Ship Building Technology

Tamils and Technology

Unit - III

MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

SHIP BUILDING TECHNOLOGY

1. Shipbuilding Technology of Tamilians

Shipbuilding refers to the technology and involvement of Tamils in shipbuilding, maintenance and shipping. Tamil Nadu has a long coastline. Maritime trade is discussed in the literature. So it is understood that there must have been many type of ships. Tamils excelled in shipbuilding and sea voyages since ancient times. We know that the Tamils have made the sea a part of their lives since the sea and the ships are commonly used in Tamil literature.

Proofs:

1. Only one book titled 'Kappal Sastram' has been taken from Palm leaves.

2. D.P. Palaniappa Pillai, who wrote a study from the house of Kalingarayapillai, a Danish monk in 1620 in Tharangambadi, gives a detailed account of the ancient shipbuilding knowledge and technology. The dimensions of the largest vessels are length 179 cubits, breadth 22 cubits and height 173/5 cubits.

3. In Tamil Nadu, only the pillar of the upper Chiththamur Jain Temple located in Chingee circle has a sea and a boat carved on it.

4. From the statement of Narsaiah, the author of 'Kadalodi', we can know the deep involvement of Tamils in the art of shipbuilding.

5. Sangam literature, Ptolemy's topographical manual and Pliny's 'Natural History' cite references to ports and coastal trading centres of Tamil Nadu.

2. Predicting Tides

Predicting tides is one of the vessels steering techniques used by Tamils since the Sangam period.

Tamils divided Tide into two types,

1. High Tide

2. Low Tide

1. Kazhi Tide

During Kazhi tide, the sea water moves towards the shore.

2. Sea Tide

During the sea tide, the sea water moves towards the ocean.

By observing these two tides, the people on the shore would go into the sea.

Proof: It can be known that the Tamils used the natural power Tide to steer the vessels through the Sangam songs.

Neekan

The person who sails a ship (or) kalam is called neekan, kadalodi, malumi.

3. Front Harbour and Big Harbour

1. Front Harbour

During the Sangam period, Front Harbour was a port on the outer side of the estuaries. The following Ingurunooru verses of Sangam literature indicate that it refers to the outer part of the estuary.

Proof: Pattinapalai lyrics mention that the ship is anchored in this Front Harbour and the sail is folded.

2. Big Harbour

In estuaries, the outer current is less. So in the Front Harbour, the ship is anchored and the sail is lowered. Then the heavier goods are unloaded. The current at the mouth of the estuary is higher and the sail is hoisted there. Later, it hurries to the Big Harbour, which is the inner part of the estuary. The following lines from Purananooru mention this.

Proof: Purananooru

4. Shipbuilding Technology of the Sangam Period

During the Sangam period, man first sat on a log and started catching fish in a pond or a river. Then, he joined two logs and called it a 'catamaran' and sat on it and started catching fish. Then, he joined a large log and two logs on either side of it to form a new catamaran. In this way, they gradually grew from small vessels such as midavai, first naavai, vangam to big vessels.

Types of Vessels in Sangam Literature

Sangam literature states that there were 18 types of vessels. They are categorized as follows.

(i) Catamaran type vessels

(ii) Thoni type results

(iii) Vallam type vessels

1. Catamaran Type Vessels

Theppam, Midavai, Punai, Parisal are the main catamarans mentioned in Tamil literature.

They have been used for fishing and punal games during Sangam period.

2. Thoni Type Vessels

Thoni, Boat, Songu, Odam, Mudugu, Kaiparisu are the types of Thoni vessels.

Such Thoni type vessels were created due to lack of adequate protection in catamarans. The following fruits suggest that they were generally used for fishing, punal game, naval warfare, pearl hunting, etc.,

Proofs: [Agananooru, 350, 10-15; Purnananooru 126: 14-16; Kurunthogai 123: 5-6]

3. Vallam Type Vessels

Vallam, Marakkalam, Naavai, Vangam, Madalai, Ambi, Thimil are Vallam type vessels.

These vessels were not suitable for long distance travels. Therefore, large vessels were created by attaching planks obtained from the trunk of the 'aera' tree. Tar was painted on the planks to prevent water from entering the gaps.

Sastras on Making Ships

Star Sastra

Before building the ships, the day, time, thithi, star were checked. Among the 27 stars, excepting the last 7 stars were selected for commencing the construction of ships.

Sastras in the Colours of Wood

They had identified the colours of the wood from which the ships were made.

(i) If the tree was black, it was assumed that snake was living.

(ii) If it was like a thailam, it was assumed that scorpion was living.

(iii) If many colours were found, it was gussed that frog was living.

(iv) If it was too reddish, it was guessed that lizard was living.

(v) If it was black, it was assumed that harms would happen.

(vi) If it had holes, it was assumed that misfortune would occur.

(vii) If it was white, it was guessed that it would be good.

These information are found in Sangam shipbuilding sastras about wood.

Sastras in the Fragments of Wood

It was believed that cutting the tree into two and again cutting it into three pieces, the front and back parts would bring benefits. Four and five pieces were considered to suit ship building. If there were 10 pieces, death was predicted.

Sastra for the Bottom of the Ship

Sastras were also there for the bottom of the ship. It was considered to be the heart of the ship. The trunk of the wood was measured first. Then one muzham was multiplied by 24 inches and 27 was deducted from it. Keeping the remaining form, they started constructing the ship on the Ashwini day.

The Salient Features of Shipbuilding Industry

1. Dipole Discharging Technology

During the Sangam period, ships were more likely to be struck by thunder and lightning during voyages in the deep sea than on land. When ships were struck by lightning, they got fire to the point of utmost destruction. But, the technology used by the Cholas and the Pandyas prevented such ships from burning.

The technique they used to prevent lightning strikes was to cover and connect the two ends of a very long tree that supported the sails as the centre axis of the ship with copper. This system is similar to Dipole Discharging used in modern electronics. It bears the thunderbolt and drops it into the seawater. As a result, the vessel is not damaged.

2. Tamils had used 20 types of wood while other countries used only two types of wood.

3. In case of shipwreck during the sea journey, the bottom of the ship which was built in layers, so that the bottom layer would be dropped and hence, the ship did not sink in the water like a decking system.

4. Tamils created a technology named Lighthouse for showing the direction to the ships in the sea.

It amazes us that today Western technologies are using these techniques in a highly modernised form which were used by the Sangam Tamils then.

5. Arrival of the Britishers and the disappearance of Tamil shipbuilding art.

Due to the arrival of the Britishers, the shipbuilding art began to perish little by little. This is known from the life history of V. O. Chidambaranar.

Proof: Narasaiya 140

In 1789, an order was passed in favour of the East India Company that no Indian carpenters, masons or blacksmiths could work on ships.

The indigenous shipping company of VOC started in 1906, was greatly affected by the British India Company by charging low rates and making shipping non-profitable.

Proof: Narasaiya 155