Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures

DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10261-1
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Shipbuilding in Bengal
Indrajit Ray*
Department of Commerce, University of North Bengal (on lien), Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India

Shipbuilding is an ancient art in Bengal. Ancient temple sculptures in Java testify about various
kinds of ships “the people of Lower Bengal built and used in sailing to Ceylon, Java, Sumatra and
Japan in pursuits of their colonizing ambition, commercial interests, and artistic and religious
missions” (Mookerji, 1912, p. 156). The developed state of this art enabled its products to get
access to distant markets. It caused, as Adam Smith believes, a division of labor in the society and
thus ushered in its ancient economic prosperity. The art survived through the Middle Ages so that the
Emperor Akbar (1556–1605) could have maintained a flotilla of 3,000 vessels with headquarters at
Dacca (now in Bangladesh). In the early seventeenth century, the Bengal flotilla consisted of
4,000–5,000 ships, similar to the Chinese or Arabian junks, at 400–600 t each. The mercantile
tonnage was also substantial, roughly about 207,500 t in the sixteenth–seventeenth centuries, as
against the Dutch mercantile tonnage of 450,000–550,000 in 1630. The industry, however, eclipsed
with the Europeans’ monopolization in the Indian Ocean trade but was revived again under the
British entrepreneurship in the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Since the wooden ships still
prevailed, Bengal’s traditional knowledge and expertise could be explored to give the industry a very
competitive edge in international outlets.

Types of Ancient Ships

A ship is a large vessel that can navigate in deep seas. Technically, it was first defined as a vehicle
that carried at least three masts with a square sail. In ancient India, many such ships were constructed
to meet the needs of defense as well as a means of commerce. From the standpoint of their physical
properties, they were categorized as Dīrghā (longer ones) and Unnatā (taller ones). As many as ten
types of ship belonged to the former category and five to the latter. In cubits, the length, breadth, and
height were, for the former, (i) Dīrghikā (32
4
31/5), (ii) Taranī (48
6
44/5), (iii) Lolā
(64
8
62/5), (iv) Gatvarā (80
10
8), (v) Gāminī (96
12
92/5), (vi) Tarī
(112
14
111/5), (vii) Jangātā (128
16
124/5), (viii) Plābīnī (144
18
142/5),
(ix) Dhārinī (160
20
16), and (x) Beginī (176
22
173/5), and, for the latter,
(a) Ürddhvā (32
16
16), (b) An€ urddhavā (48
24
24), (c) Svarnamukhī
(64
32
32), (d) Garbinī (80
40
40), and (e) Mantharā (96
48
48). As seafaring
vessels, contemporary sources underscore the efficiency of (i), (ii), (ix), and (x) in the former
category and (a) and (c) in the latter.
Two things should be noted in this context. Firstly, the concept of boat gave rise to the art of
shipbuilding that extended it in every dimension – length, breadth, and height – by way of suitable
planking in different directions, as well as through the innovation of riggings. Though its length
could be greatly enlarged in different civilizations, the extension of width and height posed a serious
challenge elsewhere in the contemporary world. The Roman galley, for example, which was driven

*Email: indrajitraynbu@gmail.com

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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10261-1
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Fig. 1 A seagoing vessel (Source: Mookerji, History of Indian maritime and shipping activity)

by 2–3 banks of rowers on each side, ran 100–150 ft in length but only 10–15 ft in width. Even in the
mid-nineteenth century when the wooden ship attained the peak of its prosperity, the width could not
be significantly augmented. Thus, for example, the clippers like Ariel (UK built, 1865), Donald
McKay (US built, 1855), and Dreadnought (US built, 1853) had respective dimensions of 197½

339/10
21, 266
461/4
295/12, and 212
41½
26½, all in feet. In contrast, ancient ship-
builders in India constructed vessels by 60–72 ft in width (taking 1 cubit ¼ 1½ feet). Both length
and height wise also, Indian ships were substantial, running up to 364 and 72 ft, respectively.
Secondly, for the taller ships (Unnatā), a given proportion was always maintained among different
sides for the sake of stability in deep seas. For such ships, the width always equaled the height, at a
half of the length. Such a proportion was never maintained when the ships were not very tall but
prominent in length.
From the viewpoint of cabins, ancient ships in India were categorized as Sarbamandirā,
Madhyamandirā, and Agramandirā. For the Sarbamandirā, the cabin was extended from one end
of the vessel to the other, and it was used for the transportation of royal treasure, horses, and women.
The cabin was located at the middle for the Madhyamandirā, which plied mainly during the rainy
season, and the Agramandirā, which had the cabin at the prow, was used in naval warfare.
One of the major innovations in nautical technology was harnessing wind power by using masts
and sails, where ancient shipbuilders in India also excelled. An early fifteenth-century European
travelogue thus narrates that the natives of India “build some ships larger than ours, capable of
containing 2,000 butts, and with five sails and as many masts”(Conti, p. 27). India’s ancient
knowledge on masts and sails is preserved in cave paintings (Fig. 1) and temple sculptures
(Figs. 2 and 3). Figure 1, a painting at the Ajanta Caves (525–650 CE), shows that there are three
upright masts, each surmounted by a truck, carrying a lugsail (a square sail bent upon a yard that
hangs obliquely to the mast). There is also an out-flying jib (a sail borne in front of the foremast) in
the ship, which is also square in form. These lugsails and jibs resemble those in the nineteenth-
century wooden ships of Europe. Figure 2 (a temple sculpture in Java in the early Christian era)
shows a ship with two masts, one long sail, one short sail, and a jib, while in Fig. 3 (a similar
sculpture), there are two masts with two individual square sails and also one staysail (jib). Bengal
shipbuilders presumably constructed these types of ships since the culture of Bengal was reflected in
Java’s contemporary temples.

