Indian maritime history
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{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
'''Indian maritime history''' dates back to around 4,500 years, since the [[Indus Valley Civilization]]. The impetus for [[India]] to later re-develop maritime links was trade (primarily in cotton, pepper and other spices), due to the monopoly of the [[Persians]] and later the [[Arab]]s over land-based caravan routes. The later maritime journeys spread the influence of ancient and medieval Indian civilisation as far as the islands of [[Indonesia]] to the east, the islands of [[Japan]] to the north, and the east coast of [[Africa]] to the west.
==Indus Valley Civilization==
The world's first tidal dock was built in [[Lothal]] around 2500 BC during the [[Harappan civilisation]] at [[Lothal]] near the present day Mangrol harbour on the [[Gujarat]] coast. Other ports were probably at [[Balakot]] and [[Dwarka]]. However, it is probable that many small-scale ports, and not massive ports, were used for the Harappan maritime trade.<ref>[[Gregory Possehl|Possehl, Gregory]]. Meluhha. in: J. Reade (ed.) The Indian Ocean in Antiquity. London: Kegan Paul Intl. 1996, 133–208</ref> Ships from the harbour at these ancient port cities established trade with [[Mesopotamia]],<ref>(eg Lal 1997: 182-188)</ref> where the Indus Valley was known as [[Meluhha]].
== Maritime trade with the West==
Several Indian or East Asian products (e.g. [[Cinnamon]], [[Cassia]], [[Nard]]) are mentioned in the Bible<ref>Jean-François Salles, Achaemenid and Hellenistic Trade in the Indian Ocean, in: Julian Reade (ed.) The Indian Ocean in Antiquity. London: Kegan Paul Intl. 1996a, 133–208</ref> (as early as the time of the Exodus) and by [[Sappho]]<ref>Jean-François Salles, Achaemenid and Hellenistic Trade in the Indian Ocean, in: Julian Reade (ed.) The Indian Ocean in Antiquity. London: Kegan Paul Intl. 1996a, 133–208</ref>. Indian products were already known in the mythical [[Punt]] and [[Ophir]].<ref>Jean-François Salles, Achaemenid and Hellenistic Trade in the Indian Ocean, in: Julian Reade (ed.) The Indian Ocean in Antiquity. London: Kegan Paul Intl. 1996a, 133–208</ref> Cinnamon and Cassia are spices that originated from China and South-East Asia<ref>Jean-François Salles, Achaemenid and Hellenistic Trade in the Indian Ocean, in: Julian Reade (ed.) The Indian Ocean in Antiquity. London: Kegan Paul Intl. 1996a, 133–208</ref>, and South India was probably along the trade routes for these products.
===References in Bible===
One of the earliest references to maritime trade with India is from the [[Bible]] (I Kings 9:28) which states that King [[Solomon]] collaborated with King Hiram of Tyre/Sidon, and built a fleet at Elath and Eziongeher (or Ezion-geber). Manned by Phoenician sailors, it sailed to [[Ophir]] (also spelt as Qphir) and brought back many treasures which two kings shared between themselves. The precise location of the port of Ophir is another unsettled topic. [[Netherlands|Dutch]]/[[Germany|German]] Indologist [[Christian Lassen]] hoped to close the controversy in the 19th century by identifying it with Abhira in the province of [[Gujarat]] in India {{Ref|Lassen}}.
===Alexander===
During the 4th century BC, [[Alexander the Great]] shipped the bulk of his army from North Western India to Egypt via the [[Indian Ocean]] led by his friend, [[Nearchus]] who also wrote the book, ''Indikê'' about the voyage. This was after he sailed down the [[Indus River|Indus]].
===House of Ptolemy===
Around [[116 BC]] an interesting incident that had happened in Egypt was reported by [[Posidonius]] (ca. [[135 BC]] - [[51 BC]] (also spelled Poseidonius), and later recorded by [[Strabo]]. We are told that a shipwrecked Indian sailor was discovered, half-dead, by coast guards on the Red Sea, and was brought to the [[Egypt]]ian King Physkon (also known as ''Physcon'' or [[Ptolemy VIII|Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II]]) during [[118 BC]]. The sailor said he was the sole survivor of a ship that had sailed from India. The sailor promised to guide any of the King’s navigators on a voyage to India. So a [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] sailor, Eudoxus of Kyzicus (himself an envoy from Greece to Ptolemy VIII), was appointed to that mission.
