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

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.

Contents: Section 1- Traditional Shipbuilding : 1. Shipbuilding In India-A Historical Review By M.P. Awati, 2. Shipbuilding In Western India In Medieval Times By Ruby Maloni, 3. Shipbuilding In North Konkan In The Period 1550-1750 A.D. By B. Arunachalam, 4. The Maratha Fleet By Amit Maini, 5. The Dhow-A Survey Of Indigenous Shipbuilding By M.P. Awati, 6. Portuguese Shipbuilding Methods In India In 16Th And 17Th Centuries By K.S. Mathew, 7. Shipbuilding In India By Jaswant Singh. Section 2- Ancient And Medieval Indian Ports; 8. Ports And Harbours Of Ancient And Medieval India By M.P. Awati, 9. Case For An Integrated Approach To The Study Of Ancient Indian Ports By B. Arunachalam, 10. Traditional Sailing Ports-Rise And Fall During The Historic Period By Sudha Srivastava, 11. Medieval Ports Around Bombay By P.P. Gogate, 12. Late Medieval Ports Of Konkan And Gujarat From Arab Sources By Dipti Mukherji, 13. Two Pirate Ports Of Gujarat By M. Jardosh 14. Madras Port Through Four Centuries By Laxmi Vyas, 15. Antiquity Of Chaul As A Commercial Port Of Konkan By L.B. Kenny. Section 3- Traditional Indian Navigation; 16. Traditional Coastal Navigation In Ancient And Medieval India, 17. Sea Dangers, Beliefs, Rituals Supersitions And On-Board Life By K.V. Hariharan, 18. Colour Of The Sea As An Aspect Of Indian Navigation By Sumita Chakravorthy, 19. Navigational Landmaarks Along The West Coast Of India By S. Balakrishnan, 20. Traditions Of Celestial Navigation In The Indian Ocean By B. Arunachalam, 21. The Book Of Sofala By Dipti Mukherji. Section 4- Nautical Cartography In India; 22. Nautical Cartgraphy- Past, Present And Future, 23. Evolution Of Hydrographic Surveying And Charting In India By Satya Prakash Sharma, 24. Suggestions For A Wider Use Of Indian Nautical Charts By B. Arunachalam, Section 5- Coastal Ecology; 25. Is Thanecreek Dying By P.P. Gogate, 26. The Dengeration Of Mahm Bay And Estuary By Dipti Mukherji, 27. Changes In The Submarine Features Of The Gulf Of Khambhat By Mary Edward, 28. Near-Shore And In-Shore Morphological Changes In The Periyar Mouth By B. Sukumar.

The Book IsAn Outcome Of Eight Long Years Of Fieldwork Carried Out Under The Support Of Csir, Government Of India. As The Tradition Of Ship Building Is Vanishing Fastly, The ExistingOral Tradition Has Been Brought In Records. The Historical Accounts On The EvolutionarySignificance Of The Different Ship Building Technologies Form Different States And Communities, The Literary Evidences From 3Rd Century B.C And Dealing With The Different Kinds Of Traditional Sea Going Vessels, Their Merits And Demerits, The RawMaterials And The Different Techniques Practiced From The Primitive To Advanced StageHave Been Given. The Volume Also Includes The Existing Tradition Of Ship Building AmongThe Tribes Of Andaman And Nicobar Islands And Deals In Different Chapters The Traditional Boat Building As Gleaned From The Archaeological Literary Resources: Trational Crafts Of India: Its Classification And Distribution; Raw Materials; Common BoatBuilding Stages; Building Techniques Of Traditional Crafts; Sails And Rigs; Parts Of Traditional Crafts Of India And Their Maintenance And Management. Along With An Elaborate Bibliography A Glossary Of Local Names In Different Coastal Languages AndTheir Equivalents In English In Also Given. Most Of The Information Belongs To Rare Sources. The Book Will Be Of Great Use To Historians, Archaeologists, Maritime Scien-Tists, Anthropologists, Ethnographers And Scholars Of Ancient Industries And SciencesForeward By Lotika Varadarajan, Historian, Traditional Knowledge Systems AndTechnologies

This book elucidates the potential of the shipbuilding industry for initiating economic development, which eventually leads to enhancing the prosperity of a nation. This is explained by intrinsically linking the macroeconomics of the nation with the microeconomics of the shipbuilding industry. The economic and commercial spin offs by the shipyard to the various industries have been analysed and calculated. An attempt has been made to trace the illustrious past of Indian shipbuilding from the Bronze Age, through the ancient kingdom period, to the present times, in the backdrop of Indian maritime history. The operational requirement of commercial as well as defence shipbuilding has been analysed to assess the available potential market space for the Indian shipbuilding industry. Lessons from history help to formulate future strategies. In pursuit of this, the book investigates the global trends in commercial shipbuilding since the industrial revolution period to date; the success stories of leading shipbuilding nations viz.UK, USA, Japan, Korea and China have been analysed. The benefits accrued by these nations through shipbuilding have been summarised. The strategies adopted by each of these countries to reach the pinnacle in shipbuilding have been examined and the salient features relevant for India have been identified. Productivity measurement in shipbuilding has been examined and the problems with the current system have been highlighted, along with solutions. This book suggests the usage of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a mathematical linear programming technique, as an appropriate tool to measure total productivity as well as profitability. The various ways of improving profitability in shipbuilding, by way of cost-cutting techniques, along with some Indian case studies have been explained in the book. Keeping the ‘Indian Maritime Agenda 2010-2020’ vision document in the backdrop, a strategic appreciation of the Indian shipbuilding industry has been undertaken using the SWOT, the Matrix and the Scenario analyses. Based on these analyses, strategies have been formulated for all the stakeholders who can influence the Indian shipbuilding industry. The book then identifies the need for an alchemist leader, who can harmonise all the stakeholders and thereby propel the Indian shipbuilding industry towards achieving the long-term goal of creating a prosperous India.

Drawing upon Arabic literary sources, iconographic evidence and archaeological finds, this book examines trade, port towns, ship construction, seamanship, ship typology and their historical development in the Western Indian Ocean, focussing on the Medieval Islamic period but including earlier sources.