Ships And The Development Of Maritime Technology On The Indian Ocean

Recognising the fundamental role both of shipping communities and the technologies crafted and shared by them, this book explores the types of ships, methods of navigation and modes of water-borne trade in the Indian Ocean region and the way they affected the development of distinctive settlements against a changing but strong sense of regional consciousness and identity.

Recognising the fundamental role both of shipping communities and the technologies crafted and shared by them, this book explores the types of ships, methods of navigation and modes of water-borne trade in the Indian Ocean region and the way they affected the development of distinctive settlements against a changing but strong sense of regional consciousness and identity.

Collection of contributed articles presented at an international seminar held in February 1995.

History of navigation in Indian Ocean, during the period 16th-18th century; contributed research papers.

The maritime domain, hosting the highways of global prosperity—through trade, industrial raw material and energy links—rates high in its potential for conflict. As the global pendulum of economic vibrancy swings eastwards, the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has been receiving increasing attention from all actors, state as well as non-state ones, and now presents itself in sharp focus as one of the volatile seascapes on this earth. The navies operating in the region will, therefore, need to depend on high technology and associated doctrines and procedures, so as to effectively deal with the wide spectrum of challenges therein. It will also become incumbent upon such littoral states as can afford the high cost of technology, to catch up so as to maintain their relevance in the great game being played out in their very own backyard. The United States as a leader in inventing and exploiting technology sets its own benchmarks in internalization of advanced technologies to undertake maritime missions at and from the sea in support of its military operations ashore. China, on the other hand, has been striving towards achieving asymmetric war-fighting capabilities, supported by other developing technologies as well as core capabilities like the Beidou position-fixing system, which would be central to network-centric operations, including missile guidance systems. As the IOR increasingly transforms into an arena of extra-regional power play, the implications of technologically enabled confrontations and their impact on resident states are poised to weigh in on a scale never imagined before. There is thus, a greater need for India to gain in-depth knowledge of and develop a perspective on advanced technology sensors, weapons, supporting infrastructures, doctrines and futuristic concepts in the maritime domain and their potential as strategic game changers in the IOR. This book aims to foster greater understanding of the challenges facing the IOR and also look at how the technological advances in the maritime domain may possibly handle such challenges. It should provide useful resource material to those investigating the impact of technology on meeting the maritime challenges in the IOR.

This collection of essays surveys the history of maritime India from 1500 to 1800, focusing on trade and economic history as well as on the activities of European merchants and local traders. It convincingly argues that even though the Europeans often traversed the Indian Ocean to trade, their presence was not crucial to India's economic stability.

This volume investigates the emergence and spread of maritime commerce and interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World—the world’s first “global economy”—from a longue durée perspective. Spanning from antiquity to the nineteenth century, these essays move beyond the usual focus on geographical sub-regions or thematic aspects to foreground inter- and trans-regional connections. Focusing on the role of religion in the expansion of commerce and exchange across the region, as well as on technology and knowledge transfer, volume II covers shipbuilding and navigation technologies, porcelain production, medicinal knowledge, and mules as a commodity and means of transportation.

This book charts the development of Islamic ships and boats in the Western Indian Ocean from the seventh to the early sixteenth century with reference to earlier periods. It utilizes mainly Classical and Medieval Arabic sources with iconographical evidence and archaeological finds. Maritime activities in the region resulted in a cross fertilization, not only of goods but also of ideas and culture which gave an underlying cohesion to the Arabian, Persian and Indian maritime peoples. This study has led to a re-evaluation of that maritime culture, showing that it was predominantly Persian and Indian, with Chinese influence, throughout the Islamic period until the coming of the Portuguese, as reflected in nautical terminology and technology.

Excerpt from Indian Shipping: A History of the Sea-Borne Trade and Maritime Activity of the Indians From the Earliest Times 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. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book is a collection of essays of the late Professor Ashin Das Gupta - one of the pioneers of maritime history in India. It is divided into two sections: the first contains the author's general essays and the second deals with the projects on Malabar and Surat. It will interest students and scholars of history, particularly those interested in maritime history of India.