Maritime Heritage of India
Contents: Preface. 1. Indian seafaring traditions: archaeological perspectives/I.K. Sarma. 2. Indian maritime activities: vedic, epic and puranic sources/U.N. Dhal. 3. Indo-Roman Trade/Kishor K. Basa and K.S. Behera. 4. Early trade in the Indian Ocean: perspectives on Indo–South-East Asian maritime contacts (c. 400 BC-AD 500)/Kishor K. Basa. 5. Indian-Indonesian cultural relations/Haryati Soebadio. 6. Ancient trade relation between India and Indonesia/I. Wayan Ardika. 7. Indian shipping in early mediaeval period/Lallanji Gopal. 8. Maritime tradition of Western India/M.K. Dhavalikar. 9. Maritime heritage of the Tamils: some recent findings/K.V. Raman. 10. Traditional boats of Karnataka and their building practices/L.N. Swamy. 11. Oceanographic knowledge among tribes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands/R. Sivakumar and G. Victor Rajamanickam. 12. Ancient ports on the eastern coast of India/A.N. Parida. 13. Maritime activities of Orissa/K.S. Behera. 14. Maritime activities of the Kalingas and the new light thrown by the excavations at Khalkatapatna/B.K. Sinha. 15. Kalinga-Sri Lank a relations/V. Vitharana. 16. The sewn boats of Orissa/Eric Kentley. 17. History of shipping in Bengal/N.C. Ghosh. 18. The maritime contacts between Eastern India and South-east Asia: new epigraphic data/B.N. Mukherjee. 19. Marathas and the sea/A.R. Kulkarni. 20. Trade and politics in eleventh century Bay of Bengal/Hermann Kulke. 21. Orissa in Chinese historical records/Haraprasad Ray. 22. Traditional navigational landmarks on the east coast of India/B. Arunachalam.
This volume is a collection of essays by eminent scholars on the Indian seafaring and maritime activity. It covers a wide range of subjects exploring both the pan-Indian and the regional dimensions of the theme. The contributions of different regions of India are analysed in the general framework of Indian History.
The sea-trade and cultural links with the outside world, especially with Rome, Sri Lanka, and South-east Asia are discussed on the basis of textual sources and archaeological data. Some of the papers throw light on the indigenous boat types with reference to their technique of construction and navigation. The ordinary and reversed clinker-built boats, found in coastal Orissa, highlight the need for serious investigation into the changing tradition of boat building and navigation. The stimulating papers, based on previous and most recent research, collectively provide a clear and coherent picture of the great seafaring tradition of India from the ancient times to the 17th century. It is hoped that the volume will be useful to scholars, as well as anyone with interest in the seafaring.
The photographic documentation at the end is a marvellous tribute to the rich maritime history and heritage of India.
