DDK HistoryF.p65 - CSIR

10.2] SHIP-BUILDING ACTIVITY 361
India and Indonesia. Indian shipping was peculiarly inefficient. The Gabit-
Dumri caste of fishermen-sailors on the west coast seems to be of Arab
origin, formed by immigrant professional sailors. The great Satavahana-
Jataka seafaring tradition had died out completely along with Gupta
and earlier craftsmanship. The prototype of Indonesian temple
architecture was discovered at Paharpur in Bengal (ASI rep. 1929). In
the llth century, Rlajendra Cola briefly dominated the whole bay of
Bengal, without leaving any permanent effect. Indonesian records speak
of an unidentified Indian king, perhaps from Gujarat, who migrated
with 5000 followers to Java at the beginning of the 7th century. This is
plausible, as the great contemporary inland empires like Harsa’s could
be withstood only by kingdoms like that of Pulikesin, not by tiny
principalities at the port towns. It followed that Indian bottoms
carried less and less of their own produce, though that produce continued
to increase in volume and worth. This inability to trade in the goods they
produced was the byproduct of a village economy. It meant that any
changes in the productive basis would be more likely to take place under
foreign influence, or domination. Friar Menetillus reported at the same
time as Marco Polo (about 1292) of the west coast :
“ There are few craftsmen, for craft and craftsmen have little remuneration, and
there is little room for them... If they have a battle, they make short work of it, however
great the forces be, for they go to battle naked, with nothing but sword and dagger...
Their ships in these parts are mighty frail and uncouth, with no iron in them, and no
caulking. They are sewn like clothes with twine... And they have a frail and flimsy
rudder like the top of a table, of a cubit in width, in the middle of the stern ; and when
they have to tack, it is done with a vast deal of trouble ; and if it is blowing in any way
hard, they cannot tack at all. They have but one sail and one mast, and the sails are
either of matting or of some miserable cloth. The ropes are of husk. Moreover their
mariners are few and far from good. Hence they run a multitude of risks, insomuch that
they are wont to say, when any ship achieves her voyage safely and soundly, that ’tis by
God’s guidance, and man’s skill little availed’. (Yule 3.66) ... It must be known that the
pagans (Hindus) do not navigate much, but it is the Moors who carry the merchandise;
for in Calicut there are at least fifteen thousand Moors who are for the greater part
natives of the country.” (Var. 61).
The ‘stitching together’ is done on the west coast to this day ; planks
are carefully fitted together, holes bored in both