
A.D. 1033, Shih-li-lo-ch'a-yin-to-lo-chu-lo, i.e. S'ri 
Raja Indra Chola; and again in a.d. 1077, Ti-wa- 
ka-lo, which may stand for the Chola king Kulo- 
tunga (a.d. 1 077- 1 1 18). The last embassy consisted 
of 72 men ; it was probably, like most of the missions 
to the coast of China, nothing better than a trading 
expedition on joint account, the 72 ambassadors 
being the shareholders or their supercargoes.^ 



^ The authorities consulted for the Chola history are V, Kanakasabhai's 
articles on " Raja-Raja Chola," " The Conquest of Bengal and Burma by 
the Tamils," and S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar's article on " The Chola 
Ascendancy in Southern India," in the Madras Review for 1902, vol. viii. 

2 J.R.A.S., 1896, pp. 490 ff. 



177 N 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

CHAPTER X. 

Retrospect. 

We have now set forth at some length the available 
evidences bearing on the history of the shipping, 
sea-borne trade, and maritime activity of India from 
the earliest times down to the period of the Musal- 
man conquests in Northern India. We have con- 
sidered the kind of maritime activity and commerce 
which India had in the long and ancient period 
before the Mauryan in the light of the evidences 
from both literary works and archaeological finds, 
and are quite prepared for the remarkable outburst 
of naval activity and growth of foreign intercourse 
which has been established beyond doubt or dispute 
to be the characteristic of the Mauryan period. 
We have next seen how the impetus given to the 
development of India's international life under the 
Mauryan Empire in the days of Chandra Gupta and 
Asoka survived that empire itself and continued to 
gain in force and volume amid the vicissitudes of 
her domestic politics. Dynasty after dynasty 
succeeded to the position of paramount power 
in the land, but the course of commerce ran 
smooth through all these changes. The opening 
centuries of the Christian era, which saw the 
political unity of India divided by the Kushans 

178 



HINDU PERIOD 

of the north and the Andhras of the south, with 
the Vindhyas as their mutual boundary, were also, 
as we have seen, the period of a remarkable growth 
of foreign commerce, especially with Rome, that 
was shared equally by the north and the south. 
This is shown, on the one hand, unmistakably by 
the books of Roman writers with their remarkably 
accurate details regarding Indian exports and im- 
ports, ports, and harbours, and, on the other hand, 
by the unimpeachable testimony of many finds 
of Roman coins both in Northern and Southern 
India. 

A consideration of the kind of things which 
India sent abroad in exchange for the things she 
imported and a glance at the list of Indian exports 
and imports, such as that given in that most in- 
teresting work on Oriental commerce, the Periplus 
of the Erythraean Sea, will reveal certain peculiar 
features regarding the economical system of ancient 
India, to which has been traced the proverbial 
" wealth of Ind " by many scholars. As remarked 
by Major J. B. Keith, in a recent article in the 
Asiatic Quarterly Review (July, 19 lo), "the old 
prosperity of India was based on the sound prin- 
ciple, which is, that after clothing and feeding 
your own people, then of your surplus abundance 
give to the stranger." For it will appear that the 
chief items of Indian export were the "renowned 
art industrial fabrics, and exports were not multi- 

179 N 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

plied on the reprehensible practice of depleting a 
country of its food-stufifs." The result was the 
development of an external trade to which we owe, 
on the one hand, the great cities like Baalbek and 
Palmyra in the desert, and, on the other hand, 
" those great monuments of art which India was 
enabled to erect after clothing and feeding her 
own people." And of the many satrapies of 
Darius India was also, as we have seen, the only 
one which could afford to pay her tribute in gold 
to him. Finally, we should not miss the point of 
Pliny's famous complaint about allowing India to 
find a market for her superfluous manufactured 
luxuries in Rome and thereby suck out her wealth 
and drain her of gold. 

It may also be noted in passing that it was her 
wonderful achievements in applied chemistry more 
than her skill in handicraft which enabled India to 
command for more than a thousand years (from 
Pliny to Tavernier) the markets of the East as 
well as the West, and secured to her an easy 
and universally recognized pre-eminence among 
the nations of the world in exports and manu- 
factures. Some of the Indian discoveries in 
chemical arts and manufactures are indicated as 
early as the 6th century a.d. by Varahamihira in 
the Vrihat'Sanhitd. Thus he mentions several 
preparations of cements or powders called Vajra- 
lepa, "cements strong as the thunderbolt," for 

1 80 



HINDU PERIOD 

which there was ample use in the temple architec- 
ture of the times, whose remains still testify to 
the adamantine strength of these metal or rock 
cements. Varahamihira also alludes to the experts 
in machinery and the professional experts in the 
composition of dyes and cosmetics, and even 
artificial imitations of natural flower-scents which 
bulked so largely in the Indian exports to Rome. 
Broadly speaking, there were three great discoveries 
in applied chemistry to which India owed her 
capture of the world markets, viz. (i) the preparation 
of fast dyes for textile fabrics by the treatment of 
natural dyes like manjishtha with alum and other 
chemicals ; (2) the extraction of the principle of 
indigotin from the indigo plant by a process 
" which, however crude, is essentially an anticipa- 
tion of modern chemical methods " ; and (3) the 
tempering of steel " in a manner worthy of advanced 
metallurgy, a process to which the mediaeval world 
owed its Damascus swords." ^ 

Besides the Roman trade, and the trade with 
the West generally, there was also developed along 
with it a trade with the East. The West alone could 
not absorb the entire maritime activity of India, 
which found another vent in a regular traffic in the 
Eastern waters between Bengal and Ceylon, Kalinga, 



^ Brajendranath Seal, M.A., Ph.D., in his learned thesis on "The 
Chemical Theories of the Ancient Hindus." 

181 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

and Suvarnabhumi, and a complete navigation, in 
fact, of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean, 
This Eastern maritime enterprise reached its climax 
in the age of the Gupta emperors, when India once 
more, as in the days of Chandra Gupta and Asoka, 
asserted herself as a dominant factor in Asiatic 
politics, and even showed symptoms of a colonizing 
activity that culminated in the civilization of Java, 
Sumatra, and Cambodia, and laid the foundation of 
a Greater India. Towards the later days of the 
Gupta Empire, Indian maritime activity in the 
Eastern waters had a vastly extended field, em- 
bracing within its sphere not only Farther India and 
the islands of the Indian Archipelago, but also 
China, with which a regular and ceaseless traffic by 
way of the sea was established and long continued. 
Lastly, we find the sphere of this Eastern naval 
activity widening still further during the days of 
Harshavardhana and Pulakeshi, the Chalukyas and 
the Cholas, till Japan in the farthest East is brought 
within the range of Indian influence, and becomes 
the objective of Indian missionary and colonizing 
activity. 



182 



BOOK II. MAHOMEDAN PERIOD. 



BOOK II.— MAHOMEDAN PERIOD. 



CHAPTER I. 

The Pre-Mogul Period. 

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 enter- 
prise. 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, Mahometan orphans, and Abyssinian 
slaves, to secure the good -will of Hajjaj and 
the Khalifa 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 

^ Al-Biladuri m Elliot, vol. i., p. ii8 ; also Appendix, p. 429. 

185 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

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 inacces- 
sible 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.^ 

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.^ He had 
also to construct bridges of boats in order to effect 
his passage of the rivers of Sindh. ^ 

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. 

^ See Elliot, vol. i., p. 513. 
^ Al-Biladuri m Elliot, vol. i., p. 120. 
3 Chach-nama in Elliot, vol. i., p. 167. 
186 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

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 sandal- 
wood as Indian products.^ 

In the I ith 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.'* 

Al-Biruni gives some interesting details regard- 
ing the Indian maritime and commercial activity of 
the nth century. He has referred to the pirates 

^ Sir G. Birdwood in his Report on the Old Records of the India 
Office. 

* Elliot, vol. ii., p. 478. 

187 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

infesting the western coast, named Bawarij, who 
are so called because " they commit their depre- 
dations in boats called Baira." ^ 

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.^ 

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 entrepot 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."^ 
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 1 2th 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.* He also 
mentions the cotton fabrics of Coromandel, the 



^ " Rashiuddin from Al-Biruni," in Sir H. Elliot's History of India, vol. i., 
p. 65. 

2 Ibid., p. 67. 3 Jlid,^ p, 69. * Ibid., pp. 77, 87, 

188 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

pepper and cardamomes of Malabar, and the lemons 
of Mansura on the " Mehran " (Indus). ^ Again, in 
the 1 2th 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,^ and, according to Abul-Feda, 
the merchants of Java could understand the 
language of the natives of Madagascar.^ 

In the 13th century an important naval ex- 
pedition 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- 



^ Sir George Birdwood in his Report on the Old Records of the India 
Office. 

^ Reinaud's Mkmoires^ p. 236. ^ Reinaud's Abulfeda, ch. xxii. 

189 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

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."^ 

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. i 292) 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 Call (Kayal in the Tinnevelly dis- 

^ Barni's Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, in Elliot, vol. iii., pp. 1 15-12 1. 

190 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

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 ktdes, 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 

191 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

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, pro- 
vided, 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. 

192 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

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 

193 o 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

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. ^ 

In the 14th century, we have in the account 
of the voyage across the Indian Ocean of Friar 
Odoric^ (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.^ 
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, 

^ The Travels of Marco Polo (Marsden's Translation), ed. Thomas 
Wright. 

2 Dr. Vincent remarks : " This is a confirmation of the account we 
have of those large ships from the time of Agatharcides down to the 
1 6th century; the ships of Guzarat which traversed the Indian Ocean in 
all ages." 

' Stevenson, in Kerr's Voyages, xviii. 324. 

194 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

who spent twenty-four years (a.d. i 325-1 349) 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 Mala- 
bar, which in the reign of Abu Bakr even reached 
the modest figure of 10,000 horses every year.^ 
This horse trade was also noticed by Marco Polo 
cW^ _(^^Dr-^3o8), who remarks that "the greater part of 
the revenue of the country is employed in obtaining 
the horses from foreign countries." '^ Wassaf also 
notices the entrepdt trade of Malabar by which the 
produce of remotest China was consumed in the 
farthest West.^ 

In Northern India, in a.d. 1353 and a.d. 1360, 

^ Elliot, vol. iii., pp. 28, 32, 33, 
' Travels^ Murray's Edition, p. 296. 
^ Elliot, vol. iii., p. 35. 

195 O 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

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." ^ 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.^ 

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.^ 

After Marco Polo, the most important foreign 
notice of India is the account of Mahuan,^ the 



^ Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, in Elliot, vol. iii., pp. 293 ft. 
2 Ibid.^ pp. 321-322. 

' Malfuzat-i-Timuri, in Elliot, vol. iii., pp. 408-12, 453. 
* George Phillips in the J.R.A.S., 1896, pp. 204 ft". 
196 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

Mahomedan Chinaman, who was attached as inter- 
preter 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. 1 385- 1 457), the King of Pang-Kola, sent to 
the Chinese court in 1408 an embassy with presents 
including horses and saddles, gold and silver orna- 
ments, 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. 141 2 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 
Vung-lo, A.D. 141 5. In this year also a Chinese 
embassy under Prince Tsi-chao, with presents, was 

197 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

received by the Bengal king, his queen and ministers.^ 
Thus, in the first half of the 15th centuiy, 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^ (a.d. 1442) 
has left a highly interesting account of the impor- 
tant 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 adven- 
turous 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. 

^ George Phillips in ihe J.R.A .S., 1896, pp. 204 ff. 
y' "^ India in the Fifteenth Century (Hakluyt Society's publication), i. 14, 
i. 19. 

198 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

Nicolo Conti ^ 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 \ ^,000 gold pieces!' 

Hieronimo di Santo Stefano,^ a Genoese mer- 
chant, 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 

1 India in the Fifteenth Century (Hakluyt Society's publication), ii. lo, 
21, 27. 

2 Ilfid., iv. 4, 8, 9. 

199 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

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 i6th 
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. 1 500- 1 508) the Ahmedabad sultans maintained 
their position as lords of the sea.^ 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.^ 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 



^ When in a.d. 1535 he secured Bahadur's splendid jewelled belt, 
Humayun said : " These are the equipments of the lord of the sea." See 
Bayley's Gujarat, 386. 

^ Bird's Gujarat, 131. 

200 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

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.^ 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 (y.AS.B., vol. v., p. 784). 
Again, in a.d. 15 10 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. 1 52 1 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 ofl" 
Bandru, in which the Portuguese took 73 ships out 
of the 80 which coipposed the Cambay fleet. ^ 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.^ 



^ Elphinstone's History of India, Appendix on Gujarat. 
' Bombay Gazetteer, vol. i., Part ii., pp. 29-34, 46. 
^ Portuguese in India, by Danvers, pp. 468-74. 
201 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

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.^ 
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 im- 
portant 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 161 2 was 153 ft, long, 42 beam 31 deep, and said to be 
of 1,500 tons burden.^ 



^ Whiteway's Hise of the Portuguese Power in India, p. 47. 

^ De Coutto, iv. 99 \ Orme's Fragtnents, 326 ; quoted in Bombay 
Gazetteer, vol. i.. Part ii., pp. 34-36. 

202 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

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 (161 1) were 
300 or 350 tons at most." ^ 

Calicut also in the i6th 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 : — 

First they make their vessels, such as are open, each of 300 or 400 
butts. And when they build the said vessels they do not put any oakum 
between one plank and another in any way whatever, but they join the 
planks so well that they keep out the water most excellently. And then 
they lay on pitch outside, and put in an immense quantity of iron nails. 
Do not imagine, however, that they have not any oakum, for it comes 
there in great abundance from other countries, but they are not accustomed 
to use it for ships. They also possess as good timbers as ourselves and 
in greater quantity than with us. The sails of these ships of theirs are 
made of cotton, and at the foot of the said sails they carry another sail, 
and they spread this when they are sailing in order to catch more wind ; 
so that they carry two sails where we carry only one. They also carry 
anchors made of marble, i.e. a piece of marble eight palmi long and two 
palmi every other way. The said marble has two large ropes attached 
to it, and these are the anchors. . . . The time of their navigation is this : 
From Persia to the Cape of Comerin, eight days' voyage from Calicut 
towards the south. You can navigate through eight months in the year, 
i.e. September to April; from May to August the sea is very stormy. . . , 
As to the names of their ships, some are called Sambuchi, and these are 
flat-bottomed. Some others, which are made like ours, that is in the 

^ Purchas, i. 349-350 ; Dr. Vincent's Commerce of the Ancients , vol. ii., p. 38. 

203 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

bottom, they call Capel. Some other quick ships are called Paroo^ and 
they are boats of ten paces each, and are all of one piece, and go with 
oars made of cane, and the mast also is made of cane. There is also 
another kind of vessel which goes with a sail and oars. These are all 
made of one piece, of the length of twelve or thirteen paces each. The 
opening is so narrow that one man cannot sit by the side of the other, 
but one is obliged to go before the other. They are sharp at both ends. 
These ships are called Chaturi, and go either with a sail or oars more 
swiftly than any gaWey, fusta, or brigantine.^ 



^ Travels of Varthetna, edited by G. P. Badger (Hakluyt Society), 
pp. 152 flf. 



204 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

CHAPTER II. 

The Mogul Period : The Reign of Akbar. 

We now reach the age of the Moguls, under whom 
the political unity of India was nearly attained after 
the lapse of centuries, and an imperial naval 
establishment was founded and maintained, espe- 
cially in Bengal, the home of Indian shipbuilding. 

Previous to Akbar we have hardly any record 
of Indian naval activity except perhaps the two 
exploits of Babar, the one in a.d. 1528, when Babar 
fought a naval battle on the Ganges near Kanauj, 
in which he seized about thirty or forty of the 
enemy's boats, and the other achieved on the Gogra, 
on which the army of Kharid collected 100-150 
vessels and gave Babar battle. 

The government of India under Akbar, however, 
as might be naturally expected, gave a great impetus 
to Indian shipping and shipbuilding, especially in 
Bengal. The main' source of our information is of 
course the Ayeen-i-Akbari, that well-known store- 
house of accurate details regarding the life and 
work of Akbar the Great. According to Abul-Fazl, 
there were framed elaborate regulations for the 
organization of the Naval Department or Admiralty, 
the '' office of Meer Behry " as it was called. These 
regulations will be found to be remarkably akin to, 

205 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

and in some respects will be even thought to have 
been anticipated by, the regulations governing 
Chandra Gupta's Admiralty about 1,900 years 
earlier, which have been, as we have already seen, 
preserved for us in that monumental Sanskrit work, 
the Arthasdstra of Kautilya. 

Akbar's Admiralty had, broadly speaking,/^;' 
functions to perform. The first was to see to the 
supply of ships and boats for the purpose of 
navigation, and supervise their building. Vessels 
were built of various sizes and for various purposes. 
There were those built for the transportation of 
elephants, and those of such construction as to be 
employed in sieges, while others were meant for the 
conveyance of merchandise. There were also ships 
which served for convenient habitations. The 
Emperor had also pleasure-boats built with con- 
venient apartments, and others on which there were 
floating markets and flower-gardens. Every part 
of Akbar's empire abounded in ships, but the chief 
centres of shipbuilding were Bengal, Cashmeer, 
and Tata. In Allahabad and Lahore also were 
constructed ships of a size suitable for sea voyages. 
Along the coasts of the ocean in the west, east, and 
south of India also, large ships were built which 
were suitable for voyages. 

