Classical Tides: The Empires of Waves
Malabar’s backwaters, they launched swift ambushes, pioneering a form of naval guerrilla warfare
that unsettled Portuguese fleets. Their small, agile craft darted in and out of creeks, striking
suddenly and vanishing into familiar waters. For coastal communities, the Marakkars became
legends of defiance, proof that local seafaring knowledge could challenge empire.
By the 17th century, the struggle widened as the Dutch and English entered Indian waters.
Rivalry
among European powers made the Indian Ocean a theater of global competition. Yet Indian skill in
shipbuilding remained unmatched. The Navigation Act of 1651, passed in England, sought to
curtail
the use of Indian-built vessels precisely because they were superior in durability and design.
Despite restrictions, Indian yards continued to thrive. In Bombay, the Wadia family, master
shipbuilders of Parsi origin, constructed between 200 and 300 ships for the British.
Under their supervision, the Bombay Dockyard became one of the greatest in Asia. Among their
creations was the HMS Trincomalee, launched in 1817, which still survives today as one of the
oldest warships afloat. Another vessel, the HMS Cornwallis, built in Indian yards, hosted the
signing of the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, marking China’s defeat in the First Opium War.
And it was on the quarterdeck of yet another Bombay-built vessel, the HMS Minden, during the
bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore in 1814, that Francis Scott Key wrote the poem which
became the U.S. national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner. These ships, though built for
empire, remain monuments to Indian craftsmanship.
Parallel to the British navy, Indian entrepreneurs began asserting their place in commercial
shipping. The Bombay Steam Navigation Company (BSN Co.), established in the 1880s by Hajji
Hassan
Yusuff and Captain Augustus Shepherd, provided ferry and cargo services across the western coast
from Karachi to Mangalore. One of their most famous ships, the SS Vaitarna—electrified and
nicknamed Vijli—connected Mandvi to Bombay. Tragically, it sank in...