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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10261-1
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Fig. 2 A Bengal-built ship with two masts and one long sail (Source: Mookerji, History of Indian maritime and shipping
activity)

Fig. 3 A Bengal-built ship with two masts and two square sails (Source: Mookerji, History of Indian maritime and
shipping activity)

Raw Materials of the Industry

The quality of a ship is reckoned by its stability, capacity, strength, and speed, which, in the age of
wooden ships, were determined by the dexterity of workmanship, as well as the quality of woods that
the shipwrights employed. Ancient shipbuilders in India acquired immense knowledge and exper-
tise in this field. Similar to the caste division in the Indian society, they divided woods into four
categories: Brahmana (light and soft), Kshatriya (light and hard), Vaisya (soft and heavy), and Sudra
(hard and heavy). Where woods contained properties of two separate classes, they were categorized
as Dvijati (mixed). For shipbuilding, however, the Kshatriya category of woods was considered
most suitable since such ships could withstand any hazards of a turbulent sea for its hardness and
also could ply fast for its lightness. For sundry purposes, the Brahmana was used as it could be easily
joined to any other wood.
To the Kshatriya category belonged teak, gāmbhāri, tamāl, peal, and jackwood, which were
extensively used in Bengal’s ancient shipbuilding. There were several references of another kind of

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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10261-1
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

wood in the medieval literature, called manapaban, which ensured utmost speed to a ship. The use of
teak, however, survived down to the early modern age when shipbuilding was resurrected under
British entrepreneurship. Owing to its centuries’ long use, the teak forest in and around this region
was possibly exhausted by the early nineteenth century, necessitating that teak be imported from the
neighboring country, Rangoon. Along with teak, however, Bengal shipbuilders employed sal and
sisoo in the early modern age. The former resembled oak in quality but was much heavier and
stronger. It grew about 90 ft to the branches and is proportionately thick. The latter grew in various
shapes, enabling a builder to make use of it for many purposes. These two species of trees, however,
grew abundantly in the northern fringe of the province stretching over the Himalayan foothills and
also along its border with Bihar. The later shipbuilders generally used the sisoo timber for ribs,
knees, and breast hooks (i.e., for the frame of a ship), the sal for beams and inside planks, and the
teak for bottoms, sides, decks, masts, keels, and sternposts.
Cordages that were extensively used in shipbuilding were made of coir (the husk of coconut), ejoo
(a fiber obtained from the leaves of sago palm tree), plantain, and sunn. The coir was famous for its
elasticity and lightness, the ejoo for its durability, and the plantain for its strength. The Bengal sunn,
similar to the quality of Russian hemp, was also used extensively for rope making. The province
abounded with all these raw materials. Pine tar (for use in ropes), as well as dammer (which was an
Indian substitute for pitch), was also locally available in plenty. For sails, local shipbuilders
preferred jute cloths (gun) from the ancient ages, which artisans spun and wove at their cottages.
Insofar as the need for joining was concerned, the ancient shipbuilders avoided the use of iron
nails since the ship might be caught into the influence of the magnetic effect in a deep sea and thus
suffer wreckage. They fitted the bottom planks together or mortised them with other materials.
Metals, such as gold, silver, copper, and any compound of these, were used only for decoration.
However, when the industry was revived in the late eighteenth century, the British entrepreneurs
extensively used various metals, including iron, and for these purposes, they imported bar iron, sheet
copper, copper bolts, and lead from Great Britain. Locally available iron, brought from nearby
districts like Balasore, Midnapore, and Burdwan, was also used to an extent.
Lastly, paints and paint oil were also locally available. The painters mainly used hurtal (yellow
arsenic), which abounded in Bengal, to get the yellow color. They obtained the blues from indigo
and the blacks from rattan charcoal. Hurtal and indigo were mixed together to obtain the greens and
the red earth and the ochers for the reds. Ancient shipbuilders generally used white for four-mast
ships and red for three-mast ones, while yellow and blue were reserved for two- and one-mast
vessels, respectively. Other colors were meant for painting fanciful shapes or forms on the prows.
For use in these paints, however, the oil was obtained from wood oil trees that grew abundantly in the
district of Chittagong. In colonial days, this oil was used for coarse works and the European linseed
oil was preferred for finer paints.

