Why recreating a 5th century stitched ship is as important as Chandrayaan

India as a maritime civilisation was not considered seriously for a long time. And Indians got used to the idea that we were basically content to be within the sacred punyabhumi of Jambudvipa or Bharatvarsha or other terra firma. It is only now that the true extent of ancient India’s cultural outreach across the eastern and western seas are being explored and analysed. And the breadth of India’s enormous civilisational impact is being discovered. The recently announced project of building a ‘stitched’ ship, harking back to the technology that ancient Indians probably used to reach distant shores—for trade if not always conquest—is another step towards reclaiming India’s maritime legacy. It should, in fact, have been done when the 9th century stitched ship that sank off the coast of Srivijaya (Sumatra) near Belitung Island was recovered in 1998. But India was not ready, in many ways. It was Oman that embarked on a joint project in 2008 with Singapore and the salvage company that retrieved it, to recreate that ship filled with Tang dynasty artefacts as it was thought to be an Arab vessel trading with 9th century China. Some even mistakenly called it a “Tang ship”. Archaeological and maritime experts, however, concurred that the technology of the ship was Indian, but that aspect was not given much importance. The 9th century Belitung ship was recreated as the Jewel of Muscat, and sailed to Singapore where it was put on display. India’s project envisages a 22-month timeline to build the ship, then six months of prep for a journey, then sailing to Bali and back in 2025, to finally berth at a museum in the Harappan era port of Lothal, according to Sanjeev Sanyal, conceptualiser of this maritime adventure. Only this ship will recreate one from the 5th century. Although an economist by training and profession, Sanyal’s deeply researched books on aspects of Indian history (such as the bestselling Ocean of Churn) have played a big role in kindling popular interest in hitherto ignored facets. It is entirely befitting then that he hit upon the idea of recreating a stitched ship to remind the world—and India—that our ancient maritime technology fuelled extensive trade and cultural forays to the east and west. Serendipitously, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also green-flagged Sanyal’s idea, appreciating its long term benefit: to not only foster a spirit of adventure and challenge but also to spread awareness of India’s legacy of scientific progress in every sphere and in every era. For far too long India shied away from such dream projects that serve a purpose far beyond the obvious. Those were for “developed” countries, not us, we thought. No longer. The memory of India’s ancient seafaring tradition survives most visibly in Odisha where the annual Bali Jatra is observed on Kartik Purnima by floating tiny paper boats lit with diyas on the Bay of Bengal. From the second century CE, sailors from Kalinga—called Sadhaba Puas—had a bustling trade with Suvarnadwipa or Sumatra, Bali, Java, Borneo and Malaya, and Indian influence on the ancient culture and polity of that region are evident. Few beyond the most rarefied academic circles know that ancient Indian sailors and traders were as intrepid as any from the Arab regions or the Chinese. It is known that many if not most of the crews on board the Arab dhows—probably including the one that sank off Sumatra—comprised people from the subcontinent, and merchants from India made round trips to the east and west for business. So shipbuilding was a crucial industry. A painting of what seems to be a stitched ship at Ajanta dated to the 5th century CE, is the inspiration for India’s project. But there are older references to maritime activities. Indus Valley/Saraswati civilisation seals with images of ships have been found. Terracotta seals with seagoing vessels have been found in Bangarh and Chandraketugarh in West Bengal and a later seal in Kharosthi-Brahmi script refers to a Tridesayatra, or voyage to three places. Dholavira and Lothal in Gujarat contain evidence of ports and even dry docks for repair, that bespeak considerable seafaring activity. And India abounds in ancient architectural remains of maritime activities from wharves to lighthouses. And there is epigraphic evidence of ship building and sea journeys undertaken from India’s coastlines. Even the ships Alexander of Macedonia needed to take part of his troops back in 325 BCE were built in Sindh. The huge armadas that the great Chola king Rajendra I sent in 1017 and 1025 to teach the kingdom of Srivijaya a lesson and reopen the south-east Asian shipping routes also point to a shipbuilding industry that are well documented but are not widely publicised. By the time the Yukti Kalpataru was composed by the Paramara ruler Bhoja in the 11th century, the techniques of ship building were obviously advanced as it classified ships by size and purpose. River ships were called Samanya and seafaring ones were Visesa, and there were sub-classes. The pleasure boat carving on the Jagannath Temple at Puri, for, instance is of the Madhyamandira type, while the sea-going one painted in Ajanta is of the Agramandira class. The Shilpasastra also refers to two types of ports— Dronimukha on estuaries, Samudrapattana on the coast, and Jalapattana on navigable rivers, such as Muziris and Arikamedu. The stitching technique rather than nails was probably used on the earliest ships. Ropes made of coconut coir were pushed through holes in custom cut and curved wooden planks, and then waterproofed with a mix of fish oil and other ingredients. Those masted ships withstood the long, monsoon-wind-propelled journeys from India to the spice islands of south-east Asia on one side and the trading ports to the west, from Oman to Africa. The stitched ship technique is still in use along India’s Konkan coast, although now restricted to only small boats needed by local fishermen rather than the ocean-traversing vessels of yore. These boat-builders’ skills are a remnant of that ancient technology and as their knowledge of minutiae like types of wood and natural adhesives are being tapped by the team that has designed the stitched ship, this will be a way of preserving it for posterity. The 21nd century construction will be by Hodi Innovations of Goa, but as it is a joint project of the Indian Navy and the Culture Ministry, minister of state Meenakshi Lekhi ceremonially laid the keel of the stitched ship last week, in the presence of India’s Navy Chief and Sanyal. The crucial “stitching” will be done by traditional shipwrights led by Babu Sankaran, an expert in the technique, who was also part of the Jewel of Muscat construction team. Part of the knowledge preservation effort also includes identifying types of Indian wood to be used on parts of the ship, chosen for their specific qualities. Examination of the timber used in the Belitung shipwreck (remarkably well preserved as it had actually been buried under the seabed and thus escaped disintegration) had revealed that wood came from diverse places in Africa. Ancient Indians also had a wide variety to choose from. Re-iterating India’s maritime influence has another obvious importance today: it counters the Chinese attempt to posit the countries of south-east Asia as part of its civilisational sphere, undeterred by evidence of temples, beliefs and cultural markers linking the Indian Ocean coastal nations to India. Drawing the connection back to millennia of shipbuilding and sailing would go a long way in bolstering India’s reassertion of its links to the east and west. This is thus more than just a project. As Naval Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said at the keel-laying, building the ship is “a step to free our nation from sea-blindness, kindle maritime consciousness, wherein following the footsteps of the Government, our citizens take to the seas to reach out to the world—be it commerce, culture, connect, and co-prosperity. This is exactly what Indian seafarers who embarked the stitched ships did for centuries.” The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost_’s views._ Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.