Dhow

Dhow(/daʊ/;Arabic:داو,romanized:dāw) is the generic name of a number of traditionalsailing vesselswith one or more masts withsetteeor sometimeslateensails, used in theRed SeaandIndian Oceanregion.Typically sporting long thin hulls, dhows are trading vessels primarily used to carry heavy items, such as fruit, fresh water, or other heavy merchandise, along the coasts ofEastern Arabia,Iran,East Africa,YemenandcoastalSouth Asia(Pakistan,India,Bangladesh). Larger dhows have crews of approximately thirty and smaller ones typically around twelve.
There are several versions of the origin of the word "dau". Previously, it was believed that it could be of Arabic orPersianorigin (and although in the 21st century there is no such word in either Arabic or Persian, some Dutch documents from the 17th-18th centuries indicate that then the Persian worddawhmeant "small ship"). Recently, most researchers are inclined to believe that this term comes from the language of the East African Swahili people, in whichdawmeans "vessel".
However, regardless of the sources of its origin, the use of "dhow" as a collective term to refer to the boats of the Indian Ocean with characteristic "Arabian" sails, was introduced definitely by Europeans. Since in the European tradition ships were classified mainly according to their sailing equipment, all the ships of the Indian Ocean that carried similar Arabian sails and looked more or less the same to the untrained European eye were known to as Europeans using a single word, "dhow". At the same time, neither the Arabs nor the Indians use the term "dhow" to refer to their vessels collectively. The collective terms used in Arabic for ships aremarkaborkhashab, and the Qur'an uses the termfulk.On the other hand, the peoples of the Indian Ocean use separate special names for each type of ship, differing from each other mainly not in sailing rigging, but in size, hull design and number of masts
The exact origins of the dhow are lost to history. Most scholars believe that it originated in India from 600 BC to 600 AD, although there are some who claim that the sanbuk, a type of dhow, may be derived from the Portuguesecaravel.However, Portuguese caravels only appeared in the area in the late 15th century.
The dhow was the ship of trade first used by theSomalis. TheSomali peoplewho are known to have the oldest surviving dhow which is calledBeden, have traded with the ancient world from Egypt, Babylon, as well as the civilizations of the far east, carrying valuablefrankincense,myrrh,gold, etc. It was the Somali merchants that first introduced exotic animals from Africa to theMing Dynasty. The dhow was used to transport a giraffe to the Chinese EmperorYong Le's court, in 1414.Another source suggests the ship that carried the giraffe to China was part of a large Chinese fleet led byZheng He.
Ships that are similar to the dhow are mentioned or described in the1001 Nightsincluding various ports where they harboured. The dhow is also associated with thepearltrade.
The YemeniHadhrami people, as well asOmanis, for centuries came toBeypore, inKerala, India for their dhows. This was because of the good timber in the Kerala forests, the availability of goodcoirrope, and the skilled shipwrights. In former times, the sheathing planks of a dhow's hull were held together by coconut rope. Beypore dhows are known as 'Uru' inMalayalam, the local language of Kerala. Settlers from Yemen, known as 'Baramis', or 'Daramis' which could be derived from the word 'Hardamis' are still active in making urus in Kerala.
Dhows were extensively used for theRed Sea slave tradeand theIndian Ocean slave trade, which theRoyal Navyattempted to suppress. In his 1873 book, Captain G. L. Sulivan described "four different kinds of coasting dhows, as shown in the engravings, viz. the Bateele, the Badane, Bugala or genuine Dhow, and the Matapa boat".
In the 1920s, British writers identifiedAl Hudaydahas the centre for dhow building. Those built in Al Hudaydah were smaller in size, and used for travel along the coasts. They were constructed ofacaciafound in Yemen.They are distinguishable for their smaller triangular sails on movable bases to harvest the irregular winds of the Red Sea.
CaptainAlan 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.
Even to the present day, dhows make commercial journeys between thePersian Gulfand East Africa using sails as their only means ofpropulsion. Their cargo is mostlydatesand fish to East Africa andmangrovetimber to the lands in thePersian Gulf. They often sail south with themonsoonin winter or early spring, and back again to Arabia in late spring or early summer.
For celestial navigation, dhow sailors have traditionally used thekamal, an observation device that determineslatitudeby finding the angle of thePole Starabove thehorizon.
The term "dhow" is sometimes also applied to certain smaller lateen-sail rigged boats traditionally used in theRed Sea, the easternMediterraneanand the Persian Gulf area, as well as in the Indian Ocean from Madagascar to theBay of Bengal.  These include thefeluccasused in Egypt, Sudan and Iraq, and thedhoniused in the Maldives, as well as thetranki,ghrabandghalafah.All these vessels have common elements with the dhow. On theSwahili Coast, in countries such as Kenya, theSwahiliword used for dhow is "jahazi".
TheKuwaiti Maritime MuseuminSalmiya, Kuwait, holds replicas of a number of different types of dhows.
TheAl-Hashemi-II(1997-2001), inKuwait City, Kuwait, was recognized byGuinness World Recordas the largest wooden dhow ever built;  it has never been floated and is used for events.