Method of Construction
Modern shipbuilding is contingent on naval architecture, where every part of a ship is detailed out.
Workmen were concerned only with construction based on those designs. That was not, however,
the Indian tradition. Without any such blueprints, Bengal shipwrights built vessels relying only on
the dexterity and skill of the workers. According to the medieval Bengali literature, there were
12 principal components of a ship: (i) keel (dārā), (ii) bottom (tālā), (iii) prow (māthākāstha),
(iv) deck (pātātan), (v) shed (chhaighar), (vi) mast (mālumkāstha), (vii) sail (pal), (viii) helm
(patwāl), (ix) chord (fāns), (x) oar (dandakerwāl), (xi) bamboo pole (bangsakerwāl), and (xii)

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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures
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# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

anchor (nangar). At the beginning, the keel, bottom, and prow were constructed, keeping in view the
dimension of the ship to be built.
Shipbuilding started with a ritual, called dārābindhā, where the owner of the ship thrusts a gold
nail (sonārjal) to the keel with a silver hammer (hātur). A similar practice was also performed in
Bombay (even in the late 1830s), where a silver nail was thrust. After the ceremony, the keel was
placed carefully on the construction site, and the bottom planks were joined to it with nails. The
planks forming the bottom of the ship were fayed (or joined) together in a way where caulking was
minimum. Indian shipwrights usually rabbeted the planks into each other, filled cottons in the
interstices, and applied dammer on its entire exterior. When the planks were so joined, “the bottom
presents, as it were, one impenetrable surface” (Charnock, v. 3, p. 303). Also, the lower part of the
ship was constructed with double or triple planks (with the lighter ones at upper layers) so that they
could withstand the force of the tempests to which they were exposed. It also augmented their natural
durability. In fact, the use of an additional plank over a decaying one (i.e., the sheathing) was a
traditional practice in India. An eighteenth-century British naval architect observes that these Indian
practices of faying and sheathing predate the corresponding knowledge of nautical technology in
Europe (Charnock, v. 3, p. 303). Two more facets of Bengal technology should be noted. Firstly,
Bengal artisans often built ships in compartments so that a ship could accomplish the voyage even if
one of its several parts was wrecked. This is corroborated in a fifteenth-century European travelogue
(Conti, p. 27). Secondly, Figs. 2 and 3 suggest that Bengal shipbuilders fitted many curved ribs on
the hold. Since those ships were top heavy, outriggers were meant for safety. Once, however, these
were accomplished, the prow (galui) was fixed, and the hold of the ship was complete.
Then, the deck (pātātan) was constructed by joining the planks to the keel. These joinings also
obeyed the aforesaid principles. On the deck were fitted the masks (mālumkāstha), yards (jokābāri),
and helm (patwāl) and also the shed (chhaighar) and cabin (raighar). Finally, it was painted and
decorated. Special attention was paid for decorating the prow. Often was it given the shape of a bird
like a peacock, a lion, a tiger, an elephant, a buffalo, or a serpent, with their eyes bedecked with
jewels.
The quality of raw materials and workmanship in Bengal gave its shipbuilding industry a sharp
competitive edge in the international market. A shipping register for 1781–1839 suggests that the
average expected life of a Bengal ship was more than 20 years, as against only 11 years for Bristol- or
Liverpool-built ships, and 12 years for vessels built on the Thames. After comparing a London-built
ship, the Enterprise, and a Bengal-built one, the Forbes, a contemporary document notes, “Surely
this speaks something for the superiority of substantial teak-built vessels, over the oak and fir ships
of colder climates” (quoted in Ray, 2011, p.188).

References
Bhaswati, B. (1995). A note on the shipbuilding in Bengal in the late eighteenth century. Itinerario,
19(3), 167–174.
Charnock, J. (1801). History of marine architecture (vol. 3). London: R. Faulder etc.
Conti, N. (1857). Travels of Nicolo Conti in the east in the early part of the fifteenth century.
In R. H. Major (Ed.), India in the fifteenth century. London: Hakluyt Society.
Dasgupta, T. (1923). Shipbuilding and commerce in ancient Bengal. Journal of the Department of
Letters, 10, 111–128.
Kelly, R. W., & Allen, F. J. (1918). The shipbuilding industry. Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin.

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Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-3934-5_10261-1
# Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Kyd, J. (1840). On Indian timber and shipbuilding (1808). In J. Phipps (Ed.), A collection of papers
relative to shipbuilding in India (pp. 7–35). Calcutta: Scott & Co.
Lambert, A. (1840). On shipbuilding in Bengal (1802). In J. Phipps (Ed.), A collection of papers
relative to shipbuilding in India (pp. 3–6). Calcutta: Scott & Co.
Mookerji, R. (1912). History of Indian maritime and shipping activity from the earliest times.
London/New York: Longmans, Green & Co.
Ray, I. (1995). Shipbuilding in Bengal under colonial rule: A case of de-industrialisation. Journal of
Transportation History, 16(1), 77–97. 3rd series.
Ray, I. (2011). Bengal industries and the British industrial revolution. London/New York:
Routledge.

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