INDIA | Maritime History of 4 Millenia | A0 Size Map

The INDIA | Maritime History of 4 Millenia is an ode to sea faring traditions of our civilisation for 4 millennia, from the Harappan period to the sea faring in the first millennia CE up to the modern period until the building of INS Vikrant and our modern Merchant Navy industry.

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The map documents the following, colour coded for the 4 different eras!

1.      Ports of India & Our Sea Faring partner nations/kingdoms

2.     Merchandise exported and imported in the different eras

3.     Boats & Ships over time

4.     Sea faring routes

5.     The role of the Monsoons, Meteorological, Geographic and knowledge of Astronomical aids that fuelled the sea faring adventurous spirit.

India has a long tradition of indigenous seafaring which is well attested from the late Chalcolithic period to the late Medieval period. Seafaring in India was a continuing practice contrary to the edicts of the Manusmriti that prohibited the crossing of seas especially those by Brahmins. Seafarers became the conduit through which Indian culture and religious traditions seeped into territories beyond the frontiers.

Some of the earliest seafaring people in the recorded history of the Indian subcontinent were the Harappans. The Harappans were noted to have constructed large citadels with well laid urban settlements unparalleled in the ancient world. But the discovery of Lothal and Dholavira unravelled a different dimension of this Chalcolithic culture. The excavation of a dry dock at Lothal and a fortified island city of Dholavira put the Harappans on the ancient maritime map. Both Lothal and Dholavira were among the Harappan coastal settlements which were major nodal points associated with the coastal navigation undertaken by the Harappan seafarers. These cities produced drilled beads especially carnelian which are endemic to the Gujarat region and were in great demand in the Mesopotamian markets.

The sea faring continued with the Mauryas, Kalingas, Satavahanas, Chalukyas & Cholas. Sailing to ports on the Eastern Coast of Africa, Arabia, Egypt and eastwards towards Bali, Suvarnabhumi (Thailand), Malaya and Funan (Vietnam).

Ship Building was a major industry in the Indian Subcontinent. Yukti Kalpataru is a famous treatise in Sanskrit on ship building in ancient India. It was written and compiled by King Bhoja (C 1000 – 1055 CE) of the Paramara dynasty.

Exports & Imports

The Chief Exports included - Cotton–yarn and cloth both rough and fine, muslins, coconuts, sandal and teak-wood, sesame-oil, ivory, etc. were the main articles of export. Out of these, indigo, hides, perfume, coconuts and teak-wood were the products of Konkan. It also included rice. In the time of Marco Polo, Thana used to import gold, silver and copper. Horses were imported in large numbers, as they were constantly in demand. No ship probably came from Arabia or the Persian Gulf to the ports of Konkan without horses.

India’s Freedom from the British

Indians even owe their Independence from British Rule to the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean and the Navy! It is widely accepted that the real reason for British relinquishing its colony, Jewel in The Crown, India was the Naval Mutiny in Bombay!