https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=GhanjahGhanjah - Revision history2026-07-31T07:24:23ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Ghanjah&diff=118303&oldid=prev>Dmytro Tarnavsky at 20:13, 4 February 20212021-02-04T20:13:01Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>[[File:Kotia-1909.jpg|thumb|A ghanjah at [[Bombay]] harbor in 1909]]<br />
[[File:Sur-Dhow (7).JPG|thumb|A ghanjah in [[dry dock]] showing the trefoil ornament on the prow]]<br />
A '''ghanjah''' or '''ganja'''<ref>Thabit A. J. Abdullah, ''The Political Economy of Trade in Eighteenth-Century Basra'', SUNY series in the Social and Economic History of the Middle East , 2000, {{ISBN|978-0-7914-4808-3}}</ref> ({{lang-ar|غنجه}}), also known as '''kotiya''' in [[India]], is a large wooden trading [[dhow]], a traditional Arabic sailing vessel.<ref>Clifford W. Hawkins, ''The dhow: an illustrated history of the dhow and its world''</ref><br />
<br />
==Description==<br />
The ghanjah dhows had a curved [[prow]] with a characteristic trefoil ornament carved on top of the stem-head. They also had an ornately carved [[stern]] and [[quarter galleries]]. Their average length was {{convert|97|ft|0|abbr=on}} with a {{convert|15|m|0|abbr=on}} keel-length and an average weight of 215 tons.<br />
Usually they had two masts, the main mast having a pronounced inclination towards the prow. They used two to three [[Lateen|lateen sails]]; supplementary sails were often added on the [[bowsprit]] and on a [[topmast]] atop the main [[Mast (sailing)|mast]].<ref>[http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2008/08/too-late-to-document-dhows.html Too Late to Document Dhows?]</ref><br />
<br />
The ghanjah is often difficult to distinguish from the [[baghlah]], a similar type of dhow. Besides the trefoil-shaped carving on top of the stem-head, ghanjahs had usually a more slender shape.<ref>[http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult The Traditional Dhow] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725191658/http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult |date=July 25, 2012 }}</ref><br />
<br />
==History==<br />
Ghanjahs were widely used in the past centuries as merchant ships in the [[Indian Ocean]] between the western coast of the [[Indian Subcontinent]] and the [[Arabian Peninsula]].<ref name="RG89">Gardiner, Robert (2001 [1998]). ''The Victory of Seapower''. Caxton Editions. {{ISBN|1-84067-359-1}}. p. 89</ref> Many ghanjahs were built at traditional shipyards in [[Sur, Oman|Sur]], [[Oman]],<ref>[http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult The Traditional Dhow] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725191658/http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult |date=July 25, 2012 }}</ref> as well as in [[Beypore]], [[Kerala]], India.<br />
<br />
Ghanjahs were largely replaced by the newer-designed and easier to maneuver [[Boom (ship)|boom]]s in the 20th century.<br />
<br />
==See also==<br />
*[[Dhow]]<br />
*[[Baghlah]]<br />
*[[Shu'ai]]<br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{reflist|30em}}<br />
==External links==<br />
*{{Commons category inline}}<br />
*[http://johnowen2.tripod.com/dhows.html Ghanjah and baghlah]<br />
*[http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1R2541H951A77.55299&profile=liball&uri=link=3100009~!1600632~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=subtab103&menu=search&ri=2&source=~!silibraries&term=Dhows+--+History.&index=#focus Hikoichi Yajima, ''The Arab dhow trade in the Indian Ocean : preliminary report'']<br />
*[http://proudlyemirati.wikidot.com/dhows Dhows]<br />
*[http://mecit.edu.om/documents/DHOW/The_Dhow-V1-I1.pdf The Historic Dhow]<br />
*[http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/199903/the.dhow.of.racing.htm The Dhow of Racing]<br />
{{Sailing vessels and rigs}}<br />
{{ship-type-stub}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Dhow types]]<br />
[[Category:Arabic words and phrases]]<br />
[[Category:Sailing ships]]<br />
[[Category:Arab inventions]]<br />
[[Category:Tall ships]]</div>>Dmytro Tarnavsky