A Study of the Sewn-Plank Boats of Goa, India

Abstract

The study of traditional boats has enhanced our knowledge of the maritime past. Traditional boats are both river-and sea-worthy. They have been used in rivers for transporting cargo to inland ports from ships anchored at sea, and have often been used in naval warfare. In this paper an attempt has been made to study the sewn-plank boats of Goa, their building techniques and other features in order to understand their quality and how they were used in the past for an inland river-transport system.

Building Pâris’ Beden Seyad: a replica of the Omani 19th‐century sewn fishing vessel

“…). A similar technique was also recorded in the sewn Indian riverine boats of Goa (Shaikh et al ., : 255, fig. ).…”

Sewn Boats in Oman and the Indian Ocean

“…The concept of edge‐sewing planks is universal throughout the western Indian Ocean. The beden of Somalia (Chittick, : 297–310), the masula (Kentley, : 303–317, 2003: 120–166) and numerous extended logboats and small open boats of India (Shaikh et al ., , Fenwick, , ; Shaikh, ) the odam of the Lakshadweeps (Varadarajan, ), the yatra dhoni (Vosmer, : 38–39), madel paruwa (Kentley and Gunaratne, : 35–48), the oruwa of Sri Lanka (Kapitän, : 135–148), and the mtepe of East Africa (Hornell, ; Prins, ; Adams, ) were all sewn vessels, to name only a few. That mtepe sailed in Omani waters, or at the least sailors familiar with mtepe visited Oman, is demonstrated by the image of a mtepe in al‐Hazm castle, an Omani fortress built in 1711 (Fig.…”

Re‐sewing the Sewn: An Ethnographic Record of Repair and Reuse of Sewn‐plank River Boats in Goa, India

“…In historic times, the distribution of sewn boats has been concentrated around the Indian Ocean and they have been the subject of a number of ethnographic studies (Hornell, ; Hornell, ; Greenhill, ; Kentley, ; Kentley and Gunaratne, ; Deloche, ; Kentley, ; Kentley, ; McGrail, ; Rajamanickam, ; McCarthy, ). Boatbuilding in Goa, being located on the Indian Ocean, on the west coast of India, also has a sewn‐plank boat tradition (Shaikh et al ., : 148–157) (Fig. ).…”

“…). The use of sewn boats in Goa continues today as a living tradition (Shaikh, ; Shaikh et al ., ; Shaikh, ; Fenwick, , ). The sewn boats described here are known in Konkani according to their function as sand carriers as revenchem hode : rev means sand and hode means boat.…”