The second duty of Akbar's Admiralty was 
regarding the supply of men, of efficient mariners 
who knew the nature of tides, the depths of 

206 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

channels, the coasts to be avoided, and the character 
of the prevailing winds. Every ship required 
officers and men of the following titles and descrip- 
tions : (i) The Nakhoda, or commander of the 
vessel, who directed the course of the ship ; (2) the 
Maullim (the mate), who knew the soundings, the 
situation of the stars, and guided the ship safe to 
her destination ; (3) the Tundeil, who was the chief 
of the khelasses or sailors ; (4) the Nakhoda- 
khesheb, whose duty it was to provide fuel for the 
people and assist in lading and unlading the ship ; 
(5) the Sirheng, who had to superintend the docking 
and launching of the ship ; (6) the Bhandaree, who 
had charge of the ship's store ; (7) the Keranee, or 
ship's clerk, who kept the accounts and also served 
out water to the people ; (8) the Sukangeer, or 
helmsman, of whom there were sometimes twenty in 
a ship ; (9) the Pttnjeree, whose duty it was to look 
out from the top of the mast and give notice when 
he saw land or a ship, or discovered a storm rising, 
or any other object worth observing ; (10) the 
Goomtee, or those particular khelasses who threw 
the water out of the ship; (11) the gunners, who 
differed in number according to the size of the 
ship ; (12) the Kherwah, or common seamen, who 
were employed in setting and furling the sails and 
in stopping leaks, and in case of the anchor sticking 
fast in the ground they had to go to the bottom of 
the water to set it free. 

207 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

The third task of the Admiralty was " to watch 
the rivers," for which an active, resolute man was 
appointed, who settled everything relative to the 
ferries, regulated the tonnage, and provided travellers 
with boats on the shortest notice. Those who were 
not able to pay at the ferries passed over gratis, but 
no one was permitted to swim across a river. It 
was also the duty of this officer to hinder boats 
from travelling in the night except in cases of 
necessity. Nor was he to allow goods to be landed 
anywhere except at the public wharfs. Altogether the 
functions of this officer very nearly corresponded to 
those of Chandra Gupta's ^n-^rur^ or Superintendent 
of Ships. 

T\vt fourth duty of the Admiralty was in regard 
to the imposition, realization, and remission of 
duties. Akbar is said to have remitted duties equal 
to the revenues of a kingdom. Nothing was 
exacted upon exports and imports excepting a trifle 
taken at the ports which never exceeded 2 J per cent., 
and was regarded by merchants as a perfect 
remission.^ 

The Ayeen4-Akhari'^ also gives some details 
regarding the river tolls in Akbar's time : — 

For every boat was charged R. i per kos at the rate of i,ooo mans 
provided the boat and the men belong to one and the same owner. But 
if the boat belongs to another man and everything in the boat to the man 

^ Ayeen-i-Akbari, Gladwin's translation, pp. 193 ff. 
"^ Blochmann's translation. 

208 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

who has hired it, the tax is R. i for every 2^ kos. At ferry places an elephant 
has to pay \od. for crossing; a laden cart, d^d, ; ditto, empty, 2d.; a laden 
camel, id. ; empty camels, horses, cattle with thin things, ^d. ; ditto, empty, \d. 
Other beasts of burden pay ^d., which included the toll due by the driver. 
Twenty people pay id. for crossing, but they are often taken gratis.^ 

As regards details relating to the development 
of shipping in Bengal, we have to refer to the 
abstract of Ausil Toomar yumma ^ (original 
established revenue) of Bengal as settled in 
behalf of the Mogul Emperor Akbar, about the 
year 1582, by Raja Todar Mall, in which we 
find specific assignments for naval establishment. 
Some perganas were definitely assigned for main- 
taining the Imperial Nowwara (flotilla). Under 
the head of Omleh Nowwara we have mention 
of a naval establishment consisting, at the time it 
was established by Akbar, of 3,000 vessels or boats, 
but it was afterwards reduced to 768 armed cruisers 
and boats, besides the number of vessels required 
to be furnished by the zemindars in return for the 
lands they held as jaigeer. The whole expense 
of manning the fleet, including the wages of 
923 Fringuan or Portuguese sailors, was esti- 
mated at Rs. 29,282 monthly, which, with con- 
structing new vessels and repairing the old, 
amounted annually to Rs. 8,43,452. The fleet was 

^ Blochmann's translation. 

* See Grant's "Analysis of the Finances of Bengal," in the Fifth Report 
of the Select Committee on the Affairs of the East India Company^ vol. i., 
pp. 245, 246, 270; and Taylor's Topography of Dacca, p. 194. 

209 P 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

principally stationed at Dacca, as its headquarters, 
from which was performed its functions for guard- 
ing the coast of Bengal against the then very- 
frequent incursions of the Maggs and other 
foreign pirates or invaders. Under the royal 
jurisdiction of the Nowwara or Admiralty of Dacca 
was placed the whole coast from Mundelgaut (near 
the confluence of the Damodar and Rupnarayan) 
to the Bundar of Balesore, which was also liable to 
the invasion of the Maggs. In fact, the ordinary 
established rental of the whole country was then 
almost entirely absorbed in jaigeers and protecting 
the sea-coasts from the ravages of the Maggs or 
Arrakanese, aided by the Portuguese, who inhabited 
the port of Chatgaon, and who, in the hope of 
benefiting through their commerce, had also been 
allowed to make a settlement at Hugli. The 
jaigeers that were assigned to the Dacca district 
for the support of these military establishments 
of the country were computed to comprise 
nearly one-third of its extent. The Nowwara 
jaigeer, which was the principal assignment in 
the district, included the best lands of the 
Neabut, and was subdivided into numbers of small 
Taluks, which were granted to the boatmen 
and artificers of the fleet.^ Besides the perganas 



^ Topography and Statistics of Dacca, by Taylor (printed by order of 
Government, 1840). 

210 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

assigned for the support of the Nowwara, a fruit- 
ful source of revenue for the support of the 
naval establishment was derived from the Mheer 
Baree, which was a tax on the building of 
boats varying from 8 as. to R. i 4 as., accord- 
ing to the size of the vessels. It was levied 
upon all boats arriving at or leaving the naval 
headquarters whose crews were not residents of 
the district. 

A boat proceeding to Moorshidabad was charged at the rate of 8 as, per 
oar; to Calcutta lo as. ; and to Benares R.i 8 as., while boats arriving 
from these places were taxed at the rate of i, 2, and 4 rupees per boat. 
The Mehal was originally confined to the city, but it afterwards extended 
to the country, where it was exacted by the zemindars and farmers from 
every boat that passed their estates. It was considered useful in leading 
to the detection of dacoits, as a registry of the boats, manjees, and boatmen 
belonging to each district was kept by the zemindars.^ 

As already pointed out, the naval establishment 
at Dacca was necessitated by the depredations of the 
Arrakan pirates, both Magg and Feringi, who used 
constantly to come by the water route and plunder 
Bengal. " They carried off the Hindus and 
Moslems, . . . threw them one above another under 
the decks of their ships . . . and sold them to the 
Dutch, English, and French merchants at the ports 
of the Deccan. Sometimes they brought the 
captives for sale at a high price to Tamluk and the 
port of Balasore, which is a part of the imperial 



^ Taylor's Jopography of Dacca, ^^. 198, 199. 

211 P 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

dominions." ^ With regard to their power it is said 
that " their cannons are beyond numbering, their 
flotilla exceeds the waves of the sea." ^ Their ships 
were so strongly made of timber with a hard core that 
" cannons could not pierce them." ^ They were such 
a terror to the Bengal navy that "whenever loo 
warships of Bengal sighted four ships of the enemy, 
if the distance separating them was great the Bengal 
crew showed fight by flight."^ 

The materials for the building of the Royal 
Nowwara came from Sylhet, which was then of great 
importance from its natural growth of ship-timbers, 
which could be built into vessels of different sizes.^ 
The shipyards from the Magg and Feringi fleets 
were towards the south at Sandwipa, a part of the 
kingdom of Arrakan. The Venetian traveller, 
Cesare di Fedrici, writing about the year 1565, 
states that 200 ships were laden yearly with salt, 
and that such was the abundance of materials for 
shipbuilding in this part of the country that the 
Sultan of Constantinople found it cheaper to have 
his vessels built here than at Alexandria.^ 

There was quite a large variety of vessels built 

^ From the contemporary Persian account of Shihab-ud-din Talish in 
MS. Bodleian 589, Sachau and Eth^s Catalogue, entry 240, translated by 
Professor Jadunath Sarkar in Xh&J.A.S.B. for June, 1907. 

2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. * Ibid. 

^ Fifth Report of the Select Committee, vol. i., pp. 444-5. 

^ Taylor's Topography of Dacca. 

212 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

and stationed at Dacca. Besides the 768 war- 
boats making up the Nowwara, there were state- 
barges for the Viceroys, and two vessels, magnifi- 
cently fitted up, had annually to be dispatched to 
the Emperor at Agra, though afterwards, when the 
Mogul Government declined in vigour, and the 
Nawabs of Bengal became virtually independent, 
these state-boats, though avowedly sent for the use 
of his Majesty, never reached highej than Murshid- 
abad. The state-barges were distinguished by 
different names according to the figures on their 
prows, as '' Mohrpunkee," from that of a peacock, 
" Muggurchera," of an alligator, etc. Boating was 
then a general and favourite pastime with the rich 
as it was with the Nawabs.^ 

Besides Bengal, the province of Sindh was a 
great centre of Indian shipping. Abul-Fazl informs 
us that in the circar of Thatta alone there could be 
found 40,000 vessels ready for hire.^ Lahori Bandar 
in those days was an important seaport on the 
Indus, and the following account of the harbour 
regulations in force there given in the Tarikk-i- 
Tahiri is very interesting : — 

Between the town of Thatta and Lahori Bandar is a distance of two 
days' journey, both by land and by water ; beyond this it is another day's 



^ Taylor's Topography of Dacca, pp. 98, 268. 

^ " The means of locomotion is by boats, of which there are many kinds, 
large and small, to the number of 40,000." — Jarret's translation of the 
Ayeen-i-Akbari, vol. ii., p. 338. 

213 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

march to the sea. There is a small channel (called nar in the language 
of Thatta) communicating with the port which is unfordable. Between 
the port and the ocean there is but one inhabited spot, called Suimiani. 
Here a guard belonging to the Mir Bandar, or port master, with a loaded 
piece of ordnance, is always stationed. Whenever a ship enters the creek 
it intimates its approach by firing a gun, which is responded to by the 
guard-house, in order, by that signal, to inform the people at the port of 
the arrival of a strange vessel. These, again, instantly send word of its 
arrival to the merchants of Thatta, and then, embarking on boats, repair 
to the place where the guard is posted. Ere they reach it, those on the 
look-out have already inquired into the nature of the ship. Every vessel 
and trader must undergo this questioning. All concerned in the business 
now go in their boats {ghrabs) to the mouth of the creek. If the ship 
belong to the port it is allowed to move up and anchor under Lahori 
Bandar ; if it belong to some other part it can go no farther — its cargo is 
transferred into boats and forwarded to the city.^ 

We may now refer to some of the naval engage- 
ments of Akbar's reign. In 1580 Raja Todar Mall, 
who had been directed to fit out i ,000 boats {kishti) 
and ghrabs at Agra, was sent by the Emperor to 
settle the revenues of Gujarat.^ In [590 Akbar 
sent Khan-i-Khanan against Mirza Jani Beg of 
Thatta, who pretended to independence, whereupon 
the Mirza sent 120 armed ghrabs and 200 boats 
against him. In each of these ghrabs there were 
carpenters for quickly repairing the damages that 
might be caused by guns. Some of Jani Beg's 
ghrabs were manned by Feringhi soldiers. Jani Beg 
was eventually defeated, fled, and was pursued till 
he offered terms, giving up to the imperial general 
\km\.y ghrabs among other things.^ In 1574 Akbar 



^ Elliot, vol. i., p. 277. ^ Ibid., vol. iii., p. 370. 

^ Ibid., vol. i., pp. 247-52, Tarikh-i-Masumi. 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

opened his long-continued campaign against Behar 
and Bengal, and sent the Khan Khanan Munim 
Khan with the imperial forces against Daud, who 
was putting up near Patna and Hajipur. The 
Emperor determined to personally direct the opera- 
tions, and embarked with a huge fleet, carrying " all 
his equipments and establishments, armour, drums, 
treasure, carpets, kitchen utensils, stud, etc. Two 
large boats were specially prepared for his own 
accommodation." When he reached Patna by boat 
he gave orders for the reduction of the fort of 
Hajipur, and " Khan Alam was sent off with 3,000 
men in boats with the materials required for a 
siege." After the fall of Hajipur, Daud fled in a 
boat, and Patna fell into the hands of the Emperor, 
who appointed Khan Khanan to the government of 
Bengal, giving him all the boats which he had 
brought down from Agra, with a large army. But 
Bengal was not easily pacified. The Mogul jai- 
girdars in Bengal and Behar attempted to defy 
Akbar's authority. The Afghans also availed 
themselves of this opportunity, took up arms, and 
made themselves masters of Orissa and part of 
Bengal. Finding that the Afghan and Mogul 
officers were defiant, Akbar appointed Hindu 
governors of Bengal, of whom Todar Mall was the 
first. The second was Raja Man Singh of Jaipur, 
who ruled Bengal from 1589 to 1604. 

It was during Man Singh's viceroyalty that we 

215 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

find a remarkable outburst of naval activity in 
Eastern Bengal, and proofs of a naval organization 
that was being slowly and silently built up by the 
efforts of some of the independent Hindu landlords 
of Bengal, while the Mogul Government was busy 
establishing the Nowwara at Dacca. The chief 
centres of this Hindu naval activity were Sripur, 
Bakla or Chandradwipa, in the south-east of the 
modern district of Backergunj and Chandikan, 
which is identified with the Saugor Island. The 
Lord of Sripur was Kedar Roy, who was quite a 
naval genius but hardly sufficiently known. He 
had many men-of-war kept always in readiness in 
his shipyards and naval stations. In 1602 he 
recovered the island of Sandwipa from the Moguls 
and placed its government in the hands of the 
Portuguese under Carvalius. This, however, roused 
the jealousy and alarm of the King of Arrakan, who 
forthwith dispatched 150 vessels of war, large and 
small, to conquer Sandwipa. Kedar Roy, equal to 
the occasion, at once sent 100 vessels of war in aid 
of his allies. In the battle that was fought the 
allies of Kedar Roy came off victorious, and they 
captured 149 of the enemy's vessels. The King of 
Arrakan fared equally ill in his second attempt 
against Kedar Roy's allies, although he dispatched 
as many as 1,000 war-vessels against them. But 
Kedar Roy had to face a more powerful enemy in 
another direction about the same time. For Raja 

216 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

Man Singh, the then Viceroy of Bengal, was con- 
vinced of the necessity of extinguishing the power 
and independence of Kedar Roy, and sent Manda 
Roy with loo war- vessels for the purpose. But in 
the battle that was fought Manda Roy was slain. 
This, however, only incited Man Singh to make a 
second and far stronger attempt to subdue Kedar 
Roy in a.d. 1604. Kedar Roy, equipped with fully 
500 men-of-war, first took the offensive and besieged 
the Mogul general Kilmak at Srinagara, but was 
eventually himself taken prisoner after a furious 
cannonade. He was brought before Man Singh, 
but soon died of his wounds.^ 

Bakla also was another important centre of 
naval strength in Bengal under the famous land- 
lord Ramachandra Roy. His escape with his life 
from the clutches of Protapaditya of Jessore, in a 
boat furnished with guns and propelled by 64 oars- 
men, is a well-known fact.^ The reputation of 
Ramachandra as a hero was fully maintained by 
his son and successor, Kirtinarayana, who was 



^ Takmilla-i-Akbarndma, in Elliot, vol. vi., pp. i66 flf. 

* Cf. the following passage from the Ghatakakdrika, the Sanskrit 
chronicle of the period : — 

For information regarding Bengali maritime activity of this period I am 
indebted to Srijukta Nikhilnath Roy's useful work on Protapaditya in 
BengaH. 

217 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

equally skilful in naval warfare, and succeeded in 
ousting the Feringhis from their settlements near 
the mouths of the Meghna. His alliance was 
courted even by the Nawab of Dacca. 

But by far the most important seat of Hindu 
maritime power of the times in Bengal was that 
established at Chandikan or Saugor Island by the 
constructive genius of Protapaditya, the redoubt- 
able ruler of Jessore. Numbers of men-of-war 
were always to be found ready for battle and 
in a seaworthy condition at that naval station. 
There were also three other places where Protap 
built his shipyards and dockyards : these were 
Dudhali, Jahaja-ghata, and ChakasrI, where his 
ships were built, repaired, and kept. 

