GildaNolan0093 at 17:58, 3 March 2026

2026-03-03T17:58:45Z

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{{Short description|Ancient Greek sailor}}
[[File:Periplous of the Erythraean Sea.svg|thumb|Hippalus is credited by the [[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea|Periplus of the Erythreaen Sea]] as the first to discover the passage from the [[Red Sea]] to India over the Indian Ocean]]

'''Hippalus''' ([[Ancient Greek]]: Ἵππαλος) was a [[Greeks|Greek]] navigator and merchant who probably lived in the 1st century [[Common Era|BCE]]. He is sometimes conjectured to have been the captain of the Greek explorer [[Eudoxus of Cyzicus]]' ship.

==Use of monsoon==
The writer of the 1st-century CE ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' credited Hippalus with discovering the direct route from the [[Red Sea]] to [[Tamilakam]] over the [[Indian Ocean]] by plotting the scheme of the sea and the correct location of the trade ports along the Indian coast. [[Pliny the Elder]] claimed that Hippalus discovered not the route, but the [[monsoon]] wind also called ''Hippalus'' (the south-west monsoon wind). Most historians have tried to reconcile the reports by stating that knowledge of the monsoon winds was necessary to use the direct route, but the historian [[André Tchernia]] explains that Pliny's connection between the wind and the navigator was based on common pronunciation: in the [[Hellenistic era]] the name of the wind was written as ''Hypalus'', only in [[Ancient Rome| Roman]] times the spelling ''Hippalus'' came into use. The wind had already been known in Hellenistic times and had before been used by [[Himyarite]] (Southern Arabian Semites) and Indian sailors to cross the Indian Ocean.

===Significance===
To understand the importance of Hippalus' discovery we have to know that before him Greek [[Geography| geographers]] thought that the Indian coast stretched from west to east. Hippalus was probably the first (in the West) to recognize the north–south direction of India's west coast. Only someone who has this insight will think crossing the [[Arabian Sea]] might be a faster way to [[south India]] than following the coastline.

The use of Hippalus' direct route greatly contributed to the prosperity of [[Indo-Roman trade relations|trade contacts]] between the [[History of Roman Egypt|Roman province of Aegyptus]] and India from the 1st century BCE onwards. From [[Red Sea]] ports like [[Berenice Troglodytica| Berenice]] large ships crossed the Arabian Sea to the [[Malabar Coast|Malabar]] coast and [[Muziris]] port, [[Tamil people|Tamil]] kingdoms of the [[Pandyas]], [[Cholas]] and [[Chera Dynasty|Cheras]] in present-day [[Kerala]] and [[Tamil Nadu]].

==Legacy in science and literature==
In 1935, a [[Hippalus (crater)|crater on the Moon]] was named after the navigator.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature|url=http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/2515|website=usgs.gov|publisher=[[International Astronomical Union]]|access-date=May 18, 2024}}</ref>

Hippalus is also a prominent character in [[L. Sprague de Camp]]'s 1969 novel about Eudoxus, ''[[The Golden Wind]].'' He is also mentioned in the Tamil novel ''[[Veera Yuga Nayagan Vel Paari]].''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Federico De Romanis and André Tchernia, ''Crossings: Early Mediterranean Contacts with India'' (New Delhi 1997)

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[[Category:Ancient Greek explorers]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek merchants]]
[[Category:Ancient Greeks in Africa]]
[[Category:Maritime navigators]]
[[Category:1st-century BC Greek people]]
[[Category:Explorers of Asia]]
[[Category:Ancient explorers]]
[[Category:Roman-Indian relations]]

Hippalus - Revision history

GildaNolan0093 at 17:58, 3 March 2026