History is rarely written. It is found on the footprints of sand. The winds of time. however, blow away these footprints and leave the challenge of retracing them to the historian. Maritime heritage is no exception India's maritime heritage can be traced back to the vedic times, but our ancestors have left no chronological record of events which attended India's fortunes at sea. Yet there are enough indicators which lead us to believe that India's maritime heritage does not only span over 4000 years but is indicative of the profound knowledge of Indian mariners in the art of seafaring, navigation and commerce In fact, the word 'navigation' itself originates from the Sanskrit word 'Navagati (navigation).
A humble beginning was made during the last President's Review in 1984, to trace our maritime heritage. A laudable effort. On the occasion of this Review, however, we have endeavoured to improve upon what had been done earlier-essentially in the depth of research and quality of production.
We could not have succeeded in our effort without the unstinted cooperation and guidance of Mr Sadashiv Gorakshkar and his colleague Dr. Kalpana Desai. Mr. Gorakshkar, who is the Director of Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay, and Dr. Desai were not only kind enough to compile and write this book but were also gracious enough to spare their valuable time in accompanying the photographers to some of the locales in the country Indeed, without their help the publication of this book would not have been possible.
Even a cursory look at India's geography would convince one of its extensive coast line, and a peep into her history would remind one of her enduring maritime tradition over a period of almost four thousand years.
This is perhaps the reason why the ocean, the seafaring and the life cycle of water itself are deeply embedded in the thought and literature of India. The anthropomorphic transformation of natural elements in the form of icons is yet another manifestation of this thought process.
In India it is customary to acknowledge the gift of nature by offering felicitations to its presiding deity. Water is the greatest of such gifts and Varuna is its presiding deity and hence the Vedic prayer "Be auspicious unto us, oh Varunal The thought is so deep that the oceanic is known in India by at least fifty different names. It is associated with the emergence of life as the creation of Brahma who himself is born of the lotus which rises from Vishnu's navel as he relaxes in the cosmic ocean. Gods and demons churn the ocean for nectar and Lakshmi.the goddess of wealth. is the first of the fourteen jewels churned out of the ocean.
The primary motivation for seafaring was trade. Cultural and religious interactions were a natural corollary.
It is for this reason that the sites of the Indus Valley culture, dating back to 2500-1750 B. C., such as Mohenjo Daro and Lothal are important. Lothal, situated at the northern tip of the Gulf of Cambay, must have been one of the gateways to India for the incoming traffic from West Asia and Arabia.
Trade and navigation, both oceanic and riverine, must have grown tremendously by the Mauryan period to have kept Kautilya preoccupied with strategies for controlling such trade, as gathered from his Arthashastra. The presence of foreigners on the Western coast prompted Ashoka Maurya to despatch preachers to Gujarat and the Deccan, to preach the Dharma The Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, a travelogue of the first century attributed to an Alexandrian Greek, is a veritable mine of information of the ports and commodities of trade during that period. The implications of this activity can be judged by the archaeological remains at such sites as Ankamedu on the South-eastern coast, Ter (Maharashtra) and even in the Buddhist cave temples of Pitalkhora, Karle and Kanheri.
Maritime trade, especially on the Western coast, had prompted the local kings to appoint pilot-ships to navigate the incoming vessels through the tricky estuary of the Gulf of Cambay. This is perhaps the earliest such reference to piloting of ships, a practice which continues even today. At the Buddhist temples a deity, the Dashamahabhaya Lokeshvara, became popular as he ensured sale sea voyage.
It was in the wake of this activity that the first Indian migration to South-east Asia is considered to have taken place in about the sixth century. A group of merchants from Kutch were the earliest settlers in Java. With the traders, both Buddhist and Hindu philosophers travelled to the South-east and the resultant cultural and religious efflorescence is noticeable all over the region. The monuments of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom in Kampuchea, the Stupa at Barabudur or the Mon-Dvaravati relics from Thailand symbolises this efflorescence. This is reciprocated by the establishment of viharas by the Sailendra kings of Java at such famous Buddhist monasteries as Nalanda and Nagapattinam. The performance of Ramayana in South-east Asia is still as popular as is the Ramalila in India today. The contribution of the Chola kings of Tamil Nadu to Indian contacts with Java is of equal significance.
The continuous cultural exchange and encounter with various countries presupposes a sound navigational technique in which the Indian mariner never lagged behind. Current researches into the sources of indigenous techniques in the form of log-books of Kutchi mariners at the Prince of Wales Museum, belies the presumption of some scholars that the Indian mariner depended a great deal on Arab techniques.
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