Poseidonius recounted two direct journeys to India. The first in [[118 BC]], guided by the Indian sailor, proved successful. From Berenice Harbor to [[Kodungallur|Muziris]] below [[Calicut]] took 70 days. Eudoxus returned with a cargo of aromatics and precious stones. Ptolemy VIII promptly confiscated the cargo.
The second, under the sole guidance of Eudoxus, occurred in 116 BC, just after the death of Ptolemy VIII and during the reign of Cleopatra III, his wife and queen.
A position titled, ''Commander of the Red and Indian Seas,'' came into being under [[Ptolemy XII]], also nicknamed ''Auletes'' (80-51 BC) to encourage trade with India {{ref|Ptolemy}}. The best known occupant of this office was a gentleman named, Callimachus ''the epistrategos'', who was the Commander between July [[78]] BC and February [[51]] BC {{ref|bevan}}.
===Roman connection===
{{main|Roman trade with India}}
[[Roman Empire|Roman]] Emperor [[Augustus]] Caesar in 26 BC commissioned his prefect in [[Egypt]], Aelius Gallus, to capture the port of [[Aden]] to attack the [[Ethiopians]] who controlled the trade from India. This was after the death of [[Cleopatra]] in 30 B.C. Although Augustus was unsuccessful in capturing [[Arabia Felix]] (present day Yemen), the Romans opened sea routes to India through the [[Red Sea]], where they could buy Chinese silk, bypassing war-torn areas and diminishing the role of Persians and Arabs who previously dominated the trade. [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] writer, [[Nicolaus of Damascus]] records an Indian delegation from ''Pandion'' ([[Pandyan]]?) visited Emperor Augustus in [[13 BC]] at [[Antioch]] {{ref|Strabo}}.
Pliny complained that the Indian luxury trade was depleting the Roman treasury to the extent of 50 million sesterces annually {{ref|Pliny}}. The Roman Senate even contemplated banning the use of Indian cotton in the clothing, [[Toga]] that Roman citizens wore, because it was so expensive to import.
The ''[[Periplus Maris Erythraei]]'' ("Circumnavigation of the Erythrean i.e., [[Red Sea]]"), by an unknown author presumed to be a Greek merchant, written in the 1st century AD, lists a series of ports along the Indian coast, including Muziris (Cranganore), Colchi (Korkai), Poduca, and Sopatma. It also records the accomplishment of [[Hippalus]], who having determined the patterns of the Indian [[monsoon]]s, discovered a sea-route from the Red Sea to Southern India. The book also references the port of [[Kodungallur]] (anglicised to ''Cranganore'', and also known as ''Muziris'' or ''Shinkli''), in present day [[Kerala]] on India's West coast. Pliny refers to this port as ''primum emporium Indiae''.
==Mauryan Empire==
The earliest known reference to an organization devoted to ships in ancient India is to the [[Mauryan Empire]] from the 4th century BC. The word navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word "Navgath" also. Its believed that the navigation as a science originated on the river [[Indus]] some 5000 years ago. Emperor [[Chandragupta Maurya]]'s Prime Minister [[Kautilya]]'s [[Arthashastra]] devotes a full chapter on the state department of waterways under ''navadhyaksha'' ([[Sanskrit]] for [[Management|Superintendent]] of ships) {{Ref|Kautilya}}. The term, ''nava dvipantaragamanam'' (Sanskrit for sailing to other lands by ships) appears in this book in addition to appearing in the Buddhist text, ''Baudhayana Dharmasastra'' as the interpretation of the term, ''Samudrasamyanam''.
==Kalinga Empire==
Ancient mariners from the Kalinga empire, which roughly corresponds to modern Orissa, were called [[Sadhaba]]s. They used ships called [[Boita]]s to travel to distant lands such as Bali, Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, in Indonesia, and to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Persia, China, Greece and Africa to carry out trade and for cultural expansion. The [[Chilka]] lake in those days served as a very large dockyard crowded with ships from vaious countries. The Kalinga empire was instrumental in spreading Hinduism, Buddhism, Indic languages, culture and architecture in Indochina. The [[Borobudur]] temple in Indonesia contains a sculpure of an Oriya Boita.