But the maritime activity of Bengal in this 
period found its scope not only in war, but also 
in the gentler arts of peace. Foreign writers and 
travellers who visited Bengal in the i6th century 
speak in high terms of the wealth flowing from her 
brisk sea-borne trade and the greatness and magni- 
ficence of some of her ports. Purchas describes 
Bengal as " plentiful in rice, wheat, sugar, ginger, 
long-pepper, cotton, and silk, and enjoying also a 
very wholesome air." Varthema (1503- 1508) says 
of Bengal : " This country abounds more in grain, 
flesh of every kind, in great quantity of sugar, also 
of ginger, and of great abundance of cotton, than 
any country in the world." Ralph Fitch, probably 

218 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

the first English traveller to Bengal (1586), mentions 
some of the ports and marts of Bengal. One of 
these was Tanda, where there was " great trade and 
traffic of cotton and cotton cloth." Another was 
Bacla, which " is very great and plentiful, and hath 
store of rice, much cotton cloth, and cloth of silk." 
The third was Sripur with its "great store of 
cotton cloth." Of the fourth, viz. Sonargaon, he 
says, " Here is best and finest cloth, made of cotton 
that is in all India. . . . Great store of cotton cloth 
goeth from here, and much rice, wherewith they 
serve all India, Ceylon, Pegu, Malacca, Sumatra, 
and many other places." Satgaon was another 
great emporium of Bengal for foreign commerce, 
and is thus described by Fitch : " Satgaon is a 
fair city for a city of the Moors and very plentiful 
of all things. Here in Bengal they have every 
day, in one place or other, a great market which 
they call * Chandeun,' and they have many great 
boats which they call * pencose,' wherewithal they go 
from place to place and buy rice and many other 
things ; their boats have 24 or 26 oars to row them, 
they be of great burthen. ..." Bengal was also 
noted for her salt trade, the centre of which was 
Sandwipa, whence "300 ships are yearly laden 
with salt." 

But perhaps the most important commercial 
centre of Bengal in this period was the city of 
Gaur, the history of which may be traced as far 

219 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

back as the days of Pala and Sena kings. As 
the place was surrounded on all sides by rivers it 
naturally gave a great impetus to boat-building and 
maritime activity, of which the first proofs we get 
are in the time of the Pala kings. In the Kalimpur 
copper-plate inscription of Dharmapaladeva there 
is a reference to bridges ^ of boats built for the 
transport of armies, and also to an officer called 
Tarik, who was the general superintendent of 
boats. In some of the copper-plate inscriptions 
of the Sena kings, also, there is mention of naval 
force as an element of their military organization. ^ 
Under the Musulman kings of Bengal, Gaur con- 
tinued to grow in prosperity and importance. We 
have already seen how in the 15th century ambas- 
sadors from China to Bengal and from Bengal to 
China used to carry presents as tokens of mutual 
friendship between the sovereigns of both the 
countries.^ In the i6th century, under the rule 
of the Hussain Shah dynasty, the city attained its 
greatest splendour. Hussain Shah (1498- 1520 a.d.) 



fTf^fr ■^•wfir^^ ^sf^ fr^^TTi;;, i.e. " Now from his royal camp of 
victory, pitched at Pataliputra, where the manifold fleets of boats pro- 
ceeding on the path of the Bhagirathi make it seem as if a series of 
mountain-tops had been sunk to build another causeway." — Ep. Ind.^ 
vol. iv., 1896-97, p. 249. 

^ See p. 197 of this work. 

220 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

himself maintained a powerful fleet, with which he 
once invaded Assam. ^ In Hunter's Statistical 
Account of BengaP there is a story related about 
one Shaikh Bhik of Gaur, a cloth merchant, who 
once " set sail for Russia with three ships laden 
with silk cloths, but two of his ships were wrecked 
somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Persian 
Gulf." Accounts of the magnificence of the city 
are given by foreign travellers who visited Bengal 
about this time. Varthema (1503- 1508) mentions 
how from " the city of Banghella " (Gaur) sail every 
year " fifty ships laden with cotton and silk stuffs." 
De Barros gives the following description of the 
city, based on the accounts of Portuguese travellers 
who visited it in the reign of Mahmud III. (1532- 
1538 A.D.) : " The chief city of the kingdom is 
called Gaur. It is said to be three of our leagues 
in length and contain 200,000 inhabitants. The 
streets are so thronged with the concourse and 
traffic of people that they cannot force their way 
past. A great part of the houses of this city are 
stately and well-Wrought buildings." Manuel de 
Faria y Souza^ wrote: ''The principal city Gouro, 
seated on the bank of the Ganges, three leagues 
in length, containing one million and two hundred 



^ Blochmann's " Koch Bihar and Assam," in the/.A.S.B., 1872, Part i., 
No. I. 

* Vol. vii., p. 95. 

3 Portugiuse Asia, Stevens, 1698, vol. i., ch. ix., pp. 415 fF. 

221 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

thousand families, and well fortified ; along the 
streets, which are wide and straight, rows of trees 
to shade the people, which sometimes in such 
numbers that some are trod to death." Besides 
these foreign notices of the prosperity of Gaur we 
have also some native accounts still extant. We 
have already made extracts from the account con- 
tained in Kavikankana Chandi of the adventures 
of the merchant Dhanapati, who lived many years 
in Gaur, and of his son S'rimanta, who sailed in 
quest of his father to Sinhala in ships of lOO yards 
length and 20 yards breadth, with prows shaped 
like Makara, or the head of an elephant or a lion. 
In one of the old folk-songs of Gambhird^ belonging 
to Malda district, there is an interesting reference 
to another merchant of the name of Dhanapati, 
who sailed from Delhi to Gaur in ships that 
occupied so much of the river that there was 
scarcely any room left for bathing or taking water.^ 
According to Malda local tradition, preserved in 
some old Bengali MSS., there were several Arab 
merchants who settled in Gaur for purposes of 



^ For an account of these songs, see Mr. Haridasa Palit's learned 
article in \}a& Journal of the Bahglya Sdhitya Paris hat. 

^tf^ ^t^f^ ^c? <tif^ ^c^ II 
222 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

commerce. One of the MSS. gives a glowing 
description, through the mouth of Chamban Ali, a 
merchant from Bagdad, of the port of Gaur as seen 
from the opposite side of the river, and of the 
innumerable ships and boats, testifying to the 
vastness of its maritime trade. Some light is 
thrown on the growth of the shipbuilding industry 
of Gaur by an old Bengali MS., a poem, called 
Manasdmangald, by Jagajjibana. The merchant 
Chand Saodagar summons to his presence the 
master-craftsman named Kusai, and orders him to 
build for him fourteen boats at once. Forthwith 
goes Kusai with his many apprentices to the forest, 
where he fells all kinds of trees for materials to 
build the various parts of the boats with. There 
were soon hewed out three or four lacs of planks 
which were afterwards joined together by means 
of iron nails.^ It is also a significant fact that 
some very old masts of ships have been unearthed 
in some of the villages in the neighbourhood of 
Pandua through which the Mahananda once flowed.^ 



■pm fV^ ^f^ ^f?^ t^p^ H 



fpf?^ ^t%^ ^f% fff^ l^fsr Ftf? II 

' For some of the references given above I am indebted to the 
courtesy of Mr. Haridasa Palit, who has devoted himself to the study of 
the antiquities of Gaur. 

223 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



CHAPTER III. 

The Mogul Period {continued) : From the 
Reign of Akbar to that of Aurangzeb. 

We have now given an account of the development 
of Indian shipping and shipbuilding in the reign 
of Akbar and of the contributions made to it not 
only by his Government but also by private efforts, 
by independent Hindu and Mahomedan rulers. 
Nor was this development checked after Akbar s 
death, but continued through successive reigns. 

After the death of Akbar in 1605, Islam Khan, 
Governor of Bengal, transferred the seat of govern- 
ment from Rajmahal to Dacca, and increased the 
Nowwara, or fleet, and artillery, which had been 
established in the time of Akbar in order to check 
the renewed aggressions of the Afghans and 
Maggs. As stated in the contemporary Persian 
account of Shihab-ud-din Talish, " in Jahangir's 
reign the Magg pirates used to come to Dacca for 
plunder and abduction, and in fact considered the 
whole of Bengal as their jaigir." ^ Islam Khan 
shortly afterwards defeated the combined forces of 
the Rajah of Arrakan and the Portuguese pirate 

^ J.A.S.B.^ vol. iii., N.S., pp. 424, 425. 
224 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

Sebastian Gonzales, then in possession of Sandwipa, 
and commanding an army of i,ooo Portuguese, 
2,000 sepoys, 200 cavalry, and 80 well-armed 
vessels of different sizes, who both made a descent 
upon the southern part of the province, laying waste 
the country along the eastern bank of the Megna. 

In the reign of Shah Jahan, in a.d. 1638, there 
began a trouble from a new quarter. Even during 
the closing years of Akbar's reign, the tribes on the 
eastern frontier of Bengal, belonging to Kuch Behar 
and Assam, began to cause trouble. In a.d. 1596 
an expedition was sent against Lachmi Narayan, the 
ruler of Kuch Behar, who commanded a large army 
consisting of 4,000 horse, 200,000 foot, 700 elephants, 
and a fleet of 1,000 ships {Akbarndma). In 1600 an 
imperial fleet consisting of 500 ships was sent to 
encounter the fleet of Parichat, ruler of Kuch Hajo, 
in the Gujadhar river, who was defeated and taken 
prisoner {Padishandma). But Baldeo, brother of 
Parichat, fled to Assam, and having collected an army 
of Kochis and Assamese, attacked the imperial army, 
as well as a fleet of nearly 500 ships, and defeated the 
whole force. ^ At last, in 1638, the Assamese them- 
selves made a hostile descent on Bengal from their 
boats, sailing down the river Brahmaputra, and had 
almost reached Dacca when they were met by the 
Governor of Bengal, Islam Khan Mushedy, with the 

^ J.A.S.B., 1872, Part i., No. i, pp. 64 flF. 

225 Q 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Nowwara. An engagement ensued in which 4,000 of 
them were slain and fifteen of their boats fell into the 
hands of the Mogul Government. The Maggs also 
were continuing their depredations in the southern 
parts of the district. '* The established rental of 
the country was at this time almost entirely- 
absorbed in jaigirs assigned to protect the coasts 
from their ravages, and such was the reduced state 
of the revenues that Fedai Khan obtained the 
government on condition of paying ten lacs of 
rupees a year; viz., five lacs to the Emperor and 
the same sum to Noor Jehan Begum in lieu of the 
imperial dues ; while, on the invasion of the 
Assamese, it is said that not a single rupee was 
remitted to Delhi." Matters instead of improving 
became worse and worse owing to the continued 
dilapidation of the Bengal fleet on the one hand 
and the growing power of the Magg and Feringi 
fleets on the other. When, in a.d. 1639, Prince 
Shuja was appointed viceroy, " great confusion was 
caused by his negligence, and the extortion and 
violence of the clerks (mutasaddis) ruined the 
pargannahs assigned for maintaining the Now- 
warrah (fleet). Many (naval) officers and workmen 
holding jagir or stipend were overpowered by 
poverty and starvation." 

In the reign of Aurangzeb, when Mir Jumla 
came to Bengal as viceroy in 1660, removing the 
seat of government again to Dacca, he began *' to 

226 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

make a new arrangement of the expenditure and 
tankhah of the flotilla, which amounted to fourteen 
lacs of rupees."^ With a view to guarding against 
an invasion from Arrakan, Mir Jumla built several 
forts about the confluence of the Luckia and 
Issamutty, and constructed several good military- 
roads and bridges in the vicinity of the town.^ In 
1 66 1 Mir Jumla marched against Kuch Behar, and 
easily annexed the kingdom, when the Raja Bhim 
Narain fled. In the following year (1662) he 
embarked on his conquest of Assam with a large 
force consisting of infantry and artillery and the 
Nowwara. About 800 hostile ships attacked the 
imperial fleet, the cannonade lasting the whole 
night. The Nawab sent Muhammad Munim Beg 
to assist the fleet. This decided the fate of the 
engagement, resulting in the capture of 300 or 400 
ships of the enemy with a gun on each. The 
Assamese burnt some 1,000 and odd ships, many 
of which were large enough to accommodate 80, 70, 
and 60 sailors, including 123 bachhari ships, like 
which no other existed in the dockyard at Ghargaon. 
The imperial fleet used in the engagement con- 
sisted of 323 ships, viz. : — 

Kosahs ...... 159 

Jalbahs ...... 48 

Ghrabs ...... 10 



^ MS. Bodleian 598, 'm/.A.S.B., June, 1907. 

* Taylor's Topography and Statistics of Dacca, p. 76. 

227 Q 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 



Parindahs 










7 


Bajrahs . 
Patilahs . 










4 
• 50 


Salbs . 










2 


Patils . 










I 


Bhars 










I 


Balams . 










2 


Rhatgiris 

Mahalgiris 

Palwarahs and other small 


ships 




10 

5 

24 


Total . 








323 



It was after all a pyrrhic victory, for a terrible 
sickness spread among the troops, carrying off 
many naval officers and men, including Mir Jumla 
himself. At the death of Mir Jumla, the Bengal 
flotilla was utterly ruined, and, taking advantage of 
this, the pirates, early in the year 1664, appeared 
oefore Dacca, " and defeated Munawwar Khan, 
Zemindar, who was stationed there with the relics 
of the Nowwara — a few broken and rotten boats — 
and bore the high title of Cruising Admiral {Sardar- 
i-Sairal)" and "the few boats that still belonged to 
the Nowwara were thus lost, and its name alone 
remained in Bengal." In 1664 Shaista Khan 
became viceroy ; and resolving to suppress piracy at 
any cost, devoted all his energy to the rebuilding of 
the flotilla and the creation of a new one. The 
contemporary Persian manuscript of the Bodleian 
Library gives some interesting details regarding the 



^ Fathiyyah-i-ibriyyah, translated by Blochmann in they.^.^'..^., 1872, 
Part i., No. i, pp. 64-96. 

228 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

means adopted by Shaista Khan to revive the 
Nowwara. "As timber and shipwrights were 
required for repairing and fitting out the ships, to 
every mauza of the province that had timber and 
carpenters bailiffs were sent with warrants to take 
them to Dacca." The principal centres of ship- 
building at that time appear to have been Hugli, 
Baleswar, Murang, Chilmari, Jessore and Karibari, 
where " as many boats were ordered to be built and 
sent to Dacca as possible." At headquarters, too, 
Shaista Khan did not for a moment "forget to 
mature plans for assembling the crew, providing 
their rations and needments, and collecting the 
materials for shipbuilding and shipwrights. Hakim 
Mahammad Hussain, mansabdar, an old, able, 
learned, trustworthy, and virtuous servant of the 
Nawab, was appointed head of the shipbuilding 
department. ... To all ports of this department 
expert officers were appointed. Kishore Das, a 
well-informed and experienced clerk, was appointed 
to have charge of the pargannahs of the Nowwara 
and the stipend of the jaigirs assigned to the naval 
officers and men." As a result of this activity and 
the ceaseless exertions of the Nawab, we find the 
magnificent output of as many as 300 ships built in 
a very short time and equipped with the necessary 
materials. 

To secure bases for the war against the Feringis 
of Chatgaon, the Nawab posted an officer with 200 

229 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

ships at Sangramgara, where the Ganges and the 
Brahmaputra unite, and another at Dhapa, with loo 
ships, to help the former when required. Then the 
island of Sandwipa was conquered by defeating 
Dilawwar, a runaway ship-captain of Jahangir's 
time. At this time a section of the Feringis under 
their leader, Captain Moor, deserted to the Mogul 
side. The imperial fleet was placed under Ibn 
Hussain. It consisted of 288 ships, as described 
below : — 

Ghrabs ...... 21 

Salb 3 

Kusa 157 

Jalba 96 

Bachhari . . . . .2 

Parenda ...... 6 

Not specified ..... 3 

Total . . . .288 

Ibn Hussain advanced with the Nowwara by 
the sea in co-operation with the army advancing by 
land, the Nawab himself arranging to supply the 
expeditionary force constantly with provisions. The 
first naval battle was fought on a stormy sea. The 
Arrakanese were put to flight and ten ghrabs 
captured. The two fleets, with larger ships, again 
faced each other, and spent the night in distant 
cannonade. In the morning the imperial fleet 
advanced towards the enemy, with sails in the first 
line, then the gharabs, and last the jalbas and 
kusas side by side. The Arrakanese retreated into 

230 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

the Carnafuli river. The Moguls closed its mouth 
and then attacked and captured the Arrakanese 
navy, consisting of 135 ships, viz. : — 



Khalu 


2 


Ghrab . . . , 


. / . 9 


Jangi 


. 22 


Kusa 


12 


Jalba 


. 67 (68 ?) 


Balam 


22 



Besides Bengal there were other parts of India in 
the time of Aurangzeb in which there was a marked 
development of Indian shipping and maritime com- 
merce. Thomas Bowrey/ an English traveller to 
India during a.d. 1669- 1679, has left a very valuable 
account of countries round the Bay of Bengal, in 
which are given descriptions and representations of 
ships and boats, which are " among the best of the 
kind for this period." The great trading and 
shipping centre of the time on the Coromandel 
coast was Metchlepatam (Masulipatam), of which 
the inhabitants " are great merchant adventurers, 
and transport vast . stocks in the goods aforesaid, 
both in their own ships as also upon fraught in 
English ships or vessels." Among the mis- 
cellaneous papers at the end of the Diary of 
Strenysham Master there is, pp. 337-339, an 



^ A Geographical Account of Countries round the Bay of Bengal^ 1669— 
1675, by Thomas Bowrey, edited by Lieut.-Colonel Sir Richard Camac 
Temple, Bart., CLE., Series II., vol. xii. (Hakluyt Society publication). 

231 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

" Account of the trade of Metchlepatam," by 
Christopher Hotton, dated 9th Jan. 1676-77. He 
says: "Arriving first in 1657, at which time I 
found this place in a very flourishing condition, 
20 sail of ships of burden belonging to the 
native inhabitants here constantly employed on 
voyages to Arracan, Pegu, Tanassery, Queda, 
Malacca, . . . Moca, Persia, and the Maldive 
Islands." 

