Nautical (Ship and boat) Archaeology of South Asia
Paper Title
An overview of shipwreck explorations in Goa waters
Paper Abstract
Since the beginning of maritime archaeological research in Indian waters, marine records housed in archives of India and abroad provide details of the shipwrecks and the loss of Indian ships in foreign waters. Information on more than 200 shipwrecks has been collected in Indian waters and attempts made to explore in Goa, Lakshadweep and Tamil Nadu waters. These shipwrecks are dated to the post 16th century AD. Shipwrecks were explored off Sunchi Reef, St George’s Reef and Amee Shoals in Goa waters. Sunchi Reef and St George’s Reef were wooden hulled sailing ships whereas Amee Shoals was a steel hulled steam engine shipwreck. Sunchi Reef exploration led to the recovery of guns, barrel of handgun, storage jars, Chinese ceramic, elephant tusks, hippopotamus teeth, iron anchor and other items that are evidence of Indo-Portuguese trade and commerce in the 17th century. Exploration off St George’s Reef uncovered timber and terracotta artefacts such as column capital, drum, ridge tiles, roof and floor tiles and chimney bricks intended for construction. The bricks and tiles have the distinct inscription of Basel Mission Tile works 1865. Amee shoals exploration revealed the remains of a steel hulled steam engine shipwreck in which boilers, boiler bricks, flanges and engine parts were found. The stamps on the flanges and the name on the firebricks suggest a British origin, dating from the 1880s or later.
Dr Sila Tripati National Institute of Oceanography Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) INDIA sila@nio.org————————————————————————————————
Paper Title
Archaeological, Literary and Ethnographic Evidence for Traditional Boat-building in Kerala, South India
Paper Abstract
Kerala, situated on the south-western corner of India, possesses rich maritime traditions. Due to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean region, Kerala witnessed active maritime contacts at least from the beginning of the Early Historic period, around 300 BCE. Kerala is criss-crossed by 44 perennial rivers, and has several backwater bodies. These natural features have influenced the development and use of different varieties of watercrafts in Kerala, most probably from the prehistoric times. Compared to other parts of India, watercrafts were used more extensively for inland transport in Kerala, a trend that continues even today.
Various types of canoes, log-boats, and larger craft have been used in Kerala. A few types of traditional watercrafts were developed indigenously, and in addition, external contacts influenced the character of some watercraft of Kerala. Perhaps the simple watercraft called Maram or Kattumaram (logs of wood) of Southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala might have evolved in the prehistoric period.
Archaeological excavations at Kadakkarappally in 2003-2004 revealed a medieval watercraft in a waterlogged deposit. Similarly, a canoe of Early Historic period was found at the site of Pattanam in 2007. The Sangam Tamil texts, dateable to the Early Historic period, contain a lot of references to the watercrafts of Kerala. In the coastal region of Kerala, traditional boat-building still exists. Uru is a large watercraft made at Baypore in Kerala. Such boats are exported to West Asian countries. This paper proposes to present the various categories of evidence available for traditional boats of Kerala and discusses their historical context, and the possible external influences.
Dr Veerasamy Selvakumar Department of Epigraphy and Archaeology, Tamil University INDIA selvakumarodi@gmail.com
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Paper Title
Nautical Terms as Gleaned from Ancient Tamil Literature
Paper Abstract
During the beginning of the Christian Era, the Maritime trade peaked in the regions of South East Asia, Peninsular India, Srilanka and the Red Sea coast. The Greek and Latin accounts clearly attest to the increased trade activities in this period. The use of large crafts for navigation is well recorded in these accounts. The early historic Tamil Sangam literature dated between 300 BCE and 300 CE provide valuable data regarding the nautical knowledge of that period. Some researchers have attempted to collate and interpret the data on nautical terms available in this literature. However, a detailed contextual analysis based on the content of the poems has not been attempted so far. Many types of crafts such as naavaay, vangam, thimil, and punai, are found mentioned in the Sangam literature, and these terms are not in use at present. The field studies conducted by scholars have revealed the existence of many indigenous crafts having different names on the South Indian Coast. Due to modern development the usage of traditional crafts is fast vanishing.
In this paper an attempt is made to analyse the names and structure of the crafts that occur in the Sangam literature based on their contextual information. For example, the term naavaay is mentioned in the context of deep-sea craft which carried goods of various types. The data pertaining to the boats and ships and other nautical terms are analysed in this paper. An attempt is also made to find out the possible reasons for the disappearance of the various crafts referred in the literature.