==The Cholas and Satavahanas==
A few empires in southern India, notably the [[Chola]]s and the [[Satavahana]]s have noteworthy maritime legacies.
The Chola empire made territorial expansions into the Malayan archipelago, during the reign of Raja Raja Chola. The [[Srivijaya]] empire was heavily influenced by the Cholas, politically and socially. In 1025 AD, Rajendra Chola invaded the Srivijayas, and occupied the capital city, Kadeh, for several years. The Cholas left behind a lasting legacy in [[Indochina]]. Buddhist temples in that region show a very clear [[Dravidian]] influence. The Cholas also conducted diplomacy with China, during the [[Song Dynasty]]. The Chola empire also made deep inroads into countries located west of India.The Satavahanas forayed deep into Indochina and the Malayan peninsula during the 1<sup>st</sup> century AD.
==Notes==
<references/>
==References==
* Kautilya. ''Arthashastra'', Bk. II, Ch. 28.
* [[Christian Lassen]], ''Indische Altertumskunde'' (1847-1861)
* Bevan, E.R. ''The House of Ptolemy'',London: Methuen Publishing, 1927, Ch. XIII
* [[Ptolemy]], ''Sammelbuch'', 8036, ''Coptos'' (variously dated 110/109 BC or 74/3 BC; and no. 2264 (78 BC); ''Inscriptions Philae'', 52 (62 BC).
* Woodcock, George. ''The Greeks in India'', London: Faber & Faber, 1966, p. 23
* [[Strabo]], xv. 1, on the immolation of the Sramana in Athens (Para. 73)
* [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]. ''Natural History'', 6.96-111
* De Riencourt, Amaury. ''The Soul of India'', p.158-162
==Further reading==
*Maritime Heritage of India. K.S. Behera (Ed.) 1999. New Delhi: Aryan Books International [http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/t_rv/t_rv_agraw_maritime.htm]
* Mookerji, Radha Kumud. ''Indian Shipping - A History of the Sea-Borne Trade and Marine Activity of The Indians From The Earliest Times'', Bombay : Longmans, Green and Co., 1962. 283 pgs. (Originally published by Calcutta: Orient Longmans, 1912). ISBN 81-215-0916-5
* Habib, Muhammad. ''Kitab al-muhabbar'', ed. Ilse Lichtenstädter. Hyderabad, 1361/1942.
* De Riencourt, Amaury. ''The Soul of India'', Hyperion Books, 1990, 432 pgs. ISBN 0-907855-03-2
*Julian Reade (ed.) The Indian Ocean in Antiquity. London: Kegan Paul Intl. 1996
==See also==
* [[Kodungallur|Cranganore]]
*[[Samudra]]
*[[Meluhha]]
* [[Roman trade with India]]
* [[Boita]]
* [[Sadhaba]]
== External links ==
*[http://www.indianscience.org/bibliography/t_rs_ship_bibliog.shtml Ship-building Bibliography]
*[http://www.indianscience.org/essays/t_es_agraw_ships.shtml Ancient Ship-Building & Maritime Trade] [[D. P. Agrawal]] & Lalit Tiwari
*[http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Journal/Journal2/pdf/ohrj-014.pdf ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE MARITIME HISTORY OF ANCIENT ORISSA]
*[http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Seafaring_in_Ancient_India.htm Seafearing in Ancient India]
*[http://www.ziff.or.tz/programme/conf/3.2%20Tripathi%20-%20Ancient.pdf ANTIQUITY OF SAILING SHIPS OF INDIAN OCEAN: EVIDENCE FROM ANCIENT INDIAN ART]
*[http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/apr102005/1175.pdf Maritime heritage in and around Chilika Lake, Orissa: Geological evidences for its decline]
*[http://cf.hum.uva.nl/galle/index.html Maritime Lanka]
[[Category:Ancient India]]
[[Category:Maritime history of India]]