The King of Golconda also had a mercantile 
marine. He had several ships ''that trade yearly 
to Arrakan, Tenassery, and Ceylon to purchase 
elephants for him and his nobility. They bring 
in some of his ships from fourteen to twenty-five of 
these vast creatures. They must of necessity be 
of very considerable burthens and built exceeding 
strong." Bowrey also saw a ship belonging to the 
King of Golconda, built for the trade to Mocha in 
the Red Sea, "which could not be, in my judgment, 
less than 1,000 tons in burden."^ 

Narsapore, 45 miles north of Masulipatam, 
was also one of the important shipping centres. 
It " aboundeth well in timber and conveniences for 
the building and repairing ships " (p. 99). Morris, 
in his Godavari District, says, " the place was well 
known more than two centuries ago for its docks 
for the building and repair of large vessels." In a 

^ A Geographical Account of Countries round the Bay of Bengal, pp. 72 fF. 

232 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

" Generall " from Balasor, dated i6 December, 1670, 
the Factors at the Bay wrote to the Court {Factory 
Records, Misc. no. 3) that they had ordered a ship 
to be built at " Massapore " in place of the '' Madras 
Pinnace " ; they added, " We should ourselves have 
built another but that neither timber nor workmen 
are so good as at Massapore." ^ 

Madapollum was another shipping centre where 
"many English merchants and others have their 
ships and vessels yearly built. Here is the best 
and well-grown timber in sufficient plenty, the best 
iron upon the coast ; any sort of iron-work is here 
ingeniously performed by the natives, as spikes, 
bolts, anchors, and the like. Very expert master- 
builders there are several here ; they build very 
well, and launch with as much discretion as I have 
seen in any part of the world. They have an 
excellent way of making shrouds, stays, or any other 
rigging for ships." ^ 

Bowrey refers to a sort of " ship-money " imposed 
by Nawab Shaista Khan of Bengal on the mercan- 
tile community to build up the naval defence or 
power of the country. Thus, not satisfied that all, 
both rich and poor, should bow to him, but wishing 
the ships upon the water should do the like, the 
Nawab would every year send down to the mer- 



^ A Geographical Account of Countries round the Bay of Bengal, pp. 72 fF. 
^ Ibid., pp. 100-5. 

233 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

chants in Hugli, Jessore, Pipli, and Balasore for a 
ship or two in each respective place of 400, 500, or 
600 tons, to be very well built and fitted, even as if 
they were to voyage to sea, as also 10, 20, or 30 
galleys for to attend them, the Moor's governors 
having strict orders to see them finished with all 
speed, and gunned and well manned, and sent up 
the Ganges as high as Dacca.^ 

Of the Nawab s mercantile marine Bowrey says 
that it consists of about " 20 sail of ships of con- 
siderable burden that annually trade to sea from 
Dacca, Balasore, and Pipli, some to Ceylon, some to 
Tenessarim. These fetch elephants, and the rest, 
6 or 7, yearly go to the Twelve Thousand Islands, 
called the Maldives, to fetch cowries and cayre (coir), 
and most commonly do make profitable voyages." ^ 

Lastly, Bowrey gives an account of the various 
kinds of ships and boats that were then built. The 
Massoola boats, used in lading and unlading ships 
or vessels, " are built very slight, having no timbers 
in them save * thafts ' to hold their sides together. 
Their planks are very broad and thin, sewed 
together with coir ; they are flat-bottomed " and most 
proper for the Coromandel coast ; for " all along the 
shore the sea runneth high and breaketh, to which 
they do buckle and also to the ground where they 

^ A Geographical Account of Countries round the Bay of Bengal^ 
pp. 179-80. 
2 IHd, 



'^^mii^m^mmm^'' *:x^r>'^?^'^mi^m-^.- 




A PATELLA. 




AN OLOAKO. 








i 



A BUDGAROO. 



[To face ^. 235. 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

strike." ^ There is another kind of boat called the 
catamaran, made of four, five, or six large pieces of 
buoyant timber " upon which they can lade three 
or four tons of weight." In Bengal, Bowrey noticed 
"great flat-bottomed vessels of an exceeding 
strength which are called Patellas and built very 
strong. Each of them will bring down 4,000, 5,000, 
or 6,000 Bengal maunds." Bowrey also mentions 
several sorts of boats that were in use on rivers. 
The Oloako boats are rowed some with four, some 
with six oars, and ply for a fare. A Budgaroo, a 
pleasure boat, was used by the upper classes. A 
Bajra was a kind of large boat, fairly clean, the 
centre of which formed a little room. The Purgoos 
which were seen for the most part between Hugh, 
Piplo, and Balesore were used for lading and un- 
lading ships. " They will live a long time in the 
sea, being brought to anchor by the sterne, as their 
usual way is." Boor as were " very floaty, light 
boats, rowing with twenty or thirty oars. These 
carry salt, pepper, and other goods from Hugli 
downwards, and some trade to Dacca with salt ; 
they also serve for tow-boats for the ships bound up 
or down the river." Lastly, there were the " men- 
of-war prows " which were used in the Malaya 
Archipelago.^ 



^ A Geographical Account of Countries round the Bay of Bengal, p. 43. 
' Ibid. 



235 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Dr. Fryer, who visited India about the year 1674, 
has also left some interesting details about Indian 
ships and boats. He describes the Mussoola as " a 
boat wherein ten men paddle, the two aftermost of 
whom are the steersmen, using their paddles instead 
of rudder : the boat is not strengthened with knee- 
timber, as ours are ; the bended planks are sewed 
together with rope-yarn of the cocoe and caulked 
with dammar (a sort of rosin taken out of the sea) 
so artificially that it yields to every ambitious surf." ^ 
He describes catamarans as formed of *' logs lashed 
to that advantage that they waft all their goods, only 
having a sail in their midst, and paddles to guide 
them." Dr. Fryer was landed at Masulipatam by 
one of the country boats, which he describes as 
being '' as large as one of our ware-barges and 
almost of that mould, sailing with one sail like 
them, but paddling with paddles instead of spreads, 
and carry a great burden with little trouble ; out- 
living either ship or English skiff over the bar." 

On the west coast also there were important 



^ Early Records of British India, by J. T. Wheeler, p. 54. Major H. 
Bevan in his Thirty Years in India (i 808-1 838), p. 14, vol. i., speaks of 
the Masula boat as " admirably contrived to resist the impetus of the surf 
in the roadstead of Madras. It is built of planks of wood sewed together 
with sun, a species of twine, and caulked with coarse grass, not a particle of 
iron being used in the entire construction. Both ends are sharp, narrow, 
and tapering to a point so as easily to penetrate the surf." Bevan also 
remarks, "The build of the boats all along the coast of India varies 
according to the localities for which they are destined, and each is peculiarly 
adapted to the nature of the coast on which it is used." 

236 



9 



•.\\.'\: 




A PURGOO. 




A BOORA. 




MAN-OF-WAR PROW 



[ To face p. 236. 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

shipping centres in Aurangzeb s time. According 
to Dr. Fryer (1672) Aurangzeb had at Surat four 
great ships always in pay to carry pilgrims to Mecca 
free of cost. These vessels were "huge, unshapen 
things." He also noticed at Surat some Indian 
ships or merchantmen carrying thirty or forty pieces 
of cannon, and " three or four men-of-war as big as 
third-rate ships, " as also frigates fit to row or sail, 
made with prows instead of beaks, more useful in 
rivers and creeks than in the main." The captain 
of a ship was called Nacquedah (Pers. nakhuda, 
ship-master) and the boatswain TindaL Some of 
the larger Indian ships at Surat, of which the 
names are also known, fell a prey to the pirates that 
infested the whole of the western coast, and became 
a terrible scourge to the Indian trade in the time of 
the Emperor Aurangzeb, just as their brethren on 
the west coast, the Magg and Feringhi pirates, were 
harrying deltaic Bengal. Thus in August, 1691, 
a ship belonging to Abdul Guffoor, who was the 
wealthiest and most influential merchant in Surat, 
was captured by pirates at the mouth of the Surat 
river with nine lacs in hard cash on board. Soon 
afterwards another ship, named Futteh Mahmood, 
with a valuable cargo, also belonging to Abdul 
Guffoor, was similarly seized by an Englishman 
called Every, who was the most notorious pirate of 
the time. A few days after the capture of the 
Futteh Mahmood, Every took off Sanjan, north of 

237 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Bombay, a ship belonging to the Emperor Aurangzeb 
himself, called the Gunj Suwaie (** exceeding 
treasure"). According to Khafi Khan, the historian, 
the Gunj Suwaie was the largest ship belonging to 
the port of Surat. She carried eight guns and 
four hundred matchlocks, and was deemed so strong 
that she disdained the help of a convoy. She was 
z' annually sent to Mecca, carrying Indian goods to 
Mocha and Jedda. She was returning to Surat 
with the result of the season's trading, amounting 
to fifty-two lacs of rupees in silver and gold, with 
Ibrahim Khan as her captain, and when she had 
come within eight or nine days from Surat she was 
attacked and seized by the English pirate '* sailing in 
a ship of much smaller size, and nothing a third or 
fourth of the armament." Another capture of Every 
was the Rampura, a Cambay ship with a cargo valued 
at Rs. 1,70,000. Shivaji also, as we shall presently 
see, used to intercept these Mogul ships plying 
between Surat and Mecca by means of the fleet 
which he fitted out at his ports built on the coasts.^ 
During the same period a great impetus to 
Indian shipping and maritime enterprise was given 
by the great Mahratta leader, S'ivaji,^ who liberally 



^ Early Records of British India^ by J. T. Wheeler; The Pirates of 
Malabar^ by Colonel J. Biddulph. 

"^ Cf. DufFs History of the Mahrattas^ p. 85 : " Having seen the 
advantage .... derived from a fleet S'ivaji used great exertions to fit 
out a marine. He rebuilt or strengthened Kolaba, repaired Severndroog 

238 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

patronized the shipbuilding industry. The growth 
of the Mahratta power was accompanied by the 
formation of a formidable fleet. Several docks were 
built, such as those in the harbours of Vijayadoorga, 
Kolaba, Sindhuvarga, Ratnagiri, Anjanvela, and 
the like, where men-of-war were constructed.^ In 
1698, Conajee Angria succeeded to the command of 
the Mahratta navy with the title of Darya-Saranga. 
The career of Angria was one long series of naval 
exploits and achievements rare in the annals of 
Indian maritime activity, but unfortunately ** dis- 
missed in a few words by our Indian historians." ^ 
Under him the Mahratta naval power reached its 
high-water mark. Bombay had to wage a long half- 
century of amateur warfare to subdue the Angrian 
power. It would be tedious to relate all the details 
of their long-continued conflict, but we may mention 
some of the more important events. In the name 
of the Satara chief, Angria was master of the whole 

and Viziadroog, and prepared vessels at all these places. His principal 
depot was the harbour of Kolaba, twenty miles south of Bombay." Also, 
" History of the Konkan " in the Bombay Gazetteer^ vol. i.. Part ii., pp. 68 
foil. : " Shivaji caused a survey to be made of the coast, and having fixed 
on Malvan as the best protection for his vessels and the likeUest place for 
a stronghold, he built forts there, rebuilt and strengthened Suvarndurg, 
Ratnagiri, Jaygad, Anjanabel, Vijiaydurg, and Kolaba, and prepared 
vessels at all these places." 

^ Cf. Duff's History of the Mahrattas, pp. 172: "The Mahrattas 
continued in possession of most of their forts on the coast; they had 
maritime depots at Sevemdroog and Viziadroog, but the principal 
rendezvous of their fleet continued, as in the time of Shivaji, at Kolaba." 

' Col. Biddulph in The Pirates of Malabar. 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

coast from Bombay to Vingorla, and, with a fleet of 
armed vessels carrying thirty and forty guns apiece, 
he soon became a menace to the European trade 
of the west coast. In 1707 his ship attacked the 
Bombay frigate, which was blown up after a brief 
engagement. In 17 10 he seized and fortified 
Kanhery, and his ships fought the Godolphin for 
two days. In 17 12 he captured the Governor of 
Bombay's armed yacht, and fought two East India- 
men bound for Bombay. In 17 16 he made prize of 
four private ships from Mahim, an East Indiaman 
named Success, and a Bengal ship named Otter. 
Then followed, successively, expeditions against 
Gheriah, Kanhery, and Colaba, which all proved 
abortive and ineffectual against the power of the 
Angrian fleet. In 1729 Conajee Angria died, 
and was succeeded at Severndoorg by Sambhuji 
Angria, who carried on his predatory policy for 
nearly thirty years. In 1730 the Angrian squadron 
of four grabs and fifteen gallivats destroyed the 
galleys Bombay and Bengal off Colaba. In 1732, 
five grabs and three gallivats attacked the East 
Indiaman Ockham. In 1735 a valuable East 
Indiaman named the Derby, with a great cargo of 
naval stores, fell into Sambhuji 's hands. In 1738 
a Dutch squadron of seven ships-of-war and seven 
sloops was repulsed from Gherriah. In 1740 some 
fifteen sail of Angria's fleet gave battle to four ships 
returning from China. The same year Sambhuji 

240 



MAHOMEDAN PERIOD 

attacked Colaba with his army and forty Or fifty 
galHvats, but was opposed by the English. In 1743 
Sambhuji died, leaving his predatory policy to be 
continued by his successor, Toolaji. His greatest 
success was achieved in 1749, when Toolaji's fleet 
of five grabs and a swarm of gallivats surrounded 
and cannonaded the Restoration, the most efficient 
ship of the Bombay Marine. "Toolajee had now 
become very powerful. From Cutch to Cochin his 
vessels swept the coast in greater numbers than 
Conajee had ever shown. The superior sailing 
powers of the Mahratta vessels enabled them to 
keep out of range of the big guns, while they 
snatched prizes within sight of the men-of-war." 
In 1754 the Dutch suffered a severe loss at 
Toolaji's hands, losing a vessel loaded with 
ammunition, and two large ships. The next year 
the English and Peshwa formed an alliance against 
him, and jointly attacked Severndoorg, which was 
reduced after forty-eight hours' fighting. Then 
followed the well-planned expedition led by 
Admiral Watson ^and Clive against Gherriah, 
resulting in the burning of the Angrian fleet, 
consisting of " three three-masted ships carrying 
twenty guns each, nine two-masted carrying from 
twelve to sixteen guns, thirteen gallivats carrying 
from six to ten guns, thirty others unclassed, two 
on the stocks, one of them pierced for forty guns." 
The following is a very interesting description 

241 R 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

by an eye-witness of Angria's fleet : "His fleet 
consisted of grabs and gallivats. . . . The grabs 
have rarely more than two masts. . . . They are 
very broad in proportion to their length. . . . On 
the main deck under the forecastle are mounted 
two pieces of cannon of nine or twelve pounders, 
which point forwards through the portholes cut in 
the bulkhead and fire over the prow ; the cannon 
of the broadside are from six to nine pounders. 
The gallivats are large row-boats rarely exceeding 
seventy tons. The gallivats are covered with a 
spar deck, made for lightness of split bamboos, and 
these only carry pettera roes, which are fixed on 
swivels in the gunnel of the vessel : but those of 
the largest size have a fixed deck on which they 
mount six or eight pieces of cannon, from two to 
four pounders. They have forty or fifty stout oars, 
and may be rowed four miles an hour. Eight or 
ten grabs and forty or fifty gallivats, crowded with 
men, generally composed Angria's principal fleet, 
destined to attack ships of force or burthen."^ 
The fall of Gherriah meant the extinction of 
Mahratta naval power, which had been the terror of 
the coast for a whole half-century. 

^ Bombay Gazetteer, vol. i., Part ii., p. 89. 



242 




o 

W c 
^ I 






<; - 
o a 

Q 5 

<^ u 
< 

H 
H 

£ 



LATER TIMES 



CHAPTER IV. 
Later Times. 



