A dhow in the Indian Ocean near the East African islands of Zanzibar

Dhow (Arabic,داو) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Some historians believe the dhow was invented by Arabs but this is disputed by some others.^[1][2] Dhows typically weigh 300 to 500 tons, and have a long, thin hull design. They are trading vessels primarily used to carry heavy items, like fruit, fresh water or merchandises, along the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and East Africa. Larger dhows have crews of approximately thirty people, while smaller dhows typically have crews of around twelve.

History[link]

Even to the present day, dhows make commercial journeys between the Persian Gulf and East Africa using sails as their only means of propulsion. Their cargo is mostly dates and fish to East Africa and mangrove timber to the lands in the Persian Gulf. They often sail south with the monsoon in winter or early spring, and back again to Arabia in late spring or early summer.

Some scholars claim that the sambuk, a type of Dhow, may be derived from the Portuguese caravel.,^[3]

Traditionally Yemeni Hadhrami people, as well as Omanis, came to Beypore, Kerala, India along the centuries in order to build Dhows. The reasons were the availability of good timber in the forests of Kerala, the availability of good coir rope and also the presence of skilled carpenters specialized in ship building. Formerly the sheathing planks of a dhow's hull were held together by coconut rope instead of nails. Beypore Dhows are known as 'Uru' in Malayalam, the local language of Kerala. Settlers from Yemen, later known as 'Baramis', are still active in Uru business in Kerala.^[4]

Captain Alan Villiers (1903–1982) documented the days of sailing trade in the Indian Ocean by sailing on dhows between 1938 and 1939 taking numerous photographs and publishing books on the subject of dhow navigation.^[5][6]

Navigation[link]

For celestial navigation, dhow sailors have traditionally used the kamal. This observation device determines latitude by finding the angle of the Pole Star above the horizon.^[7]

Types of dhow[link]

• Baghlah (بغلة) - From the Arabic language word for "mule". A heavy ship, the traditional deep-sea dhow
• Baqarah or baggarah (بقارة) - From the Arabic word for "cow". Old type of small dhow similar to the Battil.^[8]
• Barijah - Small dhow^[9]
• Battil (بتيل) - featured long stems topped by large, club-shaped stem heads
• Badan - a smaller vessel requiring a shallow draft^[10]
• Boum (بوم) or dhangi - a large-sized dhow with a stern that is tapering in shape and a more symmetrical overall structure. The Arab boom has a very high prow, which is trimmed in the Indian version.^[11]
• Ghanjah (غنجه) or kotiya - a large vessel, similar to the Baghlah, with a curved stem and a sloping, ornately carved transom.^[12]
• Jahazi or jihazi. A fishing or trading dhow with a broad hull similar to the Jalibut, common in Lamu Island and the coast of Oman. It is also used in Bahrain for the pearl industry.^[13]
• Jalibut or jelbut (جالبوت)- A small to medium-sized dhow. It is the modern version of the shu'ai with a shorter prow stem piece. Most jalibuts are fitted with engines.
• Pattamar, a type of Indian dhow
• Sambuk or sambuq (سنبوك‎) - The largest type of Dhow seen in the Persian Gulf today. It has a characteristic keel design, with a sharp curve right below the top of the prow. It has been one of the most successful dhows in history.^[14]
• Shu'ai (شوعي)- Medium-sized dhow. Formerly the most common dhow in the Persian Gulf used for fishing as well as for coastal trade.
• Zaruq - Small dhow, slightly larger than a barijah^[15]

The term "dhow" is sometimes also applied to certain smaller lateen-sail rigged boats traditionally used in the Red Sea, the eastern Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf area, as well as in the Indian Ocean from Madagascar to the Bay of Bengal. These include the feluccas used in Egypt, Sudan and Iraq, and the Dhoni used in the Maldives, as well as the tranki, ghrab and ghalafah.^[16] All these vessels have common elements with the dhow. In East African countries such as Kenya the Swahili word used for dhow is "jahazi".^[17]

Gallery[link]

• 

  A small dhow in Zanzibar

• 

  A painting of a Baghlah, traditional deep sea Dhow.

• 

  Construction and repair of dhows in Sur, Oman

• 

  Dhow ferrying passengers near Inhambane, Mozambique.

• 

  1937 stamp of Aden depicting a dhow.

• 

  Boom in the Maritime Museum in Kuwait City commemorating the founding of Kuwait as a sea port for merchants.

See also[link]

	Middle East portal
	Nautical portal

• Felucca
• Uru (boat)
• Arab slave trade
• Xebec
• Fusta

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Clifford W. Hawkins, The dhow: an illustrated history of the dhow and its world.
• Marion Kaplan, Twilight of the Arab dhow.
• Esmond Bradley Martin and Chryssee Perry Martin; foreword by Elspeth Huxley, Cargoes of the east : the ports, trade, and culture of the Arabian Seas and western Indian Ocean.
• Esmond Bradley Martin, The decline of Kenya's dhow trade.
• Anthony Jack, Arab dhows.
• Henri Perrier, Djibouti's dhows.
• Tessa Rihards, Dhow building : survival of an ancient craft.
• Richard LeBaron Bowen, Essay on the tradition of painting eyes, known as oculi, on the bows of boats among mariners and fishermen from ancient times to the present. Found particularly in the Indian Ocean region.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dhows

• History of the dhow
• Dhows of Kuwait
• Mondfeld, Die arabische Dau
• Hikoichi Yajima, The Arab dhow trade in the Indian Ocean : preliminary report
• Tom Vosmer, The durable dhow.
• Maritime activities of the Arab Gulf people and the Indian Ocean World in the 11th and 12th centuries
• Lloyd, The Navy and the Slave Trade