SHIPPING INDIA

India, situated at the central point of the ocean that washes on its coast on three sides, seemed destined very early for a maritime future. In the Rig Veda, a passage (I. 25.7) represents Varuna having a full knowledge of the sea routes, and another (L. 56.2) speaks of merchants going everywhere and frequenting every part of the sea for gain. The Ramayana refers to the Yavan Dvipa and Suvarna Dvipa (Java and Sumatra) and to the Lohta Sayara or the Red Sea. The drama Sakuntala, Ratnavali of King Harsha, Sisupalvadha of Magha, relates stories of sea voyages of merchants and others, and the fabulous literature of India is replete with stories of sea voyages by Hindus. Historian R. C. Majumdar states: "The representation of ship on a seal indicates maritime activity, and there is enough evidence to show that the peoples of the Sindhu valley carried on trade not only with other parts of India but also with Sumer and the centers of culture in Western Asia, and with Egypt and Crete." 
There was a time in the past, when Indians were the masters of the sea borne trade of Europe, Asia and Africa. They built ships, navigated the sea, and held in their hands all the threads of international commerce, whether carried on overland or sea. In Sanskrit books we constantly read of merchants, traders and men engrossed in commercial pursuits. Manu Smriti, the oldest law book in the world, lays down laws to govern commercial disputes having references to sea borne traffic as well as inland and overland commerce. India, according to Chamber's Encyclopedia, "has been celebrated during many ages for its valuable natural productions, its beautiful manufactures and costly merchandise," was, says the Encyclopedia Britannica, "once the seat of commerce." Sir William Jones was of opinion that the Hindus must have been navigators in the age of Manu. Lord Elphinstone has written that "The Hindus navigated the ocean as early as the age of Manu's Code because we read in it of men well acquainted with sea voyages." Ms. Manning, author of Ancient and Mediaeval India writes: "The indirect evidence afforded by the presence of Indian products in other countries coincides with the direct testimony of Sanskrit literature to establish the fact that the ancient Hindus were a commercial people."

Indian traders would set sail from the port of Mahabalipuram, carrying with them cinnamon, pepper and their civilization to the shores of Java, Cambodia and Bali. Like the Western world, the Indian world stretches far beyond its border, though India has never used any violence to spread her influence. Noted historian, R. C. Majumdar observed: "The Indian colonies in the Far East must ever remain as the high watermark of maritime and colonial enterprise of the ancient Indians." It has been proved beyond doubt that the Indians of the past were not, stay-at-home people, but went out of their country for exploration, trade and conquest.

There were Sanskrit terms for many parts of a ship. The ship's anchor was known as Nava-Bandhan-Kilaha which literally means 'A Nail to tie up a ship’. The sail was called Vata Vastra which means 'wind-cloth'. The hull was termed StulaBhaga i.e. an'expanded area'. The rudder was called Keni-Pata, Pata means blade; the rudder was also known as Karna which literally means a 'ear' and was so called because it used to be a hollow curved blade, as is found today in exhaust fans. The ship's keel was called Nava-Tala which means 'bottom of a ship'. The mast was known as Kupadanda, in which danda means a pole. Even a sextant was used for navigation and was called Vruttashanga-Bhaga. But what is more surprising is that even a contrived mariner's compass was used by Indian navigators nearly 1500 to 2000 years ago.

The early Hindu astrologers are said to have used the magnet, in fixing the North and East, in laying foundations, and other religious ceremonies. The Hindu compass was an iron fish that floated in a vessel of oil and pointed to the North. The fact of this older Hindu compass seems placed beyond doubt by the Sanskrit word Maccha Yantra, or fish machine.

The world's first dock at Lothal (2400 BC) was located away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt. Modern oceanographers have observed that the Harappans must have possessed great knowledge relating to tides in order to build such a dock on the ever-shifting course of the Sabarmati, as well as exemplary hydrography and maritime engineering. This was the earliest known dock found in the world, equipped to berth and service ships. It is speculated that Lothal engineers studied tidal movements, and their effects on brick-built structures, since the walls are of kiln-burnt bricks. This knowledge also enabled them to select Lothal's location in the first place, as the Gulf of Khambhat has the highest tidal amplitude and ships can be sluiced through flow tides in the river estuary.

Historically, however, the first attested attempt to organize a navy in India, as described by Megasthenes, is attributed to Candragupta Maurya (322 BC - 298 BC). The Mauryan empire navy continued till the times of emperor Ashoka who used it to send massive diplomatic missions to Greece, Syria, Egypt, Cyrene, Macedonia and Epirus. Following nomadic interference in Siberia - one of the sources for India's bullion - Indian sailors diverted their attention to the Malay peninsula, which became their new source for gold and was soon exposed to the world via a series of trade routes. The period under the Mauryan empire also witnessed various other regions of the world engage increasingly in the Indian Ocean martitime voyages. India had colonies, in Cambodia in Java, in Sumatra, in Borneo and even in Japan. Indian traders had established settlements in Southern China, in the Malayan Peninsula, in Arabia, in Egypt, in Persia, etc., Through the Persians and Arabs, India had cultivated trade relations with the Roman Empire.