With the rise of the British power following upon 
the decline of the Mogul Empire after Aurangzeb, 
Indian shipping naturally received a great impetus 
at the hands of Englishmen. It appears to be 
quite forgotten that for nearly two centuries and a 
half British India maintained a navy of respectable 
size and of admirable efficiency. This navy has 
behind it an interesting and inspiring record of 
many brilliant achievements and much solid and 
useful work, especially in marine surveying. 
Colonel the Hon. Leicester Stanhope, in 1827, 
said : " Never was there an instance of any ship 
of the Bombay Marine (as it was then named) 
having lowered her flag to an enemy of equal 
force." The history began in 1613, when a 
squadron was formed at Surat to afford protection 
from the aggressions of the Portuguese and of the 
pirates who infested the Indian seas. The naval 
establishment was put on a permanent footing 
in 161 5, and it attained respectable dimensions by 
the second half of the 17th century. In 1669 
the Court of Directors appointed Mr. W. Pett as 
their shipbuilder at Bombay, whither the esta- 
blishment was previously removed. It was then 

243 R 2 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

designated as the Bombay Marine. A building- 
yard was maintained at Surat till 1735, when most 
of the work was transferred to Bombay, where the 
establishment had been greatly enlarged. This 
was the beginning of the association of the eminent 
Parsi shipbuilders with the Indian and Imperial 
Navy services, Lowjee Nassaranjee, the foreman 
of Surat shipyard, followed the establishment from 
Surat to Bombay. The history of this dockyard 
is that of the rise of a talented Parsi family. The 
size of the yard was increased in 1757. In 1771 
Lowjee introduced into it his two grandsons, 
Framjee Manseckjee and Jamsetjee Bomenjee. In 
1774 Lowjee. died, succeeded by these two worthy 
followers, who soon built two ships of 900 tons. It 
was under the supervision of these talented Parsi 
shipbuilders that, in this yard, besides those for 
the Bombay Marine, there were built in the latter 
part of the i8th and earlier part of the 19th century 
for the Royal Navy nine ships of the line, seven 
frigates, and six smaller vessels. Thus, "in 1802, 
the Admiralty ordered men-of-war for the King's 
Navy to be constructed at this spot. They intended 
to have sent out a European builder, but the merits 
of Jumsetjee being made known to their lordships, 
they ordered him to continue as master-builder." 
The excellent construction of two frigates and a line- 
of-battle ship spread the fame of this worthy Parsi 
over England. The under-mentioned Parsis held 

244 



LATER TIMES 



successively the appointment of head builders in 
the Bombay Government Dockyard from 1736 up 
to 1837 •— 



From 1736 to 1774 
1774 „ 1783 
1793 „ 1805 
1805 „ 1811 
1811 „ 1821 
1821 „ 1837 



Lowjee 

Manseckjee and Bomenjee 
Framjee and Jamsetjee 
Jamsetjee and Ruttonjee 
Jamsetjee and Nowrojee 
Nowrojee and Cursetjee 



The degree of efficiency which this dockyard 
reached under these Parsi shipbuilders will be 
also evident from the statement of a visitor, who, 
describing Bombay in 1775, said: "Here is a 
dockyard, large and well-contrived, with all kinds 
of naval stores deposited in proper warehouses : 
and . . . forges for making anchors. It boasts 
such a dry dock as is, perhaps, not to be seen in 
any part of Europe, either for size or convenient 
situation."^ 

Lieut.-Col. A. Walker^ thus wrote in 181 1 of 
the Bombay docks and Bombay-built ships : — 
"The docks that have recently been constructed at 
Bombay are capable of containing vessels of any 
force. Bombay is our grand naval arsenal in 



^ TAe History of the Indian Navy, in two volumes, by Lieutenant 
C. R. Low, LN.; Bombay Times, i8th May, 1839; Papers relating to 
Shipbuilding in India, by John Phipps (1840), late of the Master Attendant 
Office ; Sir Cyprian Bridge on " India and the Navy," in the London 
Spectator of April 9th, 1910. 

"^ Considerations on the Affairs of India, written in the year 181 1 
(445— vi., p. 316). 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

India." Bombay was possessed of great natural 
facilities for the construction of ships, for, " situated 
as she is between the forests of Malabar and Gujarat, 
she receives supplies of timber with every wind that 
blows." Besides, the teak-wood vessels of Bombay 
were greatly superior to the oaken walls of Old 
England. Lieut.-Col. A. Walker wrote, in 1811 : 
" It is calculated that every ship in the Navy of 
Great Britain is renewed every twelve years. It is 
well known that teak-wood built ships last fifty 
years and upwards.^ Many ships Bombay-built 
after running fourteen or fifteen years have been 
brought into the Navy and were considered as 
strong as ever. The Sir Edward Hughes per- 
formed, I believe, eight voyages as an Indiaman 
before she was purchased for the Navy. No 
Europe-built Indiaman is capable of going more 
than six voyages with safety." But Bombay-built 
ships were superior to those built elsewhere not 
only in point of durability but also in that of 
cheapness. " Ships built at Bombay," observes 



^ The late Sister Nivedita related to me the interesting and significant 
but hardly known fact that such of our old wooden ships as still survive 
(for the seasoned wood of which our ships are built has a definite length of 
life) have passed at second and third hand into the coast trade of North- 
western Europe, and are still to be met with in Norway, Scotland, Holland, 
and other little countries on the seaboard. And so the good old sail 
shipping which steam shipping has weeded out from everywhere else in the 
world, still lingers on in India, and to her is given the chance of reviving it 
and giving it back to a world which cannot outgrow its need. 

246 



LATER TIMES 

the same writer, " also are executed by one-fourth 
cheaper than in the docks of England, so that the 
English-built ships requiring to be renewed every 
twelve years, the expense is quadruple." 

The East India Company also helped to build 
up the Bengal Marine, thus continuing, in a sense, 
the work of the Mogul Emperor in connection with 
the Nowwara. But a very calamitous event led 
them to revive shipbuilding in Bengal : it was the 
famine produced in the Carnatic by Hyder Ali's 
invasion in 1780, which necessitated the transport 
of grain from Bengal to the English settlements 
on the Coromandel coast. The first efforts in ship- 
building were made in districts like Sylhet, Chitta- 
gong, and Dacca. Mr. Lindsay, Collector of Sylhet 
in 1780, had one ship built of 400 tons burden, and 
also a fleet of twenty ships, which he sent to Madras 
loaded with rice on the occasion of the famine.^ 
But Calcutta soon became the centre of regular 
shipbuilding. The earliest specimens of regular 
Calcutta-built ships were produced in the year 1781. 
From 1 78 1 to i860 inclusive, thirty-five ships, 
with a total tonnage of 17,020, were built on the 
Hugli, chiefly at Calcutta; in 1801, nineteen ships 
were built, of 10,079 tons; in 1813, twenty-one 
ships, 10,376 tons. Including the above, from 1801 
to 1 82 1 both inclusive, there were built on the 

* Assam District Gazetteer, vol. ii. (Sylhet), p. 155. 
247 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

Hugli 237 ships, of 105,693 tons, which, reckoned 
at an average cost of 200 rupees per ton, makes 
the enormous sum of two crores of rupees 
and upwards ; a considerable part of which sum 
was absorbed in the payment of wages to native 
artificers and labourers, to the great benefit of the 
country.^ 

The first dry dock constructed at Calcutta was a 
small one at the Bankshall in 1790 for the Govern- 
ment pilot vessels ; subsequent to which several 
large docks were constructed at Howrah and Sulkea ; 
in 1803 the Kidderpore dock was founded by Mr. 
W. Waddell, the Company's first master-builder, 
who was succeeded by J. and R. Kyd, and who for 
nearly thirty years built and repaired all the 
Company's Bengal vessels and constructed a great 
many fine ships, twenty-four in number, and vessels 
for individuals.^ 

About the materials of which the Bengal ships 
were constructed, Antony Lambert thus wrote in 
1802 : They consist of teak timber and planks, 
imported from Pegu ; saul and sisoo timber from 
Behar, Oudh, and the inexhaustible forests that skirt 
the hills which form the northern boundaries of 
Bengal and Behar. The ribs, knees, and breast- 
hooks or " the frame of the ship," are composed 



^ Papers Relating to Shipbuilding in India, by John Phipps, Introduction. 
2 Ibid. 

248 



LATER TIMES 

generally of sisoo timber, the beams and inside 
planks of saul, and the bottoms, sides, decks, keels, 
sternposts, etc., of teak. The excellence of teak for 
the purpose of shipbuilding and its durability are 
too well known to require any description, although 
Pegu teak is not reckoned equal to what grows 
on the Malabar coast and near Surat. Of sisoo and 
saul timber, the former is admirably adapted to 
shipbuilding from its size, form, and firm texture, 
and as it produces crooked timbers and knees of 
every shape and dimension for vessels of full forms 
and of any magnitude, even for a ship-of-war of the 
first rate ; and that of the latter furnishes excellent 
beams, knees, and inside planks. 

Lord Wellesley, the Governor-General of India, 
was able, in 1800, to thus testify to the growth and 
possibilities of Calcutta as a shipping centre : — 

The port of Calcutta contains about 10,000 tons of shipping, built in 
India, of a description calculated for the conveyance of cargoes. From 
the quantity of private tonnage now at command in the port of Calcutta, 
from the state of perfection which the art of shipbuilding has already 
attained in Bengal (promising a still more rapid progress and supported by 
abundant and increasing supply of timbers), it is certain that this port will 
always be able to furnish tonnage to whatever extent may be required for 
conveying to the Port of London the trade of the private British merchants 
of Bengal. 

From a " Register of Ships built on the Hugli 
from 1 781-1839 (including Calcutta, Howrah, 
Sulkea, Cosipore, Tittaghar, Kidderpore, and Fort 
Gloucester)," it appears that the total number of 
ships built was 376. The greatest building years 

249 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

were 1801, 18 13, and 1876, when 10,079, 10,376, and 
8,198 tons respectively were put in. 

The Indian Navy, which was thus created and 
built up by the efforts of the East India Company, 
took an active part in the first and second Burmese 
wars and the first China war. A great deal of its 
service was performed outside local Indian waters, 
in the Persian Gulf, in the Red Sea, and on the 
shores of East Africa. It also protected and 
facilitated the trading operations of Indian 
merchants with distant ports. 

The decline of the Indian Marine began after 
1840, no large ships having been built after that 
date. It was finally abolished in April, 1863, 
shortly after the assumption of the Government of 
India by the Crown. 

A very interesting account, together with very 
fine sketches of the typical Indian (Hindu) ships 
that were in use in the earlier part of the 19th century, 
is given by a Frenchman, F. Baltazar Solvyns 
(181 1) in his Les Hindous^ (tome troisieme). In 
his introduction to this work he remarks : — 

In ancient times the Indians excelled in the art of constructing vessels, 
and the present Hindus can in this respect still offer models to Europe — 

^ This rare work is to be found in the splendid library of Mr. Abanin- 
dranath Tagore, the renowned Bengali artist, to whom I also owe the 
reproductions from the Sculptures of Borobudur. The French reprint was 
issued 1808-12 ; there is an earlier reprint published by Orme, London, 
1804, but neither is complete. The original folio edition of 1799 has 250 
coloured plates. 

250 



LATER TIMES 

so much so that the English, attentive to everything which relates to 
naval architecture, have borrowed from the Hindus many improvements 
which they have adopted with success to their own shipping .... The 
Indian vessels unite elegance and utility, and are models of patience and 
fine workmanship. 

He has described some of the typical Indian 
vessels. A Pinnace or Yacht was a strongly 
masted ship, divided into two or three apartments, 
one for company, another for the beds, and a third 
as a cabinet, besides a place called varandah 
forwards for the servants. Ballasor, the principal 
entrance of the Hugli, is described as being 
frequented by different sorts of vessels, and particu- 
larly by large ships from Bombay, Surat, and other 
parts of the western coast. The vessels from the 
Ganges were called Schooners, which were very well 
fitted out and " able to make a voyage to Europe," 
their pilots being " very skilful." The Grab was 
a ship with three masts, a pointed prow, and a 
bowsprit ; its crew consisting of a Nicodar or 
captain and a few clashies or Moorish sailors. The 
grabs were built at Bombay, their pointed prow 
signifying Hindu Construction. The Bangles were 
the largest Indian boats, some of them carrying 
four thousand or five thousand maunds of rice. 
Brigs were ships that came from the coast of 
Coromandel and Malabar, bringing to Calcutta the 
produce of those countries. To the coast of 
Coromandel also belonged the Dony, with one mast, 
resembling a sloop. Its deck consisted of a few 

251 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

planks fastened on each side. It was badly rigged. 
Pattooas, lastly, were those ships that differed from 
other vessels by their being clincher-built ; " the 
boards are one upon the other, fastened by little 
pieces of iron in the form of cramps. The yard is 
always without sail, and the sails are hoisted and 
lowered by blocks." 



252 







PINNACE. 



[ To face p. ■2^'2, 





GRAB. 



[Ta /ace p. 252. 




PATTOOA. 



[ To face p. 252. 



w 




DONY. 



[To /ace p. 252." 



) > 'c O ■> 




BRICK. 



[ To face p. 252. 




1 *■ 



CONCLUSION. 

Thus has passed away one of the great national 
industries of India after a long and brilliant history, 
covering, as we have seen, a period of more than 
twenty centuries. It was undoubtedly one of the 
triumphs of Indian civilization, the chief means by 
which that civilization asserted itself and influenced 
other alien civilizations. India now is without this 
most important organ of national life. There can 
hardly be conceived a more serious obstacle in the 
path of her industrial development than this almost 
complete extinction of her shipping and shipbuild- 
ing. And yet India certainly is one of the countries 
which can ill spare a national, indigenous shipping. 
The sea-borne trade of India is continually expand- 
ing, with the result of increasing our dependence on 
foreign shipping, and for this we have, on a rough 
estimate, to pay a price of about 25 crores of rupees 
a year. We have trade relations with every 
quarter of the globe, not only with the Asiatic 
mainland but also with Europe and Africa on one 
side and Australasia and America on the other. 

253 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

The total value of this trade is about 344 • 2 crores 
of rupees, that of imports being 161*8 crores and 
exports 182*3 crores, and the entire trade lies at the 
mercy of foreign shippers, who are at liberty to 
impose on us whatever freights they wish to charge 
^ for the use of their ships. Even in the matter of 
our coastal or inter-portal trade, which is also 
expanding, aggregating in value about 46 37 crores 
of rupees, a policy of free trade is pursued, throwing 
it open to the shipping of all the world, instead of 
reserving it, as almost all other countries do, for the 
national shipping, so that about 85 per cent, is 
appropriated by foreign shipping, leaving only one- 
seventh to the native. Similarly our entire pas- 
senger traffic is in the hands of foreign shippers : 
our Mahomedan pilgrims to Mecca and other 
places ; our emigrants and immigrants, numbering 
on an average more than 25,000 per year; our 
passengers that voyage within Indian limits, number- 
ing over 15 lacs every year ; and, lastly, the outgoing 
and relieving British soldiers of the Indian Army, 
numbering more than 25,000 every year, their 
transport costing annually about 55J lacs of 
rupees — all these have to voyage in foreign ships, 
while even in the matter of the conveyance of mails 
there is no Indian steamship company that can 

254 



CONCLUSION 

take up the work and appropriate the yearly postal 
subsidy of 7*8 lacs of rupees that now goes to a 
foreign company. The extent of our dependence V^ 
will be evident from the fact that in the oceanic 
trade, of which the total tonnage is 1 1 ,800,000 tons, 
our indigenous shipping represents only 95,000 tons, 
or only about • 8 per cent. ; while of the aggregate 
tonnage of 29*61 million tons in the inter-portal 
trade, only 3*24 million tons is our own, and over 
89 per cent, foreign. Our national shipping at the 
present day means only 130 vessels of under 80 tons 
each, used in the oceanic trade, and 7,280 in the 
inter-portal trade of the country of under 20 tons 
each, making up in all the insignificant number of 
7,410 vessels, large and small, for a country, or rather 
a continent, whose seaboard extends over a length 
of 4,000 miles and upwards. Our shipbuilding now 
is so contracted as to give employment to only 
14,321 men, who build only about 125 galbats a year 
in shipyards, of which the number is now reduced 
to only 48, while the aggregate capital yearly 
invested in shipbuilding may be estimated at 
between 5 and 6 lacs of rupees. 

It goes without saying that in the present state 
of things it is idle to expect that Indian industry 
and commerce can advance by leaps and bounds, 

255 



INDIAN SHIPPING 

handicapped as they are by the want of a fully 
developed Indian shipping. It therefore behoves 
Government and all who are interested in the 
material progress of India to be fully alive to 
the importance and necessity of reviving and 
restoring on modern lines a lost industry that 
rendered such a brilliant service in the past, and 
with which are so vitally bound up the prospects of 
Indian economic advancement. 



256 



INDEX I— SUBJECTS. 



