Ghanjah
{{Short description|Large wooden trading dhow}}
File:Kotia-1909.jpg harbor in 1909]]
File:Sur-Dhow (7).JPG showing the trefoil ornament on the prow]]
A ghanjah or ganjaThabit A. J. Abdullah, The Political Economy of Trade in Eighteenth-Century Basra, SUNY series in the Social and Economic History of the Middle East , 2000, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-4808-3}} ({{langx|ar|غنجه}}), also known as kotiya in India, is a large wooden trading dhow, a traditional Arabic sailing vessel.Clifford W. Hawkins, The dhow: an illustrated history of the dhow and its world
Description
The ghanjah dhows had a curved prow with a characteristic trefoil ornament carved on top of the stem-head. They also had an ornately carved stern and quarter galleries. Their average length was {{convert|97|ft|0|abbr=on}} with a {{convert|15|m|0|abbr=on}} keel-length and an average weight of 215 tons. Usually they had two masts, the main mast having a pronounced inclination towards the prow. They used two to three lateen sails; supplementary sails were often added on the bowsprit and on a topmast atop the main mast.[http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2008/08/too-late-to-document-dhows.html Too Late to Document Dhows?]
The ghanjah is often difficult to distinguish from the baghlah, a similar type of dhow. Besides the trefoil-shaped carving on top of the stem-head, ghanjahs usually had a more slender shape.[http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult The Traditional Dhow] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725191658/http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult |date=July 25, 2012 }}
made by husen the 3
History
Ghanjahs were widely used in the past centuries as merchant ships in the Indian Ocean between the western coast of the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula.Gardiner, Robert (2001 [1998]). The Victory of Seapower. Caxton Editions. {{ISBN|1-84067-359-1}}. p. 89 Many ghanjahs were built at traditional shipyards in Sur, Oman,[http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult The Traditional Dhow] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725191658/http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult |date=July 25, 2012 }} as well as in Beypore, Kerala, India.
Ghanjahs were largely replaced by the newer-designed and easier to maneuver booms in the 20th century.
See also
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{Commons category inline}}
- [http://johnowen2.tripod.com/dhows.html Ghanjah and baghlah]
- [http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1R2541H951A77.55299&profile=liball&uri=link=3100009~!1600632~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=subtab103&menu=search&ri=2&source=~!silibraries&term=Dhows+--+History.&index=#focus Hikoichi Yajima, The Arab dhow trade in the Indian Ocean : preliminary report]
- [http://proudlyemirati.wikidot.com/dhows Dhows]
- [http://mecit.edu.om/documents/DHOW/The_Dhow-V1-I1.pdf The Historic Dhow] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009065236/http://mecit.edu.om/documents/DHOW/The_Dhow-V1-I1.pdf |date=2011-10-09 }}
- [http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199903/the.dhow.of.racing.htm The Dhow of Racing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507175332/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199903/the.dhow.of.racing.htm |date=2012-05-07 }}
{{Sailing vessels and rigs}}
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