Sanskrit and Pali literature have innumerable references to the maritime activity of Indians in ancient times. There is also one treatise in Sanskrit, named Yukti Kalpa Taru which has been compiled by a person called Bhoja Narapati. This treatise gives a technocratic exposition on the technique of shipbuilding. It sets forth minute details about the various types of ships, their sizes, the materials from which they were built. The Yukti Kalpa Taru sums up in a condensed form all the available information. The Yukti Kalpa Taru gives sufficient information and date to prove that in ancient times, Indian shipbuilders had a good knowledge of the materials which were used in building ships. Apart from describing the qualities of the different types of wood and their suitablility in shipbuilding, the Yukti Kalpa Taru also gives an elaborate classification of ships based on their size. The primary division is into 2 classes viz. Samanya (ordinary) and Vishesha (Special). The treatise also gives elaborate directions for decorating and furnishing the ships with a view to making them comfortable for passengers. Also mentioned are details about the internal seating and accommodation to be provided on the ships. Three classes of ships are distinguished according to their length and the position of cabins. The ships having cabins extending from one end of the deck to the other are called Sarvamandira vessels. These ships are recommended for the transport of royal treasure and horses. The next are the Madhyamarnandira vessels which have cabins only in the middle part of their deck. These vessels are recommended for pleasure trips. And finally there is a category of Agramandira vessels, these ships were used mainly in warfare.

Shipbuilding was a well-established craft at numerous points along the Indian coastline long before the arrival of the Europeans and was a significant factor in the high level of Indian maritime activity in the Indian Ocean region. As with cotton textiles, European trade was initially a stimulus to Indian shipbuilding: vessels built in ports like Masulipatam and Surat from Indian hardwoods by local craftsmen were cheaper and tougher than their European counterparts. Between the seventeenth and early nineteenth centuries Indian shipyards produced a series of vessels incorporating these hybrid features. A large proportion of them were built in Bombay, where the Company had established a small shipyard. The Britannia, a ship of 749 tons launched in 1778, so impressive that when it reached Britain several new ships were commissioned from Bombay, some of which later passed into the hands of the Royal Navy. Ships constructed at Bombay in its heyday were said to be vastly superior to anything built anywhere else in the world.

India's maritime heritage goes well beyond in the past than some of us might comprehend. With the Himalayas in the north, India for centuries has depended on sea routes for trade and communication with rest of the world. Vital sea links therefore emerged over a period of time for the exchange of trade, commerce and culture. Historians and scholars have traced our associations with the sea way back to the Harappan culture, around 3000 B.C. Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa reveal personal ornaments of shell and pearls, picked up possibly from the Indian or Persian Gulf coasts. It is believed that Harappans came from, what is presently Jamnagar, to the Gulf of Cambay. The naval dock unearthed at Loothal in Ahmedabad district further confirms presence of large ships capable of being used at sea. Besides, there is also overwhelming evidence that commercial contact existed between the inhabitants of the Indus Valley and the People of Eygpt, Central Asia and Persia.

Towards the middle of the fifteenth century the Ottoman Turks had emerged as a major power in West Asia and Eastern Europe, and continued their thrust into Central Europe. Western trade routes were therefore cut off over land with the East, with the fall of Constantinople (now Istanbul) into the Turkish hands. Western Europe had therefore to find an alternative route for their trade and import of spices from Asia. The Portuguese were the first to take the initiative and in 1497 Vasco da Gama sailed on a long voyage around the African continent to explore the East. His vessel (San Gabriel) was a warship and was accompanied by two others. Portuguese efforts bore fruit when they landed at Calicut 10 months later. While the Indians had used the sea for military transportation earlier, the San Gabriel was the first man of war, fitted with 20 guns, to touch the Indian shores. Vasco da Gama was granted trading permission and the Indians seemed quite content as long as their requirements from abroad were met and their own trade was promoted. The Portuguese initiative would have given them very long-term benefits, had they not made the mistake of selling Indian spices at very high prices to rest of the West European community and not being able to maintain cordial relations with the Indian community from the beginning. The British emerged powerful and diplomatic enough to remain a pro-dominant power in the area.

The Royal Indian Marine participated in the First World War and expanded considerably. But the end of the war brought severe retrenchment and the Royal Indian Marine was reduced to a very small force capable of only defense duties of a few ports. A large number of Indians therefore lost their jobs. On the insistence of some prominent citizens, the British relented to introduce a small fighting force in the name of the Royal Indian Navy. Bombay became the HQ of the Royal Indian Navy and it was agreed that in due course it will predominantly be manned by Indians. Recruitment of officers into the Royal Indian Navy started in the early 1930s. With the commencement of the Second World War in 1939, the Royal Indian Navy expanded rapidly and some merchant ships were also converted into men-of-war. More and more Indians were inducted into the service and they gave a very good account in maritime combat. Quite a few were given gallantry awards. In 1950 when India became a Republic, the term 'Royal' was dropped and the nomenclature was changed to just Indian Navy.

In 1947, the Republic of India’s navy comprised of 33 ships, and 538 officers to secure a coastline of more than 4,660 miles (7,500 km) and 1,280 islands. The Indian navy conducted annual Joint Exercises with other Commonwealth navies throughout the 1950s. The navy saw action during various of the country's wars, including Indian integration of Junagadh, the liberation of Goa, the 1965 war, and the 1971 war. Following difficulty in obtaining spare parts from the Soviet Union, India also embarked upon a massive indigenous naval designing and production programme aimed at manufacturing destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and submarines.

India’s Coast Guard Act was passed in August 1978. The India Coast Guard participated in Operation Cactus in Sri Lanka among other antiterrorist operations. During contemporary times the Indian navy was commissioned in several United Nations peacekeeping missions. The navy also repatriated Indian nationals from Kuwait during the first Gulf War. During the Kargil War (1999), the aggressive posture adopted by the navy played a role in convincing Islamabad and Washington that a larger conflict loomed unless Pakistan withdrew from the heights."