Activity, maritime, evidences of, wherefrom to be derived, 6 

„ „ foreign evidences of, 6, 7 

„ „ Indian evidences of, 6, 7 

„ „ real historical narrative of, how to be built up, 8 

Adaptations from Tamil words, 89 
Admiralty Board of Akbar, 205, 206, 208, 210 

„ „ „ Chandra Gupta, 104-112, 206 

Age, Golden, of maritime activity, 40 
Alexandrian fleet, 100 
Anchors, marble, 203 
Antonine period, 117 
Applied chemistry, achievements in, in ancient India, 180 

„ „ discoveries in, 180, 181 

Arabians, monopoly of commerce by, 94, 95 
Art of shipbuilding in India, treatise on, 19 
Articles of merchandise stamped with royal stamp, 136 

„ „ Roman trade, 123-125 
Aryans, migrations of, 1 1 
Augustan period, 117 ' 

B 

Bakla, centre of naval strength in Bengal, 216, 217 

Banias of Western India trading on Persian coast, 87 

Bengal, home of shipbuilding, 205 

Bengal Marine, 247 

Bengali art, influence of, on Nepalese art, 157 

„ artists, 157 

„ characters on Japanese sculptures, 155, 156 

„ literature, oldest record of maritime activity in, 159, 160 

„ reformers, 155 

257 s 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 

Bhikshuni Order, establishment of, in China, i66 
Birds in vessels used to show which way the wind lay, 73 
Board of Admiralty, 104 
Boat-hire, custom of, 61 
Boats, registry of, 211 
„ trailer, 192, 193 
Bodyguard of Tamil kings, 128 
Bombay-built ships, cheapness of, 246 
„ „ durability of, 246 

Bombay Marine, 244 

Bottomry, custom of lending money on, 61 
Broach, distributing centre of India, 131 
Buddhism, extension of, 3 

„ the first of the world-religions, 2, 3 
Byzantine emperors, 127 



C 

Cabins of ships, 26 
Calcutta-built ship, first, 247 
Calcutta, shipping centre in, 198 
Cane used for masts and oars, 204 
Canoe, 32 
Centre of naval strength, Bakla, 216 

„ „ shipbuilding in Aurangzeb's time, 229 
Cities which flourished on Indian trade in Solomon's period, 94 
Civilization, spread of, in Java, 49 
Classes of wood, 20 
Classification of ships, 21, 22 

„ „ wood, 20 

Coins, Andhra, 51 

„ Kurumbar, 5 r 

,, Roman, 119, 120, 127 
Colonies, Indian, in Java, Sumatra, etc., 4, 171, 163 

„ of Romans in India, 129 
Colonization of Ceylon, 42, 43, 70, 157 
Colony, Bengali, in Cochin China, 157 
Colours recommended for painting vessels, 25 
Commerce, relation of, to shipping, 8 
Commercial activity of India, 22, 23 

„ centre at Gaur, 221 

Connection of India with foreign countries, 59 
Cotton, in Japan, introduction of, through Indians, 174 

258 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 

D 

Damascus swords, i8i 

Deal in birds between Babylon and Benares, 7 7 

„ „ horses, 77 
Decline of Occidental trade, 126 
Decorations of ships, 25 
Dependence on foreign shipping, 253 
Depository of metallic wealth, India, 84 
Devices of Indian sculpture to indicate water, 48 
Docks in Calcutta, 248 

„ of Mahrattas, 239 
Dockyard in Agashi, 202 

„ at Bombay, 243 

„ of Kedar Roy, 216 

„ at Narsapore, 232 

„ of Protapaditya, 218 , 

Drain of gold into India, 83, 84, 122 
Dra vidian words in Hebrew text, 92 
Duties payable by shipowners to the king, 61, 198, 200, 208, 233 

E 

Economic system of ancient India, 179 

Edict, marine, of Asoka, 114 

Egyptians with Arabians hold monopoly of commerce for 900 years, 95 

Embassy from and to Persia, 40 

to China, 177, 195, 197 
European alliance first entered into, 138 

„ influence on India, 3 
Evidences of Indian maritime activity, literary and monumental, Indian 

and foreign, how arranged, 6 
Expansion of India, 1 1 

„ „ closing years of, 39 

F 
Ferry fees, 106 
Fish, iron, 48 
Fishing license, 106 
Fleet of Ahmed Shah, 200 

„ „ Alexander, 100-102 

„ „ Angria, 239 

,, „ the Cheras destroyed, 175 

259 s 2 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 

Fleet of the Cholas, 175 

,, „ Dhanapati, 158 

„ „ Gujarat, 201 

„ Imperial, organization of, 40 

„ of Mahmud, 201 

„ „ Portuguese, 201 

„ „ Raja of "Vishalgad, 200 

„ „ Shaista Khan, 228, 229 

„ „ Sivaji, 238, 239 
Flower-scents, artificial imitation of, 181 
Foreign influence on India, 3 

„ travellers, provision for, in Maurya Empire, 1 1 z 
Fringuan or Portuguese sailors, 209 

G 

Gaur, commercial centre at, 219, 220 
Gold-digging ants of Tibet, 96, 97 
Golden Age of maritime activity, 40 
Graeco-Roman influence on India, 3 
Greater India, 43 

H 
Harbour regulations under the Mauryas, 106-111 
Hebrew text, Dra vidian words in, 92 
Hellenic influence on India, 3 
Hides, dressing of, 191 

„ trade in, 191 
Hindu compass, 47 

Hindu element in Java and Sumatra, 201 
Hindu-Javanese ship, 45-48 
Hindu settlement, 133 

I 

India, art of shipbuilding in, treatise on, 19 
„ a single country, i 
„ colonies of, in Madagascar, etc., 4 
„ commercial activity of, 4, 5 
„ connection of, with foreign countries, 59 
„ depository of metallic wealth, 83 
„ European influence on, 3 
„ expansion of, 11 
„ „ ,, closing years of, 39 

„ foreign influences on, 3 

260 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 

India, geographical unity of, i 

„ Graeco- Roman influence on, 3 

„ heart of the Old World, 4 

„ intercourse the making of, 2 

„ Iranian influence on, 3 

„ mistress of the Eastern seas, 5 

„ normal trade route from Persian Gulf to, 89 

„ region by itself, i 

„ trading establishments of, 4 
Indian civilization, transplantation of, 39 

„ commerce with Arabia, 90 

„ „ „ Babylon, 74, 86-92 

» » ,. Egypt, 91 

„ contingent in Xerxes' army, 95 

„ exports and imports, 82, 179 

„ Marine, abolition of, 250 

„ „ decline of, 250 

„ missionary activity in China, 166, 167 

„ Ocean, navigation of, 131 

„ precious stones highly valued in Mosaic period, 91 

„ rice, peacocks, sandal-wood, exported to Greece, 88 

„ ships, description of, in the 15th century, 46 

„ ships superior to the Portuguese, 202 

„ teak in Ur, 85, 87 

„ tribute to Darius paid in gold, 96 
India's intercourse with foreign countries, 40 

,, monopoly of spices, 83 

„ supply of gold through commerce, 83 
Indigotin, extraction of, 181 
Insurance, marine, 61 

Intercourse as much a potent factor in the making of India as isolation, 3, 4 
Invasion, naval, of Puri, 40 

Iron not to be used in the build of sea-going vessels, 2 1 
Iron fish, 48 (note) 
Islands, conquests of, by the Panda vas, 57 

Jaigeer, Nowwara, 210 •' 

Java, Indian colony in, 163 
,, Era, foundation of, 149 

K 

Kalinga people, traces of, in Singapore, 1 49-1 51 

261 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 



Lead coins of the Andhras, 51 
Lighthouses for ships, 137 

M 

Machcha-yantra or fish-machine, 48 (note) 

Madagascar, Indian colony in, 4 

Madapollum, iron manufactory at, 233 

Magnet, 48 (note) 

Mahratta fleet, under Angria, 239 

Malabar, Key of Hind, 188 

Man-of-war built at Surat, 244 

Manuscripts, Catalogue of Sanskrit, 19 (note) 

Marble anchors, 203 

Marine edict of Asoka, 114 

Marine insurance, 61 

Maritime activity, evidences of, whence derived, 9-12 

„ „ foreign evidences of, 6 

„ „ Golden Age of, 40 

„ „ Indian evidences of, 6 

„ „ in the days of Nero and Augustine, 11 9-1 2 2 

„ „ main evidences of, 11 

„ „ oldest evidence in the Rig- Veda, 53 

„ „ proofs of, 8 

„ „ the real historical narrative of, how to be built up, 8 

„ „ oldest record of, in Bengali literature, 157-160 

„ cities to pay special taxes, 106 

„ trade alluded to in astronomical works, 62 

„ „ in wool and animals, 60 

Marts of Bengal, 116, 117 
Maurya royal monopoly in shipbuilding, 102 
Meer Baree, 211 

„ Behry, functions of, 206-208 
„ „ office of, 205 
Metals for decorative purposes, 25 
Monastic system in China, foundation of, 166 
Monopoly, India's, in spices, 83 

„ in shipbuilding, Maurya royal, 102 

Monsoon, discovery of regularity of, by Hippalus, 123 
Mosaic period, 91 

Mummies wrapped in Indian muslin, 91 
Municipal commission, rules framed by, for foreigners, 112 
Mystical Buddhism in China, foundation of, 172 

262 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 



N- 



Names of classes of Indian ships and boats 
Agramandira, 26 
Bachhari, 230 
Bajra, 228, 235 
Balam, 228, 231 
Bangles, 251 
Bhar, 228 
Boora, 235 
Budgaroo, 235 
Capel, 204 
Catamaran, 234 
Chaturi, 204 
Dirgha (Vishesa), 23 
Dony, 251 
Frigate, 244 
Gallivats, 240 
Ghrabs, 214, 227 
Jalbahj 227, 230, 231 
Jangi, 231 
Khalu, 231 
Kosah, 227, 230 
Madhyamandira, 26, 37, 42 
Mahalgiri, 228 
Man-of-war prow, 235 
Massoola, 234 
Mohrpunkee, 213 
Muggurchera, 213 
Oloako, 235 
Palwara, 228 
Parinda, 228, 230 t 
Paros, 204 
Patil, 228 
Patila, 228 
Pattooas, 252 
Pinnace, 251 
Purgoo, 235 
Rhatgiri, 228 
Salb, 228, 230 
Samanya, 22 
Sambuchi, 203 
Sarbamandira, 26 

263 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 

Names of classes of Indian ships and boats {continued) 

Schooner, 251 

Unnata (Vishesa), 23 

Vishesa, 22 
Names of Indian ships and boats : — 

Chandrapana, 160 

Chandapata, 160 

Chotamukhi, 160 

Derby, 240 

Durgavara, 160 

Futteh Mahmood, 237 

Gangaprasad, 159 

Godolphin, 240 

Gooarakhi, 160 

Gunj-Suwaie, 238 

Hansarava, 159 

Madhukara, 160 

Nandi, 165 

Ockham, 240 

Otter, 240 

Rajavallava, 159 

Rampura, 238 

Restoration, 241 

Sagarafena, 159 

Sankshachura, 160 

Si6hamukhi, 160 

Sir Edward Hughes, 46 

Success, 240 
Names of the officers of ships : — 

Bhandaree, 207 

Darya-Saranga, 239 

Datra-rasmi-grahaka, 109 

Goomtee, 207 

Gunners, 207 

Keranee, 207 

Kherwah, 207 

Maullim (the mate), 207 

Meer Behry, 206 

Nacquedhah (shipmaster), 207, 237 

Nakhoda-khesheb, 207 

Niyamaka, 109 

Punjeree, 207 

Shasaka (captain of a ship), 109 

264 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 

Names of the officers of ships (continued) : — 
Sirheng, 207 

Sukangeer (helmsman), 207 
Tmdal (boatswain), 237 
Tundeil (chief of sailors), 207 
Utsechaka, 109 
Names of Indian voyagers to China, 165-167 
Narsapore, dockyard, etc., at, 232 
Nautical instruments of the Hindus, 201 
Naval activity of the Cholas, 175 

„ „ in Eastern Bengal, 216-218 

„ architecture, Hindu, imitated by English, 251 
„ haXXXem Rig- Veda, Jidmdyana,zndi Raghuvansa, ^^-~6o 
„ „ of Ahmed Shah of Gujarat, 200 
„ „ „ Balban, 190 
„ „ „ Babar, 205 

„ „ „ Firoz Shah Tuglak, 196 , 

„ „ „ Shaista Khan, 228 
„ „ „ Sultan Mahmud, 187 
„ „ „ Timur, 196 
„ Department, organization of, 105 
„ engagements in Akbar's reign, 214-219 
„ estabhshment at Dacca, 210 
„ expedition against Kuch Behar, 225 
„ „ to Assam, 226 

„ headquarters at Dacca, 210 
„ invasion of Puri, 40 
„ power of the Angrias, 239 
Navigation, art of, forming part of education of Kalinga princes, 144 

„ in Indian Ocean, proof of, 8 

Number of passengers in old Indian ships, 28, 29, 42, 69, 70, 71 

i 

O 

Ocean-going vessels, 23, 40, 73, 88 
Officers in ships, 207 
Ordinary ships, 22 
Outrigger ship, 48 

P 

Palace of Chola king, 137 

„ „ Nebuchadnezzar, 87 
Parsis as master shipbuilders at Surat, 244 
Peacocks exported by Hindu merchants to Baveru, 74, 93 

265 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 

Pearl, artificial manufacture of, 68 

„ fishery, 64, 68, 123, 190, 194 

„ „ chief centres of, 68 
Persian influence on India, 3 
Piracy, 169, 185, 186, 187 

„ action taken against, by Shaista Khan, 228 

„ in Asoka's time, 113 
Porcelain, Indian, 197 
Ports of Bengal, 218 

„ old Indian, 131, 132, 134 

„ South Indian, 135, 136 
Port-taxes, 106 

Prehistoric trade relations of India, 85-95 
Prows of vessels, 25 
Puri, naval invasion of, 40 

Q 

Queen of the Eastern seas, India, 81 

R 

Rajput sailors, 194 

Registry of boats, 211 

Regulations, harbour, 106— in 

Revival of Occidental trade, 127 

Rising Sun, the Land of the, 156 

River-tolls, 208 

Rocking-seats as prevention against sea-sickness, 36 

Roman coins, 119, 120, 127 

Roman soldiers as guards, 128 

Rome, political connection with, 137 

„ references to, in Sanskrit and Pali literature, 130 
„ intercourse with, how explained, 139 



Sanchi, earliest evidence in sculpture of shipbuilding in,' 32 
Sanskrit Manuscripts, Catalogue of, 19 

„ origin of words in Malaya language, 146 
Scents, flower, artificial imitation of, 181 
Sea-gulls, 47 

Sea-route between Indian and Persian coasts, 72 
Sea-voyage, oldest representation of, 36 
Selling of captured men by Portuguese pirates, 211 

266 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 

Settlement, Hindu, 133 " 

Shipbuilders, salaried servants of Maurya Government, 102 
Shipbuilding, capital invested in, 255 
„ centres of, 206 

„ in Bengal, 246 

„ materials for, at Bassein, 202 

„ „ „ ,, Sylhet, 212 

„ monopoly of, by the Maurya kings, 102 

„ treatise on the art of, 19 

Ship-coins, description of, 49-51 

Ship-commerce, art of, forming part of the education of Kalinga princes, 144 
Ship-tax, 200 

Ship-money imposed by Shaista Khan, 233 
Shipping centre at Agashi, 202 
„ „ at Bakla, 216, 217 

„ „ in Bengal, Kashmir, and Tatta, 246 

„ „ at Calicut, 198 > 

„ „ „ Masulipatam, 237 

n „ „ Narsapore, 232 

„ „ „ Saugar Island, 218 

» » „ Sindh, 213 

„ „ „ Sripur, 216 

„ „ ,, Mahratta, 239 

„ Indian, proofs of, 8 
,, in the Andhra-Kushan period, 132 
„ „ „ Maurya period, 100 
Ships, construction of, 192 
„ guidance of, 201 
„ Indian, classification of, 21, 22 
„ „ sailing as far as Zanguebar, 191 

„ „ used in naval warfare, 26 

„ names of, 203 i 

„ ordinary, 23 
„ protection of, 198 
„ repair of, 193 
„ size of, 192, 193 
„ „ „ in Pali works, 28 
„ „ „ in Sanskrit works, 19, 20, 21 
„ special, 23 

„ varieties of, described by Bowrey, 231 
Ship-yards of Maggs, 211 
Silk, supply of, from China, 56 
„ weighed with gold, 83 

267 



INDEX I.— SUBJECTS 

Streamers, use of, 48 

Superintendent of ships under the Mauryas, 105-112 

T 
Tamil kings, bodyguards of, 128 

„ words, adaptations from, 89 
Tantrism, Buddhistic, 173 
Taxes, port, 106 

„ for building of boats, 211 
Teak for shipbuilding, excellence of, 249 

„ Indian, in Ur, 85, 87 
Temple dedicated to Augustus, 129 
Tolls, 208 

Tonnage of ancient Indian vessels, 103 
Trade in jewels with West-Asiatic and European countries, 82 

„ Occidental, decline of, 126 

„ „ revival of, 127 

„ route from Persian Gulf to India, 89 
Trading centres of Bengal, 161, 218-222 
Treatise on the art of shipbuilding in India, 19 
Tribute to Darius, in gold, by India, 96 
Tungkia (silver money), 194 
Turkish vessels built at Sandwipa, 212 

U 

Ur, Indian teak in, 85, 87 

Use of Gupta and White-Huna coins in Madagascar, etc., 189 



V 

Vessels built at Dacca, 212, 213 

„ used in naval warfare, kind of, 26 
Voyage, trading, undertaken by Hindu merchants, 8 
Voyages made by Indian merchants to Babylon, 88, 89 

W 

Woods, classification of, 20 
Woodwrights, village of, 74 

Y 

Yavana colony, 128 

„ original significance of, 121 

„ soldiers as bodyguards to Tamil kings, 128 

268 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES. 



