Editing Dhow

{{Short description|Type of sailing vessel from the Indian Ocean}}
{{Expand Ukrainian|Дау (судно)|date=June 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
[[File:Dhow znz.jpg|thumb|A dhow in the [[Indian Ocean]], near the islands of [[Zanzibar]] on the [[Swahili coast]]]]
[[File:Dhows moored in Dubai.jpg|thumb|Fishermen's dhows moored at Dubai in 2014]]

'''Dhow''' ({{IPAc-en|d|aʊ}}; {{langx|ar|داو|translit=dāw}}) is the generic name of a number of traditional [[Sailing ship|sailing vessels]] with one or more masts with [[settee (sail)|settee]] or sometimes [[lateen]] sails, used in the [[Red Sea]] and [[Indian Ocean]] region.<ref name="Briggs">{{cite web |last=Briggs|first=Philip|title=Dhows of the Swahili coast|url= http://www.zanzibar-travel-guide.com/bradt_guide.asp?bradt=1904.| work =Zanzibar Travel Guide|access-date= 6 September 2012}}</ref><ref name="Nabataea">{{cite web|title= The History & construction of the dhow |url = http://nabataea.net/ships.html|publisher = Nabataea |access-date = 6 September 2012}}</ref> 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 of [[culture of Eastern Arabia|Eastern Arabia]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Bowen |first=Richard Lebaron |year=1949 |title=Arab Dhows of Eastern Arabia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LG4gAAAAMAAJ }}</ref> [[Iran]], [[East Africa]], [[Yemen]] and [[coast]]al [[South Asia]] ([[Pakistan]], [[India]], [[Bangladesh]]). Larger dhows have crews of approximately thirty and smaller ones typically around twelve.

== Etymology ==
There are several versions of the origin of the word "dau". Previously, it was believed that it could be of [[Arabic]] or [[Persian language|Persian]] origin (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 word ''dawh'' meant "small ship"). Recently, most researchers are inclined to believe that this term comes from  ''daw'' in the [[Swahili language|language]] of the [[Swahili people]] in East Africa, which means "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".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hourani |first1=George Fadlo |last2=Carswell |first2=John |year=1995 |title=Arab Seafaring: In the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times |url=https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691000329/arab-seafaring<!-- accessed by Sgtnugg on 13 April 2024 --> |edition=expanded |location=Princeton, N.J., USA |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=89<!-- fr Google Books --> |isbn=9780691000329 }}</ref>

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 are ''markab'', ''khashab'' and ''[[felucca|falūka]]''; ''falūka'' is related to the term ''fulk'' ({{langx|ar|فُلك}}) used in the [[Qur'an]] to describe [[Noah's Ark#Islam|Noah's ark]].<ref name="LotRSD">{{cite book |last1=Agius |first1=Dionisius A. |year=2019 |title=The Life of the Red Sea Dhow: A Cultural History of Seaborne Exploration in the Islamic World |url=https://www.google.com.my/books/edition/The_Life_of_the_Red_Sea_Dhow/PiaODwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22fulk%22+dhow&pg=PA17&printsec=frontcover |location=London, U.K. |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-78672-487-8 |pages=16-17 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holtzman |first=Bob |date=2009-06-24 |title=Indigenous Boats: What's a Dhow? |url=http://indigenousboats.blogspot.com/2009/06/whats-dhow.html |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=Indigenous Boats}}</ref>

==History==
The exact origins of the dhow are lost to history. Most scholars believe that it originated in India from 600&nbsp;BC to 600&nbsp;AD, although there are some who claim that the sanbuk, a type of dhow, may be derived from the Portuguese [[caravel]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Taylor|first=James|title=Traditional Arab sailing ships|url=http://www.al-bab.com/bys/articles/taylor03.htm|publisher=The British-Yemeni Society|accessdate=6 September 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715154255/http://al-bab.com/bys/articles/taylor03.htm|archivedate=15 July 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://roberts-model-ships-and-boats.com/sambuc1.htm Sanbuk – Robert's Model ships and boats]</ref> However, Portuguese caravels only appeared in the area in the late 15th century.