Professor Athiyaman Natarajan Centre for Underwater Archaeology, Tamil University INDIA rajachidam@gmail.com————————————————————————————————
Paper Title
Ships and Navigation in Medieval South India
Paper Abstract
The maritime activities of Indian sub continent have a hoary past. The inscriptions of medieval South India disclose information about the ports of Coromandel coast, the various kinds of boats and ships and goods that were imported and exported through these ports. The inscriptions of the Cholas, Pandyas and the other major dynasties in the Andhra region give valuable evidence on this aspect. Besides, the inscriptional evidences there are quite a number of sculptures, coins bearing the figure of ships and boats attest to the various kinds of vessels of that period. The Cholas who ruled over the entire Tamil country in the medieval period made sevaral voyages to the South-East Asian countries through big vessels. Rajaraja I, the great Chola king (A.D.985-1014), allowed Srivijaya king Sri Mara Vijayadunga Varman son of Sulamanivarman to build a Buddhist vihara in the name of his father Sulamanivarman at Nagappattinam, which suggests that he had a cordial relatio nship with the kingdoms of far east countries during his regime. His able son Rajendra I (A.D.1012-1044) he crossed the Bay of Bengal and reached many countries which were listed in the lengthy prasasti. His prasasti mentions that he used many kinds of ships on the ocean to reach the Southeast Asian countries such as Kadaram (modern Kedha) Java and Sumatra.
An inscription from Mottuppalli refers to the various kinds of ships which were anchored on the Andhra coast. The port had a yard for ship repair. This port was declared as a tax-free zone for the ships affected during storms. An inscription from Nagalapuram near Chittor in Andhrapradesh refers to a kind of ship knows as tongukappal in Tamil. In all probability it could be a big Chinese vessel, namely the jung. This paper discusses in details the nature of the ships and navigation in medieval south India.
Associate Professor S. Rajavelu Department of Underwater Archaeology Tamil University INDIA rajavelasi@gmail.com
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Paper Title
Reading the contemporary social consciousness through the shipwreck of Earl of Shaftsbury
Paper Abstract
The shipwreck of Earl of Shaftsbury is located on the southern coast of Sri Lanka. She was run aground, after hitting a rock at Akurala about three miles away from the shore, in 1893 when sailing from Bombay to Diamond Island, Rangoon via Colombo harbor after unloading charcoal. It was an iron build four mast sailing vessel.
She had collided on a reef by rough waves. Six from the crew was drowned and 14 survived. The ship was laid on a 50 feet depth. The incident was reported in Examiner newspaper first on 8th May 1893 and then on 9th 10th and 11th May. The value of the vessel was estimated at Rs. 300,000 at the time. In a one article it is taken light that there is another steamer ship which was wrecked close by few years ago. The sheet below are included the detail which is available from the paper reports.
It was an interesting story what happened after her sinking. The time was the British colonial period in “Ceylon” (now Sri Lanka) and at the same time ideas of freedom struggle, against the colonial masters were growing in general minds. Some information reveals that these ideas have directly affected while taking measures to rescuing the ship’s crew. In my paper I am going to elaborate the story behind the shipwreck of Earl of Shaftsbury and make an investigation of the social influence towards the wreck site then and now.
Mr A.M.A.Dayananda Research Officer & Underwater Archaeologist Maritime Archaeology Unit (MAU) Galle SRI LANKA amadayananda@yahoo.com————————————————————————————————
Paper Title
The Stone Bench recovered in the oldest Maritime Archaeological site at Godawaya (Ambalantota) in Sri Lanka.
Paper Abstract
The stone bench that was recovered at the oldest Maritime Archaeological site at Godawaya (Ambalantota) in Sri Lanka is an unusual archaeological artifact which has become instrumental in turning the history of Maritime Archaeology in Sri Lanka in a new direction It has been recovered for the first time in the area of Godawaya (Ambalantota) in the Hambantota District in Sri Lanka. The particular object is a Stone Bench with four legs where the whole thing is carved out of a single stone. The main purpose of this article is to describe this stone bench and to discuss the symbols it carries with its making. Also an attempt will be made to look into the site where the object was found and other certain related aspects as well.
In August 2008, Maritime Archaeologists attached to the Department of Archaeology and Central Cultural Fund (CCF) under the aegis of UNESCO launched an exploration in the area where this stone bench had been found. The location was around 30 meters under the sea at a place 4 km away from the fishery harbor in the coastal area of Godawaya village in the proximity of Ambalantota Town in the Hambantota District in Southern Province of Sri Lanka.
Mr Sanath Karunarathna Regional Exploration officer Regional Archaeology office Fort Galle SRI LANKA sanathgalle@yahoo.com
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