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[[File:Tagore family boat Padma.jpg|thumb|The Budgerow ("Bajra") of [[Rabindranath Tagore]]'s family, named the "Padma"]]
[[File:Frans Balthasar Solvyns - Budgerow.jpg|thumb|A budgerow, late 18th century, drawing by [[Frans Balthazar Solvyns]]]]
'''Budgerows''' were 'large and commodious, but generally cumbrous and sluggish boats, used for journeys on the [[Ganges]]'.{{cn|date=January 2016}} The term is an Anglicisation of the [[Hindi]] word bajrā.{{cn|date=January 2016}}

== Structure of the boat ==
Budgerows were large boats with long cabins that ran the length of the boat. These were divided into separate compartments by means of partitions to serve as sleeping rooms, dining rooms and sitting rooms.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mosque, Monghyr (Bihar). View from the river with country boats and budgerow in foreground|url=https://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/92037/4807FA836B77ABAC7E2301FEF0B4CB6F7476F278.html|accessdate=13 November 2012}}</ref> These boat had rooms for servants and the boatmen who served on the vessel. The rudder at the stern of these boats were guided by helmsmen while goleers stationed at the bow ascertained the depth of water in the river by using a long pole.<ref name="freefictionbooks">{{cite web|last=Kingston|first=W H G|title=Mark Seaworth|url=http://www.freefictionbooks.org/books/m/19388-mark-seaworth-by-william-henry-giles-kingston?start=24|accessdate=13 November 2012}}</ref>

When sailing, budgerows had a smaller baggage boat, called a ''pulwah'', accompanying them carrying provisions, servants and facilities for cooking. A [[dinghy]] or ''paunchway'' was used as the means of communication between the boats and to dispatch messages to the shore as the budgerows cannot often come near the shores for absence of draft. Budgerows also had sails to drive them along in favourable weather.<ref name="freefictionbooks" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Hodges|first=William|title=Travels in India,: during the years 1780, 1781, 1782, & 1783|publisher=Printed for the author, and sold by J. Edwards|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/travelsinindiad01hodggoog/page/n66 39], 40|url=https://archive.org/details/travelsinindiad01hodggoog|quote=budgerow boat.|year=1783}}</ref> Budgerows were extremely slow and cumbersome, covering no more than 17 to 20 miles a day. They move faster when powered by sails and inclement winds required them to be towed by a crew of 16 or more men.<ref>{{cite book|last=Brewster|first=David|title=The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, Volume 14|year=1832|location=Edinburgh|pages=256|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kQ8bAQAAMAAJ&q=budgerow+boat&pg=PA256}}</ref>

Before the arrival of the [[Railways in India|railways]], the transport of goods across much of [[Northern India]] depended on rivers and budgerows were a common sight.<ref>{{cite web|title='A Budgerow on the Ganges|url=http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/019wdz000000156u000130a0.html|accessdate=13 November 2012}}</ref> They were owned mostly by the Indian aristocracy and by the better off Englishmen in India.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Ships of India]]

Budgerow - Revision history

>Citation bot at 07:16, 7 December 2020