The dhow was the ship of trade first used by the [[Maritime history of Somalia|Somalis]]. The [[Somali people]] who are known to have the oldest surviving dhow which is called [[Beden]], have traded with the ancient world from Egypt, Babylon, as well as the civilizations of the far east, carrying valuable [[frankincense]], [[myrrh]], [[gold]], etc. It was the Somali merchants that first introduced exotic animals from Africa to the [[Ming Dynasty]]. The dhow was used to transport a giraffe to the Chinese Emperor [[Yong Le]]'s court, in 1414.<ref name="McIntyreMcIntyre2013">{{cite book|author1=Chris McIntyre|author2=Susan McIntyre|title=Zanzibar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rtpv6DqJK6cC&pg=PA6|year=2013|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-458-7|page=6}}</ref> Another source suggests the ship that carried the giraffe to China was part of a large Chinese fleet led by [[Zheng He]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Duyvendak |first1=JJL |title=The True Dates of the Chinese Maritime Expeditions in the Early Fifteenth Century |date=1938 |pages=341–413 }}</ref>

Ships that are similar to the dhow are mentioned or described in the [[1001 Nights]] including various ports where they harboured. The dhow is also associated with the [[pearl]] trade.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

The Yemeni [[Hadhrami people]], as well as [[Omanis]], for centuries came to [[Beypore]], in [[Kerala]], India for their dhows. This was because of the good timber in the Kerala forests, the availability of good [[coir]] rope, 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 (boat)|Uru]]' in [[Malayalam]], 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Dhows were extensively used for the [[Red Sea slave trade]] and the [[Indian Ocean slave trade]], which the [[Royal Navy]] attempted 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".<ref name="Sulivan 1873 p. 102">{{cite book | last=Sulivan | first=G.L. | title=Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters and on the Eastern Coast of Africa: Narrative of Five Years' Experiences in the Suppression of the Slave Trade | publisher=S. Low, Marston, Low & Searle | year=1873 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bg8_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA102 | access-date=15 November 2021 | page=102}}</ref>

=== Since the 20th century ===

In the 1920s, British writers identified [[Al Hudaydah]] as the centre for dhow building. Those built in Al Hudaydah were smaller in size, and used for travel along the coasts. They were constructed of [[acacia]] found in Yemen.<ref name=Prothero99>{{cite book | last =Prothero| first= GW |title= Arabia | year = 1920| publisher = HM Stationery Office | location =London |page=99 |url= http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11767/view/1/99/}}</ref> They are distinguishable for their smaller triangular sails on movable bases to harvest the irregular winds of the Red Sea.<ref>{{Cite web|title=صناعة القوارب|url=https://yemen-nic.info/tourism_site/heritable/detail.php?ID=21289|access-date=2021-03-12|website=yemen-nic.info}}</ref>

Captain [[Alan 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.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sons of Sinbad : an account of sailing with the Arabs in their Dhows, in the Red Sea, round the coasts of Arabia, and to Zanzibar and Tanganyika; pearling in the Persian Gulf; and the life of the shipmasters and mariners of Kuwait |last=Villiers |first=Alan |date=2006 |publisher=Arabian Pub. in association with the Centre for Research and Studies in Kuwait |others=Facey, William, 1948–, Ḥijjī, Yaʻqūb Yūsuf., Pundyk, Grace., Markaz al-Buḥūth wa-al-Dirāsāt al-Kuwaytīyah (Kuwait) |isbn=0954479238 |location=London |oclc=61478193}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p8uovQEACAAJ |title=Monsoon Seas the Story of the Indian Ocean|last=Villiers|first=Allan|date=15 October 2018|publisher=Creative Media Partners, LLC|isbn=9780343245221|language=en}}</ref>

Even to the present day, dhows make commercial journeys between the [[Persian Gulf]] and East Africa using sails as their only means of [[Marine propulsion|propulsion]]. Their cargo is mostly [[Date Palm|dates]] and fish to East Africa and [[mangrove]] timber to the lands in the [[Persian Gulf]]. They often sail south with the [[monsoon]] in winter or early spring, and back again to Arabia in late spring or early summer.{{Citation needed|date = September 2012}}

==Navigation==
For celestial navigation, dhow sailors have traditionally used the [[Kamal (navigation)|kamal]], an observation device that determines [[latitude]] by finding the angle of the [[Pole Star]] above the [[horizon]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ancient Sailing and Navigation|url=http://nabataea.net/sailing.html|publisher=Nabataea.net|access-date=7 September 2012}}</ref>

