Ghanjah

A ghanjah or ganja^[1] (Arabic: غنجه), also known as kotiya in India, is a large wooden trading dhow, a traditional Arabic sailing vessel.^[2]

Description[edit]

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 97 ft (30 m) with a 15 m (49 ft) 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

History[edit]

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.^[5] Many ghanjahs were built at traditional shipyards in Sur, Oman,^[6] as well as in Beypore, Kerala, India.

Ghanjahs were largely replaced by the newer-designed and easier to maneuver booms in the 20th century.

References[edit]

^ Thabit 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
^ Clifford W. Hawkins, The dhow: an illustrated history of the dhow and its world
^ Too Late to Document Dhows?
^ The Traditional Dhow Archived July 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^ Gardiner, Robert (2001 [1998]). The Victory of Seapower. Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-359-1. p. 89
^ The Traditional Dhow Archived July 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

External links[edit]

Media related to Ghanjah at Wikimedia Commons
Ghanjah and baghlah
Hikoichi Yajima, The Arab dhow trade in the Indian Ocean : preliminary report
Dhows
The Historic Dhow Archived 2011-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
The Dhow of Racing Archived 2012-05-07 at the Wayback Machine

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[1] Thabit 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

[2] Clifford W. Hawkins, The dhow: an illustrated history of the dhow and its world

[3] Too Late to Document Dhows?

[4] The Traditional Dhow Archived July 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

[RG89-5] Gardiner, Robert (2001 [1998]). The Victory of Seapower. Caxton Editions. ISBN 1-84067-359-1. p. 89

[6] The Traditional Dhow Archived July 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine

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Description[edit]

History[edit]

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References[edit]

External links[edit]