Abanindranath Tagore, 250 

Abd-er-Razzak, 13, 198 

Abu Bakr, 195 

Abul-Fazl, 14, 205, 213 

Abul-Feda, 189 

Achaemenides, 3 

Aden, 191 

Adzeitta, 71 

Afghanistan, 84 

Africa, 4, 5, 89, 97, 133, 201 

Agashi, 202 

Agastya, 68 

Agatharcides, 11, 131, 194 

Agni, 55 

Agra, 213, 214 

Agramandira, 26, 41 

Ahmad Shah, 200 

Ahmedabad, 200 

Ajanna-Jataka, 78 

Ajanta, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 

Aji Saka, 151 

Akbar, 14, 205, 208, 209, 214, 224 

Akbar-nama, 225 

Alaric, 127 

Al-Binini, 13, 56, 187 

Albuquerque, 201 

Al-Biladuri, 13, 185 

Alexander, 3, 9, 82, 95,100, 153,186 

Alexandria, 95, 120, 186, 212 

Al-Idrisi, 13, 188 

Allahabad, 206 

Amaravati, 149 



America, 83, 98 

Amitodana, 165 

Ammianus Marcellinus, 139 

Anahilavada Patau, 169 

Andaman, 176 

Andhra, 10, 50, 116, 119, 179 

Andhrabhritya, 35, 38 

Anga, 144 

Angria, 239-242 

Anguttara Nikaya, 73 

Anjanabel, 239 

Antonio, 158 

Antony, Mark, 139 

Anurddhva, 24 

Arabia, 4, 68, 78, 82, 89, 90, 120, 

i33> 163, 191 
Arachosia, 112 
Archipelago, 5 
Aria, 112 
Ariake, 134 
Arjuna, 57 
Aromata, 134 
Arrakan, 150, 211, 224 
Arrian, 100, loi, 102, t86 
Artha6astra, 10, 104, 206 
Aryappadai-Kadantha-Nedunj-Chil- 

liyam, 128 
Asia, 4, 5, 131, 151 
Asoka, 10, 113, 114, 116, 120, 161, 

162, 178 
Assaconi, loi 
Assam, 221, 225, 227 
Asvins, 27, 54 
Athens, 88, 138 

69 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



Aufrecht, Prof., 19 

Augustus, 118, 119, 122, 126, 129, 

137, 138 

Aurangzeb, 14, 15, 224, 226, 231 

Ausil Toomar Jumma, 14, 209 

Australasia, 253 

Australia, 5, 98 

Avanti, 137 

Awaji, 174 

Ayeen-i-Akbari, 14, 205, 208 

B 

Baalbek, 94, 180 

Babar, 205 

Babylon, 74, 77, 82, 85, 86, 87, 88, 

89, 94 
Babylonia, 86, 87 
Backergunj, 216 
Bachhari, 230 
Bactria, 139 
Bagdad, 186, 223 
Bahmani, 200 
Bahrein Gulf, 168 
Baira, 188 
Bajra, 228, 235 
Bakare, 122, 124, 134 
Bakla, 216, 217 
Balams, 228, 231 
Balasore, 210, 211, 233 
Balban, 190 
Baldeo, 225 
Bali, 145, 171 
Ball, Prof, v., 91, 97, 98 
Bamian, 153 
Bandru, 201 
Banga, 144 
Banghella, 221 

Bangiya Sahitya Parishat, 222 
Bangles, 251 
Bankshall, 248 
Ba66i Dasa, 159 
Barendra, 157 
Barygaza, 132, 133, 134, 138 



Bassein, 69, 132, 202 

Baudhayana, 59 

Baveru, 74, 78, 90 

Baveru-Jataka, 74, 87, 88 

Bawarij, j:88 

Bay of Bengal, 15, 30, 71, 72, 142, 

i43> i45> 146, 150, 176, 177, 231 
Begini, 24 
Behar, 175, 215 
Benares, 77, 78, 211 
Bengal, 11, 14, 65, 142, 143, 150, 

155. 159. 175. 189, 195, 206,215 
Berenica, 120, 134 
Bevan, Major H., 236 
Bhagalpur, 30, 157 
Bhandaree, 207 

Bhandarkar, Dr., 117, 133, 150 
Bhars, 228 
Bharu, 75 
Bharukachchha, 29, 74, 75, 77, 88, 

89 
Bhaya, 22 
Bhik, 221 

Bhikshuni-Nidana, 165 
Bhima, 22 
Bhim Narain, 227 
Bhoja, 19, 20, 21, 68 
Bhojajanuya-Jataka, 78 
Bhojapara, 171 
Bhubaneshwara, 37 
Bhujyu, 27, 54 
Bible, 9, 91, 92, 95, 119 
Birs Nimrud, 87 
Bitpal, 157 
Black Sea, 120 
Blochmann, 15, 221 
Bodhidharma, 166, 173 
Bodhisattva, 39, 78 
Bodhisattvavadana Kalpalata, lo, 

113 
Bodhisena, 173 
Bodleian, 15 
Bombay, 35, 200, 238, 245, 246 



270 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



Booras, 235 

Borneo, 4, 171 

Borobudur, 12, 45, 49, 151, 157 

Bowrey, T., i^, 231 

Brahmaputra, 225, 230 

Brajakishora Ghosha, 145 

Brajendranath Seal, Dr., 181 

Bridge, Sir Cyprian, 245 

Broach, 188 

Buddha, 29, 33, 71, 72, 143 

Buddhagat, 145 

Budgaroo, 235 

Biihler, Dr., 8, 53, 58, 74, 87 

Burgess, 69 

Burma, 11, 30, 76, 97, 137, 142 

Bussora, 186 

Byzantium, 56 



Caesars, 117 

Cairo, 199 

Calcutta, 211, 247 

Caldwell, Dr., 93, 98, 134 

Calicut, 14, 195, 197, 198 2^-£3 

Cambaet, 191 

Cambay, 191, 195, 200 

Cambodia, 4, 39, 149, 169, 182 

Canton, 166 

Capel, 204 

Caracalla, 126, 127 

Carnafuli, 231 

Camatic, 247 ^ 

Carvalius, 216 

Caspian Sea, 120 

Cassius, 138 

Catamaran, 235 

Cathay, 12, 163 

Cesare di Fedrici, 212 

Ceylon, 29, 30, 34, 42, 44, 67, 70, 

io3> 113. ^33, 140, 142, 145. 162, 

185, 195 
Chach, 153 
Chach-nama, 13, 14 . 



Chakafiri, 218 

Chaldaea, 85 

Chalukya, 147 

Chamban Ali, 223 

Champa, 30, 76, 157 

Chanakya, 105 

Chandeun, 219 

Chandi, 158 

Chandikan, 216, 218 

Chandradwipa, 216 

Chandra Gupta, 104, 112, 114, 116, 

152, 178, 182, 206 
Chandrapana, 160 
ChandrasvamI, 67 
Chand Saodagara, 158, 159, 223 
Chao Jukua, 170 
Chapa, 169 
Chapala, 22 
Chatgaon, 210, 230 
Chaturi, 214 
Chaul, 132, 201 
Chavada, 169 
Chavakam, 143 
Chembur, 132 
Cheng-Ho, 197 
Cheng- Kuan, 170 
Chera, 135, 175 
Cherala, 135 
Chersonese, 30, 168 
Chia-Tau, 166 
Chilappathikaram, 128, 136 
Chilka Lake, 145 
Chilmari, 229 
China, 4, 12, 13, 39, 50, 56, 6^, 83,. 

89, 140, 141, 155, 162, 170, 173, 

177, 195 
Chittagong, 247 
Chola, 13, 137, 143, 175, 177 
Chotamukhi, 160 
Christ, 144 
Chu-fan-chih, 170 
Chula Punna, 71 
Chyrse Chersonesus, 78 



271 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



Claudius, 120 

Cochin, 241 

Cochin China, 150, 157 

Coilum, 191 

Coimbatore, 119, 124, 125 

Coje Zofar, 201 

Colandiophonta, 133 

Comorin, Cape, 203 

Constantinople, 212 

Constantine, 139 

Conti, Nicolo, 46, 199 

Corbulo, 139 

Corea, 155 

Coromandel, 11, 50, 51, 13T, 

142, 231 
Cosir, 199 
Cosmas, 12, 168 
Cosmas Indicopleustes, 140 
Cossipore, 249 
Crawford, 149 
Ctesias, 9, 98, 99 
Ctesiphon, 94 
Cunningham, 33 
Cursetjee, 245 
Curtius, 100, loi 
Cutch, 168, 169 
Cyrene, 113 

D 

Dabhol, 202 

Dacca, 14, 209, 211, 213, 224, 

228 
Dakhan, 94 

Damascus, 120, 181, 190 
Damodar, 210 
Dandi, 66 
Danuj Roy, 190 
Darius, 3, 84, 96, 97, 180 
Dafiakumaracharita, 66 
Daud, 215 

Davids, Rhys, 78, 88, 89 
De Barros,'i5, 221 
Deccan, 40, 70, 119, 211 



133. 



225, 



De Coutto, 14 

Dehli, 189, 190, 222, 226 

Deir-el-Bahari, 90 

Delmar, 84 

De Souza, 221 

Deval, 168, 185 

Dhanavriddhi, 65 

Dhanapati, 158, 159, 221 

Dhapa, 230 

Dhar, 19 

Dharini, 24 

Dharmakrama, 166 

Dharmapaladeva, 220 

Dharur, 132 

Dhlman, 157 

Digha Nikaya, 73, 88 

Dilawwar, 230 

Dineschander Sen, 156 

Diodorus, 102 

Dipavansa, 72 

Dirgha, 22, 23 

Dirghika, 23 

Diu, 169, 201 

Dony, 251 

Dows, 133 

Drakes, 40 

Dravidian, 60, 89, 92, 98 

DudhaU, 218 

Duff, 239 

Dulva, 145 

Durgavara, i6o 

Dvaraka, 66 

Dwarka, 169 

E 
Edora, 94 
Egypt, 50. 78,183, 85, 90, 91,. 94, 

95» "3> 134 
Ekdala, 196 

Elam, 137 

Elliot, 13, 14, i5» 5i» 146 
Eloth, 92, 94 
Elphinstone, 142, 148 



272 



INDEX IL— PROPER NAMES 



Emodus, loi 

England, 158 

Epiphania, 94 

Erukkaddur - Thayan - Kannanar - 

Akam, 135 
Erythraean Sea, 11, 131, 179 
Ethiopia, 141 
Eudaimon, Arabia, 134 
Euphrates, 120, 168 
Europe, 56, 82, 83, 95, 125, 202, 246 
Eusebius Pampheli, 139 
Ezion-Geber, 92, 94 



Fadai Khan, 226 

Fa-Hien, 11, 46, 48, 161, 165, 172 

Fathiyyah-i-ibriyyah, 15, 228 

Fergusson, 149 

Feringhi, 15, 211, 226 

Firoz Shah Tughlak, 196 

Fitch, Ralph, 15, 218 

Florus, 138 

Foulkes, Rev. T,, 72, 94 

Framjee, 245 

Framjee, Man seek jee, 244 

Fringuan, 209 

Frobishers, 40 

Fryer, Dr., 15, 236 



Galbats, 255 ^ 

Galivats, 240 
Gambhira, 222 
Gamini, 23 
Gandhara, 117, 152 
Gangaprasada, 159 
Gangaikonda-chola, 175 
Ganges, 2, 28, 65, 70, 75, 133, 177, 

161, 144, 134, 137, 205 
Garbhara, 22 
Garbhini, 24 
Garuda Purana, 68 



Gatvara, 23 

Gaur, 219, 220, 222 

Gautama, 60 

Gedrosia, 89 

Germanae, 138 

Ghatakakarika, 15 

Ghiyas-ud-din Azam Shah, 197 

Ghiyas-ud-din Balban, 189 

Ghrab, 214, 227 

Gloucester, Fort, 249 

Goa, 202 

Gobi, 97 

Godavari, 149, 232 

Gogra, 189, 205 

Gokarna, 64 

Golconda, 232 

Gonzales, Sebastian, 225 

Gooarakhi, 160 

Goomtee, 207 

Gotamiputra, 35 

Grabs, 251 

Grant, 209 

Great Bear, 103 

Greece, 50, 88 

Griffins, 99 

Griffiths, 38, 41 

Guardafui, 134 

Gujadhar, 225 

Gujarat, 40, 45, 49, 134, 150, 169, 

194, 201 
Gunabhadra, 166 
Gunavarman, 165 
Gupta, II, 39, 163 
Gurjjaras, 152, 169 



H 



Hadrian, 117 
Haimadesha, 68 
Hajipur, 215 
Hajjaj, 185 
Hakluyt, 199 
Hamza, 168 
Hasarava, 159 



273 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



Haridasa Palit, 223 

Harsha, 12, 65 

Harshavardhana, 11, 40, 163, 170 

Hastinapur, 66 

Hatasu, 90 

Havell, 45, 47, 157 

Heeren, 90, 97 

Heliopolis, 94 

Herodotus, 9, 95, 96, 97, 99 

Hewitt, 85, 86 

Hieronimo di Santo Stefano, 14, 199 

Himalaya, 2 

Hind, 188 

Hindusthan, 190 

Hippalus, 123 

Hira, 168 

Hiram, 92, 93 

Hitopade6a, 67 

Hiuen Tsang, 11, 12, 38, 162, 168, 

169 
Hiwanti, 164 
Holland, 246 
Horiuzi, 156 
Hormuz, 120, 134, 150 
Hoti, 164 

Hotton, Christopher, 232 
Howrah, 248 
Huang-hua-hsi-ta-chi, 167 
Hughes, Sir Edward, 246 
Hugh, 210, 229, 248 
Humboldt, 56 
Hunas, 152, 168 
Hunter, 144, 145 
Hussain Shah, 220 
Hydaspes, 100, loi 
Hyder Ali, 247 
Hyrcanian, 139 



laones, 121 
Ibn Batuta, 194 
Ibn Hussain, 230 
Ibrahim Khan, 238 



Ham, 175, 176 

India, i, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 34, 
39, 40, 55, 58, 68, 72, 82, 83, 85, 
86, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96, 
97, 99, 102, 112, 113-119, 120, 
128, 129, 130, 134, 137, 139, 141, 
144, 145, 155, 161, i68, 170, 173, 
178, 180, 205, 231 

India, South, n, 36 

Indian Archipelago 3, 182 

Indian Ocean, 8, 53, 68, 133, 142, 

143 
Indies, 158 
Indo-Aryans, 2 
Indo-Chinese, 164 
Indo-Scythians, 139 
Indraprastha, 130 
Indus, 2, 3, 49, 86, 93, 97, 100, loi, 

131, 134, 139, 153, 185, 196, 213 
Irak, 188 
Irawaddy, 143 
Islam Khan, 224, 225 
Ispahan, 168 
Issamutty, 227 
Italy, 56 
I-Tsing, 12, 162, 170, 171 

J 

Jagajjibana, 223 

Jagannath, 36 
Jagnagar, 189 
Jahaja-ghata, 218 
Jahangir, 224, 230 
Jaipur, 215 
Jalbah, 227, 230, 231 
Jambudvipa, 29 
Jamsetjee, 244 
Jamsetjee Bomanjee, 244 
Janaka-Jataka, 29 
Janghala, 24 
Jangi, 231 

Japan, 3, 4, 39, 155, 156, 170, i73, 
174 



274 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



Jataka, 34, 69, 73, 74, 87 

Java, 4, 6, 12, 39, 41, 45, 46, 49, 

56, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 

189 
Jaygad, 132 
Jedda, 238 

Jessore, 217, 218, 229 
Jhelum, 196 
Jnanabhadra, 170 
Jogue, 138 
Julian, 139 
Jumna, 189 
Junks, 133 
Junnar, 132 
Justinian, 139 

Jyo, 174 

K 

Kabul, 118 

Kadaram, 176, 177 

Kaddaram, 143 

Kadphises, 118, 138 

Kaivarta, 27, 57 

Kakasu Okakura, 163 

Kalakam, 137, 143 

Kalidasa, 64, 65 

Kalinga, n, 71, 144, 145, 171, 177 

Kalinga Huparani, 177 

Kalingapatan, 144 

Kalliena, 132 

Kalyan, 132, 140, 147 

Kamara, 135 • 

Kanakasabhai, v., 177 

Kanaraka, 36 

Kanauj, 40, 205 

Kandalur, 175 

Kandarpaketu, 67 

Kane, 134 

Kanhery Caves, 35, 132 

Kanishka, 117 

Kankan, 169 

Kansa, 37 

Karibari, 229 



Kashmir, 67, 84 

Kathasarit Sagara, 67 

Kathiawar, 152 

Kau, 166 

Kausambi, 66 

Kautilya, 10, 104 

Kaveri, 129, 136, 144 

Kavikankana, 159, 222 

Kaviripaddinam, 129, 135, 137, 143 

Kedar Roy, 216, 217 

Keith, Major J. B., 179 

Kennedy, 86, 87, 88 

Keranee, 207 

Ketakadasa, 159 

Kewmo-lo, 167 

Khaberis, 136 

Khafi Khan, 238 

Khalu, 231 

Khan Alam, 215 

Khan-i-Khanan, 214 

Kharid, 205 

Khegan, 138 

Khegas, 138 

Kherwah, 207 

Khurasan, 188 

Khusru II., King of Persia, 40 

Kiao-tchoa, 164 

Kidderpur, 248 

Kii, 174 

Kilmak, 217 

Kirtinarayana, 217 

Kishora Das, 229 

Kishtiha-i-bandakshan, 196 

Klings, 145, 146 

Kolaba, 239 

Koppenes, loi 

Kosala, 71 

Kosah, 227, 231 

Kotumba, 134 

Kounagara, 134 

Krishna, 37, 66, 144, 149 

Krishnaswami Aiyangar, 177 

Kshatrapa, 164 



275 



INDEX 11.— PROPER NAMES 



Kshemananda, 159 

Kshemendra, 10, 113, 114 

Kshudra, 22 

Kuch Behar, 221, 225, 227 

Kuch Hajo, 225 

Kudduvan, 135 

Kuen-lum, 174 

Kufa, 168 

Kulotunga, 177 

Kumedera, 173 

Kundaka- Kucchi - Sindhava- Jataka, 

77 
Kurumbar, 51 
Kusai, 223 

Kushan, 3, 10, 116, 139, 140, 179 
Kwai-Yuen, 12, 165 
Kyd, J., 248 
Kyd, R., 248 
Kyushu, 174 



Laccadives, 176 
Lacouperie, Prof.,* 163 
Ladakh, 97 
Lahore, 206 
Lahori Bandar, 213 
Lakhnauti, 189, 196 
Lambert, Antony, 248 
Lang-ga, 164 
Lanka, 130, 164 
Lassen, 90,"'9i, 97 
Latas, 152 
Lenormant, 90 
Levant, 120 
Limurike, 133 
Lindsay, Mr., 247 
Lohita Sagara, 56 
Lo-hu-na, 172 
Lola, 23 
London, 249 
Low, Lieut., 245 
Lowjee Nassaranjee, 244 
Lo-yang, 167 