==Types==
[[File:Jalibut in the Persian Gulf.jpg|thumb|A Shu'ai in the Persian Gulf]]
* ''[[Baghlah]]'' ({{lang |ar|بغلة|rtl=yes}}) – from the [[Arabic language]] word for "[[mule]]". A heavy ship, the traditional deep-sea dhow.
*''[[Baqarah (ship)|Baqarah]]'' or {{transliteration|ar|baggarah}} ({{lang|ar|بقارة|rtl=yes}}) – from the Arabic word for "cow". Old type of small dhow similar to the Battil.<ref>{{cite web| title =The Traditional Dhow| url =http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult| publisher =Ministry of Information| place =Oman| access-date =7 September 2012| archive-date =25 July 2012| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120725191658/http://www.omanet.om/english/culture/boats.asp?cat=cult| url-status =dead}}</ref>
* ''[[Barijah]]'' – small dhow.<ref>{{Citation | first1 = George Fadlo | last1 = Hourani | first2 = John | last2 = Carswell | title = Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 1995}}.</ref>
* ''[[Batil (ship)|Battil]]'' ({{lang |ar|بتيل|rtl=yes}}) – featured long stems topped by large, club-shaped stem heads.
* ''[[Beden]]'' – a smaller vessel requiring a shallow [[Draft (hull)|draft]].<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Facts & details | title = China | contribution-url = http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=1102&catid=2&subcatid=90 | contribution = Dhows | access-date = 4 October 2011 | archive-date = 22 September 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130922124857/http://factsanddetails.com/china.php?itemid=1102&catid=2&subcatid=90 | url-status = dead }}.</ref>
* ''[[Boom (ship)|Boom]]'' ({{langx|ar|بوم|būm|link=no}}) or ''dhangi'' – a large-sized dhow with a stern that is tapering in shape and a more symmetrical overall structure. The Arab boum has a very high prow, which is trimmed in the Indian version.<ref>{{Citation | contribution-url = http://www.brighthub.com/engineering/marine/articles/57371.aspx | contribution = Dhow Ship – Types | title = Marine engineering | publisher = Bright hub | access-date = 14 March 2010 | archive-date = 25 November 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101125110922/http://www.brighthub.com/engineering/marine/articles/57371.aspx | url-status = dead }}.</ref>
* ''[[Ghanjah]]'' ({{lang|ar|غنجة|rtl=yes}}) or ''kotiya'' – a large vessel, similar to the Baghlah, with a curved stem and a sloping, ornately carved [[Transom (nautical)|transom]].<ref>{{Citation | contribution-url = http://www.cogandgalleyships.com/blog/496151-ghanjah/ | title = Cog and Galley ships | contribution = Ghanjah | access-date = 4 October 2011 | archive-date = 25 April 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120425044636/http://www.cogandgalleyships.com/blog/496151-ghanjah/ | url-status = dead }}.</ref>
* ''[[Jahazi]]'' or {{transliteration|ar|jihazi}} ({{lang |ar|جهازي|rtl=yes}}).  A fishing or trading dhow with a broad hull similar to the {{transliteration|ar|jalibut}}, common in Lamu Island and the coast of Oman. It is also used in Bahrain for the pearl industry.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = Diani beach | url = http://www.dianibeach.co.uk/sailing.htm | place = UK | title = Dhow sailing in Kenya | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120724202301/http://www.dianibeach.co.uk/sailing.htm | archive-date = 24 July 2012 | df = dmy-all }}.</ref> The word comes from ''jahāz'' ({{lang |fa|جهاز|rtl=yes}}), a [[Persian language|Persian]] word for "ship".{{Sfn | Agius | 2008 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=RP2uHT06zYgC&lpg=PA314&pg=PA316  316]}}
* ''[[Jaliboot]]'' or ''jelbut'' ({{lang |ar|جالبوت|rtl=yes}}).  A small to medium-sized dhow. It is the modern version of the shu'ai with a shorter prow stem piece. Most {{transliteration|ar|jalibuts}} are fitted with engines.
* ''[[Patamar]]'', a type of Indian dhow.
*''[[Sambuk]]'' or ''sambuq'' ({{lang |ar|صنبوق|rtl=yes}}) – the largest type of dhow seen in the Persian Gulf today. It has a characteristic keel design, with a sharp curve right below the top of the prow. It has been one of the most successful dhows in history.<ref>{{Citation | title = Oman, a Seafaring Nation | publisher = Ministry of Information | place = Oman | year = 1979}}.</ref> The word is cognate with the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] {{lang |grc|σαμβύκη}} ''sambúkē'', ultimately from [[Middle Persian]] {{lang |pal|sambūk}}.{{Sfn| Agius | 2008 | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=RP2uHT06zYgC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA314  314]}}
* ''[[Shu'ai]]'' ({{lang |ar|شوعي|rtl=yes}}).  Medium-sized dhow. Formerly the most common dhow in the Persian Gulf used for fishing as well as for coastal trade.
* ''[[Zaruq]]'' – small dhow, slightly larger than a barijah<ref>{{cite web | publisher = Sympatico | last = Xavier | first = Sandy | title = Zaruq | url = http://www3.sympatico.ca/sandyxavier/emirates/adventur/zaruqpic.htm | place = [[Canada|CA]] | access-date = 6 September 2012 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20031005041817/http://www3.sympatico.ca/sandyxavier/emirates/adventur/zaruqpic.htm | archive-date = 5 October 2003 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>
*[[Dhoni (fishing vessel)|Dhoni]] – Maldivian traditional multi-purpose sail vessel.

The term "dhow" is sometimes also applied to certain smaller lateen-sail rigged boats traditionally used in the [[Red Sea]], the eastern [[Mediterranean]] and the Persian Gulf area, as well as in the Indian Ocean from Madagascar to the [[Bay of Bengal]].  These include the [[felucca]]s used in Egypt, Sudan and Iraq,<ref name="LotRSD"/> and the [[Dhoni (fishing vessel)|dhoni]] used in the Maldives, as well as the {{transliteration|ar|tranki}}, {{transliteration|ar|ghrab}} and {{transliteration|ar|ghalafah}}.<ref>{{Citation | first = Thabit AJ | last = Abdullah | title = The Political Economy of Trade in Eighteenth-Century Basra | publisher = SUNY | series = Social and Economic History of the Middle East | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-7914-4808-3}}.</ref> All these vessels have common elements with the dhow. On the [[Swahili Coast]], in countries such as Kenya, the [[Swahili language|Swahili]] word used for dhow is "jahazi".<ref name="Briggs"/>

==Museums==
The [[Kuwaiti Maritime Museum]] in [[Salmiya]], Kuwait, holds replicas of a number of different types of dhows.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.kuwaittimes.com/preserving-and-protecting-kuwaits-maritime-heritage/ |title=Preserving and protecting Kuwait's maritime heritage |author= Ben Garcia |date=August 19, 2021 |publisher=[[Kuwait Times]]}}</ref>

The ''[[Al-Hashemi-II]]'' (1997-2001), in [[Kuwait City]], Kuwait, was recognized by [[Guinness World Record]] as the largest wooden dhow ever built;  it has never been floated and is used for events.

==Gallery==
<gallery widths=180>
File:Dhow01.JPG|Dhow seen off the coast of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
File:Another Dhow.JPG|Dhow seen in the Indian Ocean
File:DhowDesertQatar.jpg|A dhow in the desert in Qatar
File:Sd2-baggala.JPG|A painting of a [[Baghlah]], traditional deep sea dhow
File:Ayajh6.jpg|Construction and repair of dhows in [[Sur, Oman]]
File:Inhambane-dhow.JPG|Dhow ferrying passengers near [[Inhambane]], Mozambique
File:Dhow Indian Ocean.jpg|A small dhow in Zanzibar
File:Stamp Aden 1937 0.5a.jpg|1937 stamp of [[Aden|Aden, Yemen]] depicting a dhow
File:MarinetimeMKuwaitAlshami.jpg|[[Boom (ship)|Boom]] in the [[Maritime Museum]] in [[Kuwait City]] commemorating the founding of Kuwait as a sea port for merchants
File:KGVI rupees 10 note cdd front reverse.jpg|[[Patamar]] on a 10 [[Indian rupee]] note
File:Sambuk.jpg|Model of a [[Sambuk]]
File:Dau auf dem Schatt al-Arab.png|Dhow on the [[Shatt al-Arab]] (1958)
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Transport}}
*[[Felucca]]
*[[Fusta]]
*[[Guilalo]]
*[[Kattumaram]]
*[[Uru (boat)]]
*[[Xebec]]
* Mahhat - Traditional Boat in Corporate Games

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography ==
* {{Citation | first = Dionisius A | last = Agius | title = Classic Ships of Islam: From Mesopotamia to the Indian Ocean | publisher = Brill | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-90-0415863-4 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=RP2uHT06zYgC}}.

==Further reading==
* {{Citation | first = Richard LeBaron | last = Bowen | title = Essay on the tradition of painting eyes, known as oculi, on the bows of boats among mariners and fishermen from ancient times to the present. Found particularly in the Indian Ocean region}}.
* {{cite book |last=Hawkins |first=Clifford W. |date=1977 |title=The dhow: an illustrated history of the dhow and its world |publisher=Nautical Publishing Co |isbn=978-0245526558}}
* Anthony Jack, ''Arab dhows''.
* {{cite book |last=Kaplan |first=Marion |date=2015 |title=So Old a Ship: Twilight of the Arab dhow |publisher=Moho Books |isbn=978-0955720826}}
* {{Citation | first = Esmond Bradley | last = Martin | author-link = Esmond Bradley Martin | title = The decline of Kenya's dhow trade}}.
* {{Citation | first1 = Esmond Bradley | last1 = Martin | author-mask = 3 | first2 = Chryssee Perry | last2 = Martin | others = foreword by Elspeth Huxley | title = Cargoes of the east : the ports, trade, and culture of the Arabian Seas and western Indian Ocean| journal = The Geographical Journal | date = 1979 | volume = 145 | issue = 1 | page = 130 | doi = 10.2307/633106 | jstor = 633106 | bibcode = 1979GeogJ.145..130K }}.
*Henri Perrier, ''Djibouti's dhows''.
*[[A.H.J. Prins]], ''Sailing from [[Lamu]]: A Study of Maritime Culture in Islamic East Africa.'' Assen: van Gorcum & Comp., 1965.
*A.H.J. Prins. The Persian Gulf Dhows: Two Variants in Maritime Enterprise. ''Persica: Jaarboek van het Genootschap Nederland-Iran'', No.II (1965–1966): pp.&nbsp;1–18.
*A.H.J. Prins. The Persian Gulf Dhows: Notes on the Classification of Mid-Eastern Sea-Craft. ''Persica: Jaarboek van het Genootschap Nederland-Iran'', No.VI (1972–1974): pp.&nbsp;157–1166.
*A.H.J. Prins. ''A Handbook of Sewn Boats.'' Maritime Monographs and Reports No.59. Greenwich, London:: National Maritime Museum, 1986.
*Tessa Rihards, ''Dhow building : survival of an ancient craft.''

==External links==
{{Commons category|Dhows}}
* {{Citation | title = Al wakrah vagina stadium, Qatar world | url = https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/al-wakrah-vagina-stadium-qatar-world-2807997 | newspaper = The Mirror | date = 19 November 2013 | place = UK}}.  Stadium based on the design of the Dhow.
* {{Citation | url = http://nabataea.net/ships.html | title = History of the dhow }}.
* {{Citation | contribution-url = http://www.kuwaitboom.com/history/eng_ver/eng_main.htm | title = Kuwait boom | contribution = Dhows of Kuwait}}.
* {{Citation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=21Wckk4V-roC&pg=PA195 | first = Christopher | last = Lloyd | title = The Navy and the Slave Trade| isbn = 9780714618944 | year = 1968 | publisher = Psychology Press }}.
* {{Citation | language = de | place = DE |trans-title=The Arab dhow | publisher = Modell marine | url = http://www.modellmarine.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=930 | first = Wolfram | last = Mondfeld | title = Die arabische Dau}}.
* {{Citation | publisher = Archaeology | url = http://www.archaeology.org/9705/abstracts/dhow.html | first = Tom | last = Vosmer | title = The durable dhow}}.
* {{Citation | publisher = Tufs | place = JP | url = http://repository.tufs.ac.jp/bitstream/10108/21658/1/jaas014007.pdf | title = Maritime activities of the Arab Gulf people and the Indian Ocean World in the 11th and 12th centuries | access-date = 31 October 2008 | archive-date = 12 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210112062223/http://repository.tufs.ac.jp/bitstream/10108/21658/1/jaas014007.pdf | url-status = dead }}.

{{Ancient seafaring}}
{{Sailing vessels and rigs}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dhow types| ]]
[[Category:Arabic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Sailing rigs and rigging]]
[[Category:Boat types]]
[[Category:Tall ships]]