Baghlah
A baghlah, bagala, bugala or baggala (
Arabic language
.
Description
The baghlah dhows had a curved prow with a stem-head, an ornately carved
quarter galleries
. Their average length was 100 ft (30 m) with an average weight of 275 tons.
Usually they had two masts using two to three lateen sails; supplementary sails like a jib were often added on the bowsprit, as well as on a topmast atop the main mast.[3]
As a large and heavy ship the baghlah required a sailors. Some had even up to 40.[4]
The ghanjah or kotiya is a similar type of vessel, often difficult to distinguish from the baghlah.[5]
History
Baghlahs were widely used in the past centuries as merchant ships in the
Bohra
traders.
In the early 19th century these ships were also part of
Persia or along the Arabian Peninsula.[6]
During the 19th century, the Royal Navy attempted to suppress the Indian Ocean slave trade and in his 1873 book, Captain G. L. Sulivan described the "Bugala or genuine Dhow" as "by far the most numerous class" of dhow.[2]
In favorable conditions a baghlah could sail up to 9 knots, but it was a somewhat unwieldy ship and was largely replaced by the easier to maneuver boom in the 20th century.
See also
References
- ^ Clifford W. Hawkins, The dhow: an illustrated history of the dhow and its world
- ^ a b Sulivan, G.L. (1873). Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters and on the Eastern Coast of Africa: Narrative of Five Years' Experiences in the Suppression of the Slave Trade. S. Low, Marston, Low & Searle. pp. 102–103. Retrieved 15 November 2021. (with engraving as illustration)
- ^ Too Late to Document Dhows?
- ISBN 978-0-7914-4808-3
- ^ The Traditional Dhow
- ISBN 1-84067-359-1. p. 89
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baghlah.