Luchmi Narayan, 225 
Luckia, 227 

M 

Macedonia, 113 

Machin, 188 

Madagascar, 150, 189 

Madapollum, 233 

Madhukara, 160 

Madhyama, 22 

Madhyamandira, 26, 37, 42 

Madras, 142, 149, 236, 247 

Madura, 49, 119, 126, 127 

Magadha, 71, 137, 152 

Maggs, 210, 211, 212, 224, 226 

Magha, 66 

Mahabharata, 57, 58, 130 

Mahajanaka-Jataka, 30, 75, 77 

Mahalgiris, 228 

Mahananda, 223 

Mahapuri, 130 

Maharastra, 39, 134 

Mahavairochanabhisambodhi Sutra, 

173 

Mahavallipore, 37 

Mahawa6so, 29, 69, 70, 71, 156 

Mahi-sasaka-Vinaya, 165 

Mahmud, 102, 153, 187, 201, 221 

Mahratta, 238, 239 

Mahuan, 13, 196 

Maisley, General F. C, 33 

Maisolia, 134 

Malabar, 86, 93, 117, 123, 131, 133, 

134, 188 
Malacca, 11, 133, 134, 146 
Malava, 152 
Malaya, 149, 172 
Malaya Archipelago, 56, 143, 163, 

171, 189, 235 
Malayan Peninsular, 4 
Maldah, 222 
Maldives, 176, 200, 232 
Manasa, 158 

276 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



Manasamangala, 159, 223 

Mandagora, 132 

Manda, 147 

Manda Roy, 217 

Mangarouth, 140 

Mangulura, 124 

Manillas, 150 

Manipallavam, 143 

Manjanik, 186 

Manjistha, 181 

Manju Sri, 172, 173 

Mannai, 177 

Man Singh, 215, 217 

Mansura, 189 

Manthara, 22, 24 

Manu, 60, 61 

Manuel de Faria y Souza, 221 

Manusanhita, 57 

Marcellinus, Ammianus, 139 

Marco Polo, 13, 133, 190 

Markandeya Purana, 64 

Marsden, 146 

Martaban, 146, 176 

Maruvar-Pakkam, 136 

Massoola, 234 

Master, Strenysham, 23 

Matama, 176 

Matsya, 34 

MauUim, 207 

Mauryas, 9, 10, 100, 102, 

112 
McCrindle, 9, 140 
Mecca, 198, 202, 237 
Mediterranean Sea, 95 
Meds, 185 
Meer Behry, 205 
Meer Bundar, 214 
Megasthenes, 92, 102, 104 
Meghna, 218, 225 
Meheran, 189 
Melizeigara, 132 
Mendang Kumulan, 151 
Merivale, 126 



105, 



Mesopotamia, 94 

Mexico, 158 

Middleton, Sir H., 202 

Mikwa, 174 

Milinda Panha, 164 

Minayef, 74 

Ming, 197 

Ming-shih, 197 

Mir Jumla, 226, 227, 228 

Mirza Jani Beg, 214 

Mlechchhas, 57, 128, 129 

Moca, 232 

Mocha, 232, 238 

Mogallanna, 167 

Moghul, 224, 225, 230 

Mohr Punkee, 213 

Mokha, 134 

Molesworth, 48 

Mommsen, 124 

Mongols, 3 

Monoglosson, 134 

Moor, Capt., 230 

Morapura, 70 

Morris, 232 

Mouza, 134 

Muchiris, 11, 135 

Muggerchera, 213 

Muhammad Hussain, Hakim, 229 

Muhammad ibn Kasim, 186 

Muktipura, 67 

Multan, 187, 196 

Munawwar Khan, 228 

Mundelgaut, 210 

Munim Beg, 227 

Munim Khan, 215 

Murshidabad, 211, 213 

Muscat, 195 

Musulipatam, 150, 232 

Muyirikolu, 123 

Muziris, 122, 123, 124, 128, 129, 

132, 134 
Myos Hormos, 120 
Mysore, 175 



277 



T 2 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



N 
Nabonidus, 87 
Nacquedah, 237 
Nagas, 34, 114 
Nagapuram, 143 
Nakhoda, 207 
Nakhoda-khesheb, 207 
Nakkavaram, 176 
Nakkirar, 121 
Nakula, 57 
Nalopatana, 140 
Nandi, 165 
Nanking, 166 
Nan-Maran, 121 
Narayanadeva, 158 
Narsapur, 232 
Nearchus, 100 
Nebuchadnezzar, 87 
Nelkynda, 124, 132 
Nepal, 153, 157 
Nero, 122 123, 126 
Nicobar, 172, 176 
Nicolo Conti, 46, 133, 199 
Nihon-ko-ki, 174 
Nikhilnath Roy, 217 
Nileswar, 124 
Nilgiri, 129 
Nilkantha, 124 
Nitifiataka, 67 
Nivedita, 246 
Nizarauddin Ahmed, 187 
Norway, 246 
Nowrojee, 245 
Nowwara, 14, 209, 212, 227 
Nur Jehan, 226 



Oaranar-Puram, 135 
Oderio, Friar, 194 
Okelis, 134 
Oloako, 235 
Ophir, 92, 93 
Orhet, 168 



Orissa, 36, 145, 175, 215 
Ormuz, 195 
Orosius, 138 
Ossis, 94 

Ouang-h-wuentse, 153 
Oudh, 145, 189 
Oxus, 120 



Paddinappalai, 136 
Padishanama, 225 
Padiyur, 124, 125 
Padmapani, 35 
Padma Purana, 158 
Paitamaha, 130 
Paithan, 132 
Pala, 220 
Pala Kings, 220 
Palar, 52 
Palekat, 30, 71 
Palestine, 94 
Pali, 9 

Pallava, 10, 51, 114 
Palmyra, 120, 180 
Palwarahs, 227 
Paly an, 170 

Panchasiddhantika, 130 
Pandava, 27, 57, 59 
Pandion, 138 
Pandua, 223 
Pandya, 70, 128, 137 
Pandyan, 29, 70, 121 
Pandyavataka, 68 
Pang-kola, 197 
Panje-ab, loi 
Pan-yu, 167 
Paralaukika, 68 
Paramati, 167 
Parameswara, 201 
Parasava, 68 
Parichat, 225 
Parindah, 228 
Paris, 82 



278 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



Paropanisadai, 112 

Parti, 140 

Patala, 22, 131 

Pataliputra, 114 

Patil, 228 

Patila, 228, 235 

Patna, 66, 78, 215 

Patraputa, 22 

Pattooas, 252 

Paulisa, 130 

Pegu, 4, 144, 146, 147, 176 

Pencose, 219 

Pennar, 52 

Periplus, 11, 92, 116, 122, 129, 131, 

139, 140 
Periyar, 135 
Persia, 4, 40, 65, 68, 120, 141, 163, 

169, 202 
Persian Gulf, 8, 68, 72, 74, 87, 89, 

94, 100, 131 
Peshwas, 15 
Peshwar, 140 
Petra, 95 
Pett, W., 243 

Phayre, Sir A, P., 11, 145, 146 
Philadelphia, 48 
Phillips, G., 163 
Phipps, John, 245 
Phoenicia, 78, 95 
Pillay, 121, 128, 143 
Pipli, 234 
Pitaka, 73 
Pithan, 132 
Pliny, II, 84, 97, 103, 116, 122, 

124, 131, 140 
Poorna, 73 
Portugal, 202 
Poms, 138 
Poudopatana, 140 
Praams, 134 

Prabhakaravardhana, 152 
Prambanan, 151 
Prithvi Raj, 67 



Prome, 146, 176 

Protapaditya, 217 

Ptolemy, 11, loi, 121, 134, 135, 

139, 140, i6i 
Ptolemy Philadelphus, 120 
Pukar, II, 129, 135 
Pun, 90 
Pundra, 144 
Punjab, 3, 84, 97, 140 
Punjeree, 207 
Punna, 30, 71 
Punya-Upachaya, 170 
Purchas, 218 
Purgoos, 235 ' 
Puri, 36, 40 
Pyard, 202 

R 

Raghu, 28, 64, 65 
Raghunandana, 55 
Raghuva6sa, 28, 64, 65 
Rajavallava, 159 
Rajamandri, 147 
Raja-raja, 175 
Rajavalliya, 28, 69 
Rajendra, 175 
Rajendralal Mitra, Dr., 19 
Rajmahal, 224 
Rajtarangini, 68 
Rakshasis, 44 
Ralph Fitch, 15, 218 
Romaka, 130 

Ramayana, 27, 55, 57, 145 
Ramchandra Roy, 217 
Raphael, 44 
Rassam, 86, 87 
Ratnagiri, 239 
Ratnavali, 65, 72 
Ratnodbhava, 66 
Ravana, 55 
Rea, Alexander, 50 
Red Sanders, 71 



279 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



126, 



Red Sea, 92, 94, 131, 134, 140, 202, 

232 
Reid, J., 47 
Reinaiid, 56 
Rhatgiris, 228 
Rhinocolura, 95 
Rig- Veda, 9, 53, 85, 91 
Robertson, Dr., 1 01, 102 
Robinson, Sir H., 96 
Romaka, 10, 130 
Romaka-Jataka, 130 
Rome, 10, 50, 82, 116, 118, 

127, 129, 137, 138, 139, 179 
R. Shyama Sastri, 104 
Rudradaman, 164 
Ruijukokushi, 174 
Rum, 188 
Rupnarayan, 210 
Russia, 221 
Ruttonjee, 245 



Saddhammanagara, 146 

Sagal, 70 

Sagarafena, 159 

Sagara Island, 216, 218 

Sahadeva, 57 

Sahara, 153 

Saif-ud-din Hamza Shah, 197 

Saka, 139, 150, 152 

Sakuntala, 65 

Sakya, 165 

Salabham, 69 

Salbs, 228 

Salem, 124 

Salopatana, 140 

Samantapasadika, 166 

Sambuchi, 203 

Samudda-Vanija-Jataka, 29, 74 

Samudrasura, 67 

Samurai, 202 

Sanchi, 32, 33, 34, 35 



Sancharam, 39 

Sandwipa, 216, 225 

Saiighabhadra, 166 

Sanghavarman, 166 

Sangrama Vijayottunga Varman, 

176 
Saiigramgara, 230 
Sankshachura, 160 
Sankha-Jataka, 30 
Sa6yukta-agama, i66 
Sa yutta Nikaya, 73 
Sanuki, 174 
Saraju, 189 
Sarbamandira, 26 
Sardar-i-Sairal, 228 
Saris, Capt., 203 
Sarmanes, 138 
Sassanians, 139, 152 
Satakarni, 35, 38 
Satgaon, 161, 219 
Saurastra, 68 
Sayce, Dr., 85, 86 
Schiern, 96 
Scotland, 246 
Scythian, 49 
Sebastian Gonzales, 225 
Seleucia, 96 
Semiramis, 102 
SemuUa, 132 
Sen Kings, 220 
Septuagint, 78 
Serendip, 140, 187 
Severndoorg, 240 
Sewell, 50, 116 
Shahabuddin, 196 
Shah Jehan, 225 
Shakespeare, 158 
Shaista Khan, 228, 229, 233 
Shihab-ud-din Talish, 212, 224 
Shiva, 124 
Shuja, Prince, 226 
Siam, 39, 150 
Sicily, 56 

280 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



Silabhadra, 156 

SMhavahu or SiiShaba, 69 

Sinae-Roman China, 140 

Sindabad, 186 

Sindh, 3, 13, 14, 78, 140, 152, 183 

Sindhu, 168 

Sindhuvarga, 239 

Singapore, 146 

Siiihala, 29, 31, 44, 72, 157, 222 

Sinhamukhi, 160 

Siihapura, 69 

Sirheng, 207 

Sister Nivedita, 246 

Sifiupalavadha, 66 

Sita, 55, 56 

^ivaji, 15, 238 

Smith, Vincent, 113, 125, 127, 129, 

143 
Sobira, 78 
Socotra, 133, 190 
Solomon, 89, 91, 92, 93 
Solvyns, F. Baltazar, 250 
Somadeva, 67 
Somnath, 153, 169, 187 
Sonargaon, 16, 219 
Sophir, 78 
Soratha, 168 
Sravasti, 71, 72, 73 
Sri-Bhoja, 171 
Sri-Harsha, 152, 169 
Sri-Vishaya, 176 
Srimanta, 158, 222 ^ 

Srinagara, 217 
Sripur, 216, 219 
Sri Raja Indra Chola, 177 
Stanhope, 243 

St. John, R. F. St. Andrew, 146 
Strabo, 11, loi, 103, 104, 120, 131, 

137 
Strenysham Master, 231 
Suhanu-Jataka, 77 
Suimiani, 214 
Sukangeer, 207 



Suleiman, 187 

Sulkea, 248 

Sumatra, 4, 56, 143, 150, 171 

Sumena, 194 

Sunga, 165 

Sungshih, 13, 177 

Supara, 69, 88, 90, 132 

Supparaka, 30, 71, 89 

Supparaka-Bodhisat, 29 

Supparaka- Jataka, 75 

Surat, 134, 140, 202, 237 

Suryya, 130 

Sussondi- Jataka, 77 

Sutta Pitaka, 73^, 88 

Suvama, 71 

Suvarnabhumi, 30, 145, 161, 171 

Suvarna Island, 56 

Suvarndrug, 239 

Suy, 167 

Suyshoo, 167 

Suvarua Dvipa, 56 

Sylhet, 212, 247 

Syrastra, 134 

Syria, 92, 113, 188 



Tabakat-i-Akbari, 187 
Tadmor, 94 
Taka-kusu, 12, 171 
Takkolam, 176 
Takmilla-i-Akbarnama, 15 
Takola, 176 
Talaing, 144 
Tamilakam, 118, 135 
Tamolitta, i6i 
Tamo, 167 

Tamralipta, 31, 72, i6i, 162, 172 
Tamraparni, 68 
Tana, 191 
Tanda, 219 
Tandulanali-Jataka, 77 
Tao-lin, 172 



281 



INDEX II.— PROPER NAMES 



Tapoosa, 30, 71 
Taprobane, 103 
Tarani, 23 
Tari, 23 
Tarik, 220 

Tarikh-i-Firozshahi, 13, 196 
Tarikh-i-Tahiri, 213 
Tarnasari, 133 
Tarshis, 93 
Tata, 206 

Ta-tcheng-teng, 172 
Tatta, 102 
Tavernier, 150, 180 
Taxila, 10 1 
Taylor, 87 
Tcbaritrapoura, 161 
Tenjiku, 174 
Tennassaree, 232 
Thana, 153, 191 
Tharakhetra, 145, 176 
Thatta, 196, 213 
Thebes, 90 
Theophrastus, 92 
Tiberius, 118, 125 
Tibet, 3, 97, 153 
Tien-shon, 173 
Tientes, 164 
Tigris, 153, 186 
Timur, 196 
Tinnevelly, 190 
Tiperrah, 190 
Tissara, i66 
Tittagarh, 249 
Todarmall, 209, 215 
Tosa, 174 
Trajan, 138 
Trankee, 134 
Trapagga, 134 
Tripitaka, 165 
Tripitak Acharyya, 166 
Tripitak, Chinese, 12 
Tripoly, 158 
Tsang, 162 



Tsi-chao, 197 
Tughril Khan, 189 
Tugra, 26, 54 
Tundeil, 207 
Tung-kia, 197 
Tumour, 29, 70, 71 
Tyndis, 124, 132 
Tyre, 56, 92, 95 

U 
Ujjaini, 167 
Uman, 188 
Unnata, 23 
Ur, 85, 87 
Ur Bagas, 85 
Urdha, 24 
Usnisa Vijaya Dharmi, 156 



Vaital Deul, 37 

Vajrabodhi, 172 

Valahassa-Jataka, 29, 75 

Varaha, 172 

Varahamihira, 68, 130, 180, 181 

Varaha Purana, 6^ 

Varthema, 14, 15, 133, 203, 218 

Vartrihari, 67 

Varuna, 53, 54 

Vasco de Gama, 201 

Va6ishtha, 35, 54, 130 

Vajralepa, 180 

Veraval, 168 

Vespasian, 127 

Vidura, 27, 59 

Vihar, 39, 7 1 

Vijaya, 28, 42, 44, 69, 70, 157 

Vijaya Durga, 239 

Vikramavahu 65 

Vinaya (Pitalu), 73 

Vincent, Dr., loi, 133 

Vincent Smith, 50, 95, 112, 138 

Vindhya, 179 



282 



INDEX II,— PROPER NAMES 



Vindusarovara, 37 
Virgil, 92 
Vishalgad, 200 
Vishnu, 34 
Von Bohlen, 90 
Vrihat-Sanhita, 62, 130, 180 
Vriksha-Ayurveda, 20 

W 

Waddle, Mr. A., 248 
Walker, Lt.-Col. A,, 245 
Wassaf, 13, 188, 195 
Wellesley, Lord, 249 
Wheeler, J. T., 236 
Wilkinson, 91 
Wu, 167 
Wun, 165 

X 

Xathroi, 102 
Xerxes, 95 



Yajnavalkya Sanhita, 62 

Yajna Sri, 50 

Yamato, 173 

Yatratattva, 55 

Yavana, 11, 66, 121, 128, 129 

Yavana Dvipa, 56 

Yeats, Dr. J., 56 

Yemen, 90 

Yudhisthira, 130 

Yuktikalpataru, 19, 21, 24, 25, 35, 

37. 41, 42, 164 
Yule, 12, 168, 1^4 
Yung-hsi, 172 
Yung-lo, 197 



Zanguebar, 191 
Zarman-Khegas, 138 
Zend, 86 



283 



LONDON : 

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 

DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET.