1.
Zanzibar
–
Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania in East Africa. It is composed of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25–50 kilometres off the coast of the mainland, the capital is Zanzibar City, located on the island of Unguja. Its historic centre is Stone Town, which is a World Heritage Site, the name Zanzibar is apparently derived from the Persian zang-bâr signifying black coast. Zanzibars main industries are spices, raffia, and tourism, in particular, the islands produce cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper. For this reason, the islands, together with Tanzanias Mafia Island, are called the Spice Islands. Zanzibar is the home of the endemic Zanzibar red colobus monkey, the Zanzibar servaline genet, the word Zanzibar came from Arabic Zanjibār, which is in turn from Persian Zang-bār, a compound of Zang + bār. The presence of microlithic tools suggest that it has been home to humans for at least 20,000 years, a Greco-Roman text between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, mentioned the island of Menuthias, which is probably Unguja. Little is known about the history of Zanzibar between the time of the Periplus and the death of Muhammad in 632 CE, from that point forward, wars in Asia and increasing trade motivated Persians, Arabs, and Indians to visit or migrate to Zanzibar. Persian traders used Zanzibar as a base for voyages between the Middle East, India, and Africa and they established garrisons on the islands and built the first Zoroastrian fire temples and mosques in the Southern Hemisphere. The impact of these traders and immigrants on the Swahili culture is uncertain, during the Middle Ages, Zanzibar and other settlements on the Swahili Coast were advanced. The littoral contained a number of autonomous trade cities and these towns grew in wealth as the Bantu Swahili people served as intermediaries and facilitators to local, Arab, Persian, Indonesian, Malaysian, Indian, and Chinese merchants. This interaction contributed in part to the evolution of the Swahili culture, although a Bantu language, Swahili as a consequence today includes some elements that were borrowed from other civilizations, particularly Arabic loanwords. With the wealth that they had acquired through trade, some of the Arab traders also became rulers of the coastal cities, vasco da Gamas visit in 1498 marked the beginning of European influence. In 1503 or 1504, Zanzibar became part of the Portuguese Empire when Captain Ruy Lourenço Ravasco Marques landed and demanded and received tribute from the sultan in exchange for peace, Zanzibar remained a possession of Portugal for almost two centuries. It initially became part of the Portuguese province of Arabia and Ethiopia and was administered by a governor general, around 1571, Zanzibar became part of the western division of the Portuguese empire and was administered from Mozambique. It appears, however, that the Portuguese did not closely administer Zanzibar, the first English ship to visit Unguja, the Edward Bonaventure in 1591, found that there was no Portuguese fort or garrison. The extent of their occupation was a depot where produce was purchased and collected for shipment to Mozambique. In other respects, the affairs of the island were managed by the local king and this hands-off approach ended when Portugal established a fort on Pemba around 1635 in response to the Sultan of Mombasas slaughter of Portuguese residents several years earlier
Zanzibar
–
The old castle in Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar
–
The Harem and Tower Harbour of Zanzibar (p.234), London Missionary Society
Zanzibar
–
A
Zanj slave gang in Zanzibar (1889)
2.
Swahili Coast
–
The Swahili Coast refers to a coastal area in Southeast Africa inhabited by the Swahili people. It mainly consists of littoral Kenya, Tanzania and northern Mozambique, the term may also include some of the Indian Ocean islands, such as Zanzibar, Pate and Comoros, which lie off the Swahili Coast. The Swahili Coast has a culture, demography, religion and geography. Historical documents including the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and works by Ibn Battuta describe the society, culture, the rise of the Swahili Coast city-states can be largely attributed to the regions extensive participation in a trade network that spanned the Indian Ocean. Evidence for Indian Ocean trade includes the presence of pot sherds on coastal sites that can be traced back to China. A product of the environment of the Swahili Coast was the development of the Swahili language. Sea of Zanj Swahili culture Swahili architecture Kilwa Sultanate
Swahili Coast
–
The Swahili Coast
3.
Arabic
–
Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
Arabic
–
The Galland Manuscript of
One Thousand and One Nights, 14th century
Arabic
–
Arabic is the sole official language
Arabic
–
Bilingual traffic sign in
Qatar.
Arabic
–
Examples of how the Arabic root and form system works.
4.
Sailing ship
–
A modern sailing ship or sailship is any large wind-powered vessel. Traditionally a sailing ship is a vessel that carries three or more masts with square sails on each. Large sailing vessels that are not ship-rigged may be more referred to by their sail rig, such as schooner, barque, brig. There are many different types of sailing ships, but they all have certain basic things in common, every sailing ship has a hull, rigging and at least one mast to hold up the sails that use the wind to power the ship. The crew who sail a ship are called sailors or hands and they take turns to take the watch, the active managers of the ship and her performance for a period. Watches are traditionally four hours long, some sailing ships use traditional ships bells to tell the time and regulate the watch system, with the bell being rung once for every half hour into the watch and rung eight times at watch end. A severe storm could lead to shipwreck, and the loss of all hands, Sailing ships are limited in their maximum size compared to ships with heat engines, so economies of scale are also limited. The heaviest sailing ships never exceeded 14,000 tons displacement, there are many types of sailing ships, mostly distinguished by their rigging, hull, keel, or number and configuration of masts. There are also types of smaller sailboats not listed here. The steam power was used to drive the winches, hoists, a similar ship Kruzenshtern, a very large sailing vessel without mechanical assists, had a crew of 257 men, compared to the Preussen, which required only 48 men. In 2006, automated control had been taken to the point where sails could be operated by one using a central control unit. The DynaRig technology was first developed in the 1960s in Germany by W. Prolls as an alternative for commercial ships to prepare for a possible future energy crisis. The technology is a version of the same type of sail used by the Preussen. The main difference is that the yards do not swing around a fixed mast but are attached to a rotating mast. DynaRig along with extensive computerization was used in the proof-of-concept Maltese Falcon to enable it to be sailed with no crew aloft, as of 2013, with increasing restrictions on use of bunker fuel, attempts were underway to develop hybrid sailing ships using automated sail and alternative fuels. Tall ship Rigging Sail-plan List of large sailing vessels Cruising Shipbuilding, the History of a Ship from Her Cradle to Her Grave, With a Short Account of Modern Steamships and Torpedoes. The sailing-ship, six years of history. Media related to Sailing ships at Wikimedia Commons
Sailing ship
–
ARC Gloria, a three-masted
barque and
Colombian Navy training ship, at sunset in
Cartagena
Sailing ship
–
USS Constitution under sail in
Massachusetts Bay, 21 July 1997. Nicknamed "Old Ironsides," the
frigate became famous in the
War of 1812 when British cannonballs bounced off her oak hull. She is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat, and is open to the public in Charlestown, Massachusetts.
Sailing ship
–
The
Moshulu is a rare four-masted bark (with square sales on all masts except for the jigger-mast, which carries fore-and-aft sails. She is berthed in
Philadelphia and is now open as a restaurant.
Sailing ship
–
INS Tarangini, a three-masted
barque, is a sailing ship in service with the
Indian Navy
5.
Lateen
–
A lateen or latin-rig is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction. Dating back to Roman navigation, the lateen became the sail of the Age of Discovery. It is common in the Mediterranean, the upper Nile River, and the parts of the Indian Ocean. The lateen is used today in a different form on small recreational boats like the Sailfish and Sunfish. The earliest fore-and-aft rig was the spritsail, appearing in the 2nd century BC in the Aegean Sea on small Greek craft, one theory is that the lateen sail originated during the early Roman empire in the Mediterranean Sea. It evolved out of the dominant square rig by setting the sails more fore-and-aft – along the line of the keel – rather than athwartship, while tailoring the luff and leech. The theory of Roman origin for lateen was begun with Lynn White, John M. H. Brindley.25 The original passage cited from Caesarus is, according to Brindley, no more than an allusion, ‘tres naves, quas Latenas vocant, majores, plenas tritico direxerunt’. The assumption is that labelling these three wheat ships ‘latines’ means that they had lateen sails, there is also reason to doubt Sottas’s interpretation of Procopius’ claim – that three ships of Justinian’s fleet in 533 deployed lateen sails. That the triangular sails refer to triangular top sails, which were standard gear on Roman square-rigged ships after 50 ad’, second, White’s claim that the lateen sail was deployed on a European ship in 880 is problematic. We know that the Persians were sailing to India and beyond via the Persian Gulf from the third, and by the mid-seventh century the Muslims were sailing the length of the Indian Ocean. But even if the Romans had invented the lateen sail, it is important to note that after 50 ce there is no evidence of refinement or further development of sails and rigging. Based on this theory, the lateen sail originated in the Near East, most likely in Persia or Arabia and these sailors were likely responsible for introducing the lateen sails and large three-masted merchant vessels to the Mediterranean. According to the Belgian maritime historian Basch, the earliest true lateen rig appears as early as the 1st century BC, in a Hellenistic wall painting found in a Hypogeum in Alexandria. The earliest archaeologically excavated lateen-rigged ship, the Yassi Ada II, dates to ca.400 AD, the Kelenderis ship mosaic and the Kellia ship graffito from the early 7th century complement the picture. By the 6th century, the lateen sail had largely replaced the square throughout the Mediterranean. It became the standard rig of the Byzantine dromon war galley and was also employed by Belisarius flagship in the 532 AD invasion of the Vandal kingdom. This is also indicated by the terminology of the lateen among Mediterranean Arabs and it has been suggested that the lateen sail was brought to the Indian Ocean by the Alexandrian merchants who sailed the Red Sea in Roman and later Byzantine and Arab times. Such theories have been superseded by unequivocal depictions of lateen-rigged Mediterranean sailing vessels which pre-date the Arab invasion, searches for lateen sails in India were inconclusive
Lateen
–
Byzantine ship rigged with lateen (miniature from c. 880)
Lateen
–
Originally found on sailing ships, the lateen sail is used today in a slightly different form on small boats such as the highly popular
Sunfish.
Lateen
–
Dhow with lateen sail in "bad tack" with the sail pressing against the mast, in
Mozambique.
Lateen
–
A large dhow with two lateen sail rigs and a
headsail.
6.
Red Sea
–
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait, to the north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez. The Red Sea is a Global 200 ecoregion, the sea is underlain by the Red Sea Rift which is part of the Great Rift Valley. The Red Sea has an area of roughly 438,000 km2, is about 2250 km long and. It has a depth of 2211 m in the central median trench. However, there are also extensive shallow shelves, noted for their marine life, the sea is the habitat of over 1,000 invertebrate species, and 200 soft and hard corals. It is the worlds northernmost tropical sea, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Red Sea as follows, On the North. The Southern limits of the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, a line joining Husn Murad and Ras Siyyan. Red Sea is a translation of the Greek Erythra Thalassa, Latin Mare Rubrum, Arabic, البحر الأحمر. Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar, Somali Badda Cas and Tigrinya Qeyyiḥ bāḥrī, the name of the sea may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured Trichodesmium erythraeum near the waters surface. A theory favored by modern scholars is that the name red is referring to the direction south. The basis of this theory is that some Asiatic languages used color words to refer to the cardinal directions, herodotus on one occasion uses Red Sea and Southern Sea interchangeably. Historically, it was known to western geographers as Mare Mecca. Some ancient geographers called the Red Sea the Arabian Gulf or Gulf of Arabia. C, in that version, the Yam Suph is translated as Erythra Thalassa. The Red Sea is one of four seas named in English after common color terms — the others being the Black Sea, the White Sea and the Yellow Sea. The direct rendition of the Greek Erythra thalassa in Latin as Mare Erythraeum refers to the part of the Indian Ocean. The earliest known exploration of the Red Sea was conducted by ancient Egyptians, one such expedition took place around 2500 BC, and another around 1500 BC. Both involved long voyages down the Red Sea, historically, scholars argued whether these trips were possible
Red Sea
–
Red Sea
Red Sea
–
Tihama on the Red Sea near Khaukha,
Yemen
Red Sea
–
Annotated view of the Nile and Red Sea, with a dust storm
Red Sea
–
Dust storm over the Red Sea
7.
Arabs
–
Arabs are an ethnic group inhabiting the Arab world. They primarily live in the Arab states in Western Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Arabs are first mentioned in the mid-ninth century BCE as a tribal people dwelling in the central Arabian Peninsula. The Arabs appear to have been under the vassalage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, tradition holds that Arabs descend from Ishmael, the son of Abraham. The Arabian Desert is the birthplace of Arab, there are other Arab groups as well that spread in the land and existed for millennia. Before the expansion of the Caliphate, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic people from the northern to the central Arabian Peninsula and Syrian Desert. Presently, Arab refers to a number of people whose native regions form the Arab world due to spread of Arabs throughout the region during the early Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries. The Arabs forged the Rashidun, Umayyad and the Abbasid caliphates, whose borders reached southern France in the west, China in the east, Anatolia in the north, and this was one of the largest land empires in history. The Great Arab Revolt has had as big an impact on the modern Middle East as the World War I, the war signaled the end of the Ottoman Empire. They are modern states and became significant as distinct political entities after the fall and defeat, following adoption of the Alexandria Protocol in 1944, the Arab League was founded on 22 March 1945. The Charter of the Arab League endorsed the principle of an Arab homeland whilst respecting the sovereignty of its member states. Beyond the boundaries of the League of Arab States, Arabs can also be found in the global diaspora, the ties that bind Arabs are ethnic, linguistic, cultural, historical, identical, nationalist, geographical and political. The Arabs have their own customs, language, architecture, art, literature, music, dance, media, cuisine, dress, society, sports, the total number of Arabs are an estimated 450 million. This makes them the second largest ethnic group after the Han Chinese. Arabs are a group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. In the pre-Islamic era, most Arabs followed polytheistic religions, some tribes had adopted Christianity or Judaism, and a few individuals, the hanifs, apparently observed monotheism. Today, Arabs are mainly adherents of Islam, with sizable Christian minorities, Arab Muslims primarily belong to the Sunni, Shiite, Ibadi, Alawite, Druze and Ismaili denominations. Arab Christians generally follow one of the Eastern Christian Churches, such as the Maronite, Coptic Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, or Chaldean churches. Listed among the booty captured by the army of king Shalmaneser III of Assyria in the Battle of Qarqar are 1000 camels of Gi-in-di-buu the ar-ba-a-a or Gindibu belonging to the Arab
Arabs
Arabs
–
Schoolgirls in
Gaza lining up for class, 2009
Arabs
–
Syrian immigrants in New York City, as depicted in 1895
Arabs
–
Lebanese–Mexican billionaire
Carlos Slim has been ranked by Forbes as the
second richest person in the world.
8.
Indian people
–
Indian people are citizens of India, the second most populous nation containing 17. 50% of the worlds population. Indian refers to nationality, but not ethnicity or language, the Indian nationality consists of many regional ethno-linguistic groups, reflecting the rich and complex history of India. India hosts all major ethnic groups found in the Indian Subcontinent, population estimates vary from a conservative 12 million to 20 million diaspora. The name Bhārata has been used as a name by people of the Indian subcontinent. The designation Bhārata appears in the official Sanskrit name of the country, the name is derived from the ancient Vedic and Puranas, which refer to the land that comprises India as Bhārata varṣam and uses this term to distinguish it from other varṣas or continents. The Bhāratas were a tribe mentioned in the Rigveda, notably participating in the Battle of the Ten Kings. India is named after legendary Emperor Bharata who was a descendant of the Bhāratas tribe, in early Vedic literature, the term Āryāvarta was in popular use before Bhārata. The Manusmṛti gives the name Āryāvarta to the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the Eastern to the Western Sea, while the word Indian and India is derived from Greek Ἰνδία, via Latin India. The name is derived ultimately from Sindhu, the Sanskrit name of the river Indus, the next great ancient Empire of the Indian people was the Gupta Empire. This period, witnessing a Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known as the classical or Golden Age of India, the ancient Indian mathematicians Aryabhata, Bhāskara I and Brahmagupta invented the concept of zero and the Hindu decimal system during this period. During this period Indian cultural influence spread over parts of Southeast Asia which led to the establishment of Indianized kingdoms in Southeast Asia. During the early period the great Rashtrakuta dynasty dominated the major part of the Indian subcontinent. From the 8th to 10th century and the Indian Emperor Amoghavarsha of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty was described by the Arab traveller Sulaiman as one of the four kings of the world. The greatest maritime Empire of the medieval Indians was the Chola dynasty, under the great Indian Emperors Rajaraja Chola I and his successor Rajendra Chola I the Chola dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in South Asia and South-East Asia. The Mughal Empire unified much of Indian sub-continent under one realm, under the Mughals India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial expansion and greater patronage of culture. This marked a huge influence in the Indian society, the Mughal Empire balanced and pacified local societies through new administrative practices and had diverse and inclusive ruling elites, leading to more systematic, centralised, and uniform rule. The Marathas and Sikhs emerged in the 17th century and established the Maratha Empire, the Maratha Empire is credited to a large extent for ending the Mughal rule in India. The empire at its peak stretched from Tamil Nadu in the south, to Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the north and Bengal, India is one of the worlds oldest civilisations
Indian people
–
Priest King
Indus Valley civilization
Indian people
Indian people
–
Buddhist rock-cut architecture 2nd century BC.
Indian people
–
Maratha Empire: Territory under Maratha control in 1760 (yellow), without its vassals.
9.
Eastern Arabia
–
Eastern Arabia was historically known as Bahrain until the 18th century. This region stretched from the south of Basra along the Persian Gulf coast and included the regions of Bahrain, Kuwait, Al-Hasa, Qatif, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Southern Iraq, the entire coastal strip of Eastern Arabia was known as “Bahrain” for ten centuries. Until very recently, the whole of Eastern Arabia, from southern Iraq to the mountains of Oman, was a place where people moved around, the people of Eastern Arabia shared a culture based on the sea, they are seafaring peoples. The Arab states of the Persian Gulf are solely Eastern Arabia, the modern-day states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and UAE are the archetypal Gulf Arab states. Saudi Arabia is often considered a Gulf Arab state although most Saudis do not live in Eastern Arabia, in Arabic, Bahrayn is the dual form of bahr, so al-Bahrayn means the Two Seas. However, which two seas were originally intended remains in dispute, the term appears five times in the Quran, but does not refer to the modern island—originally known to the Arabs as “Awal”—but rather to the oases of al-Katif and Hadjar. It is unclear when the term began to refer exclusively to the Awal islands, in addition to wells, there are places in the sea north of Bahrain where fresh water bubbles up in the middle of the salt water, noted by visitors since antiquity. The term Gulf Arab solely refers, geographically, to inhabitants of eastern Arabia, the term Khaleejis is often misused to identify all the inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. The inhabitants of Eastern Arabias Gulf coast share similar cultures and music such as fijiri, sawt. The most noticeable trait of Eastern Arabias Gulf Arabs is their orientation. Maritime-focused life in the small Gulf Arab states has resulted in a society where livelihoods have traditionally been earned in marine industries. The Arabs of Eastern Arabia speak a dialect known as Gulf Arabic, most Saudis do not speak Gulf Arabic because most Saudis do not live in Eastern Arabia. There are approximately 2 million Gulf Arabic speakers in Saudi Arabia, before the GCC was formed in 1981, the term “Khaleeji” was solely used to refer to the inhabitants of Eastern Arabia. In pre-Islamic times, the population of Eastern Arabia consisted of partially Christianized Arabs, Arab Zoroastrians, Jews, some sedentary dialects of Eastern Arabia exhibit Akkadian, Aramaic and Syriac features. The sedentary people of pre-Islamic Bahrain were Aramaic speakers and to some degree Persian speakers, Dilmun appears first in Sumerian cuneiform clay tablets dated to the end of fourth millennium BC, found in the temple of goddess Inanna, in the city of Uruk. The adjective Dilmun is used to describe a type of axe and one specific official, Dilmun was mentioned in two letters dated to the reign of Burna-Buriash II recovered from Nippur, during the Kassite dynasty of Babylon. These letters were from an official, Ilī-ippašra, in Dilmun to his friend Enlil-kidinni in Mesopotamia. The names referred to are Akkadian and these letters and other documents, hint at an administrative relationship between Dilmun and Babylon at that time
Eastern Arabia
–
Dilmun and its neighbors in the 10th century BC.
Eastern Arabia
–
Eastern Arabia (historical region of Bahrain) on a 1745
Bellin map.
Eastern Arabia
–
Gerrha and its neighbors in 1 AD.
Eastern Arabia
–
Asia in 600 CE, showing the Sassanid Empire before the Arab conquest.
10.
Arab states of the Persian Gulf
–
The Arab states of the Persian Gulf are the seven Arab states which border the Persian Gulf, namely Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This excludes the non-Arab state of Iran, all of these nations except Iraq are part of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Soap operas are important national pastimes in the Persian Gulf Arab region and they are most popular during the time of Ramadan, when families gather to break their fast. Most of these operas are based in Kuwait. Kuwaiti soap operas are the most-watched soap operas in the Persian Gulf region, although usually performed in the Kuwaiti dialect, they have been shown with success as far away as Tunisia. Kuwaiti popular culture, in the form of theatre, radio and television soap opera, darb El Zalag, Khalti Gmasha, and Ruqayya wa Sabika are among the most important television productions in the Gulf region. The inhabitants of Eastern Arabias coast share similar cultures and music such as fijiri, sawt. The most noticeable trait of Eastern Arabias Arabs is their orientation. Maritime-focused life in the small Arab states has resulted in a society where livelihoods have traditionally been earned in marine industries. Before the GCC was formed in 1981, the term Khaleeji was solely used to refer to the inhabitants of Eastern Arabia, historically, Khaleeji meant descendants of Ichthyophagi, the coast-dwelling fish eaters. Geographically, the Arabic-speaking is solely Eastern Arabia, some states are constitutional monarchies with elected parliaments. Bahrain and Kuwait have legislatures with members elected by the population, the Sultanate of Oman also has an advisory council that is popularly elected. Saudi Arabia remains a monarchy with limited political representation. In Qatar, a national parliament has been mooted and is written into the new constitution. Both organizations rank Kuwaits press as the most free of all Arab states of the Persian Gulf and, in fact, Qatar and Oman come in second and third respectively within the regional ranks. All of these Arab states have significant revenues from petroleum, the United Arab Emirates has been successfully diversifying the economy. 79% of UAEs total GDP comes from non-oil sectors, oil accounts for only 2% of Dubais GDP. Bahrain has the Persian Gulfs first post-oil economy because the Bahraini economy does not rely on oil, since the late 20th century, Bahrain has heavily invested in the banking and tourism sectors
Arab states of the Persian Gulf
–
The Persian Gulf's coastline skirts seven Arab countries on its western shores and
Iran to the east. (Oman's
Musandam peninsula meets the gulf at the
Strait of Hormuz.)
11.
Yemen
–
Yemen, officially known as the Republic of Yemen, is an Arab country in Western Asia, occupying South Arabia, the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen is the second-largest country in the peninsula, occupying 527,970 km2, the coastline stretches for about 2,000 km. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, the Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea to the south, although Yemens constitutionally stated capital is the city of Sanaa, the city has been under rebel control since February 2015. Because of this, Yemens capital has been relocated to the port city of Aden. Yemens territory includes more than 200 islands, the largest of these is Socotra, Yemen was the home of the Sabaeans, a trading state that flourished for over a thousand years and probably also included parts of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea. In 275 AD, the region came under the rule of the later Jewish-influenced Himyarite Kingdom, Christianity arrived in the fourth century, whereas Judaism and local paganism were already established. Islam spread quickly in the century and Yemenite troops were crucial in the expansion of the early Islamic conquests. Administration of Yemen has long been notoriously difficult, several dynasties emerged from the ninth to 16th centuries, the Rasulid dynasty being the strongest and most prosperous. The country was divided between the Ottoman and British empires in the twentieth century. The Zaydi Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen was established after World War I in North Yemen before the creation of the Yemen Arab Republic in 1962, South Yemen remained a British protectorate known as the Aden Protectorate until 1967 when it became an independent state and later, a Marxist state. The two Yemeni states united to form the modern republic of Yemen in 1990, Yemen is a developing country, and the poorest country in the Middle East. Under the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen was described as a kleptocracy, according to the 2009 international corruption Perception Index by Transparency International, Yemen ranked 164 out of 182 countries surveyed. President Saleh stepped down and the powers of the presidency were transferred to Vice President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, the transitional process was disrupted by conflicts between the Houthis and al-Islah, as well as the al-Qaeda insurgency. In September 2014, the Houthis took over Sanaa, later declaring themselves in control of the government in a coup détat, since then, a Saudi-led intervention has taken place, however, it could not stop the civil war. Instead, the Saudis and the others have destroyed some hospitals, schools and homes, Yemen was mentioned in Old South Arabian inscriptions as Yamnat. In Arabic literature, the term includes much greater territory than that of the republic of Yemen. It stretches from the northern Asir Region in southwestern Saudi Arabia to Dhofar Governorate in southern Oman, one etymology derives Yemen from yumn, meaning felicity, as much of the country is fertile. The Romans called it Arabia Felix, as opposed to Arabia Deserta, al-Yaman significantly plays on the notion of the land to the right, when in Mecca facing the dawn, complementary to Al-Sham, the Land to the Left, referring to the Levant
Yemen
–
Sabaean gravestone of a woman holding a stylized sheaf of wheat, a symbol of fertility in ancient Yemen
Yemen
–
Flag
Yemen
–
A funerary
stela featuring a musical scene, 1st century AD
Yemen
–
Himyarite King Dhamar Ali Yahbur II
12.
Coast
–
A coastline or a seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean, or a line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the Coastline paradox, the term coastal zone is a region where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs. Both the terms coast and coastal are often used to describe a location or region, for example, New Zealands West Coast. Edinburgh for example is a city on the coast of Scotland, a pelagic coast refers to a coast which fronts the open ocean, as opposed to a more sheltered coast in a gulf or bay. A shore, on the hand, can refer to parts of the land which adjoin any large body of water, including oceans. Similarly, the related term refers to the land alongside or sloping down to a river or to a body of water smaller than a lake. Bank is also used in parts of the world to refer to an artificial ridge of earth intended to retain the water of a river or pond. According to the UN atlas, 44% of people live within 150 kilometres of the sea, tides often determine the range over which sediment is deposited or eroded. Areas with high tidal ranges allow waves to reach farther up the shore, the tidal range is influenced by the size and shape of the coastline. Tides do not typically cause erosion by themselves, however, tidal bores can erode as the waves surge up river estuaries from the ocean. Waves erode coastline as they break on shore releasing their energy, the larger the wave the more energy it releases and the more sediment it moves. Coastlines with longer shores have more room for the waves to disperse their energy, while coasts with cliffs and short shore faces give little room for the wave energy to be dispersed. In these areas the wave energy breaking against the cliffs is higher, sediment deposited by waves comes from eroded cliff faces and is moved along the coastline by the waves. This forms an abrasion or cliffed coast, sediment deposited by rivers is the dominant influence on the amount of sediment located on a coastline. Today riverine deposition at the coast is often blocked by dams and other human regulatory devices, like the ocean which shapes them, coasts are a dynamic environment with constant change. The coast and its adjacent areas on and off shore are an important part of a local ecosystem, Salt marshes and beaches also support a diversity of plants, animals and insects crucial to the food chain. The high level of biodiversity creates a level of biological activity. More and more of the people live in coastal regions
Coast
–
Rugged coastline of the
West Coast Region of
New Zealand
Coast
–
Atlantic rocky coastline, showing a surf area. Porto Covo, west coast of Portugal
Coast
–
Somalia has the longest coastline in Africa
Coast
–
A settled coastline in
Marblehead, Massachusetts. Once a fishing port, the harbor is now dedicated to tourism and pleasure boating. Observe that the sand and rocks have been darkened by oil slick up to the high-water line.
13.
South Asia
–
Topographically, it is dominated by the Indian Plate, which rises above sea level as Nepal and northern parts of India situated south of the Himalayas and the Hindu Kush. South Asia is bounded on the south by the Indian Ocean and on land by West Asia, Central Asia, East Asia, the current territories of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka form the countries of South Asia. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an economic cooperation organisation in the region which was established in 1985, South Asia covers about 5.1 million km², which is 11. 51% of the Asian continent or 3. 4% of the worlds land surface area. The population of South Asia is about 1.749 billion or about one fourth of the worlds population, overall, it accounts for about 39. 49% of Asias population and is home to a vast array of peoples. The area of South Asia and its extent is not clear cut as systemic. Aside from the region of South Asia, formerly part of the British Empire, there is a high degree of variation as to which other countries are included in South Asia. Modern definitions of South Asia are consistent in including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar is included by some scholars in South Asia, but in Southeast Asia by others. Some do not include Afghanistan, others question whether Afghanistan should be considered a part of South Asia or the Middle East, the mountain countries of Nepal and Bhutan, and the island countries of Sri Lanka and Maldives are generally included as well. Myanmar is often added, and by various deviating definitions based on often substantially different reasons, the British Indian Ocean Territory, the common concept of South Asia is largely inherited from the administrative boundaries of the British Raj, with several exceptions. The Aden Colony, British Somaliland and Singapore, though administered at various times under the Raj, have not been proposed as any part of South Asia. Additionally Burma was administered as part of the Raj until 1937, the 562 princely states that were protected by but not directly ruled by the Raj became administrative parts of South Asia upon joining Union of India or Dominion of Pakistan. China and Myanmar have also applied for the status of members of SAARC. This bloc of countries include two independent countries that were not part of the British Raj – Nepal, and Bhutan, Afghanistan was a British protectorate from 1878 until 1919, after the Afghans lost to the British in the Second Anglo-Afghan war. The United Nations Statistics Divisions scheme of sub-regions include all eight members of the SAARC as part of Southern Asia, population Information Network includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as part of South Asia. Maldives, in view of its characteristics, was admitted as a member Pacific POPIN subregional network only in principle, the Hirschman–Herfindahl index of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the region includes only the original seven signatories of SAARC. The British Indian Ocean Territory is connected to the region by a publication of Janes for security considerations, the inclusion of Myanmar in South Asia is without consensus, with many considering it a part of southeast Asia and others including it within South Asia. Afghanistan was of importance to the British colonial empire, especially after the Second Anglo-Afghan War over 1878–1880, Afghanistan remained a British protectorate until 1919, when a treaty with Vladimir Lenin included the granting of independence to Afghanistan. Following Indias partition, Afghanistan has generally included in South Asia
South Asia
–
While South Asia had never been a coherent
geopolitical region, it has a distinct geographical identity
South Asia
–
South Asia
South Asia
–
Ethno-linguistic families of South Asia.
14.
Bangladesh
–
Bangladesh, officially the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It shares land borders with India and Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan and China are located near Bangladesh but do not share a border with it. The countrys maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal is roughly equal to the size of its land area, Bangladesh is the worlds eighth most populous country. Dhaka is its capital and largest city, followed by Chittagong which has the countrys largest port, Bangladesh forms the largest and eastern part of the Bengal region. Bangladeshis include people of different ethnic groups and religions, Bengalis, who speak the official Bengali, make up 98% of the population. The politically dominant Bengali Muslims make the nation the worlds third largest Muslim-majority country, most of Bangladesh is covered by the Bengal delta, the largest delta on Earth. The country has 700 rivers and 8,046 km of inland waterways, highlands with evergreen forests are found in the northeastern and southeastern regions of the country. Bangladesh has many islands and a coral reef and it is home to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. The countrys biodiversity includes a vast array of plant and wildlife, including critically endangered Bengal tigers, the Greeks and Romans identified the region as Gangaridai, a powerful kingdom of the historical subcontinent, in the 3rd century BCE. Archaeological research has unearthed several ancient cities in Bangladesh, which had trade links for millennia. The Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Bengal transformed the region into a cosmopolitan Islamic imperial power between the 14th and 18th centuries, the region was home to many principalities which had inland naval prowess. It was also a center of the worldwide muslin and silk trade. As part of British India, the region was influenced by the Bengali renaissance, the Partition of British India made East Bengal a part of the Dominion of Pakistan, and was renamed as East Pakistan. The region witnessed the Bengali Language Movement in 1952 and the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, after independence, a parliamentary republic was established. A presidential government was in place between 1975 and 1990, followed by a return to parliamentary democracy, the country has also been affected by poverty, natural disasters, hunger, dominant party systems and military coups. Bangladesh is a power and a major developing nation. Listed as one of the Next Eleven, it has the 46th largest economy and it is one of the largest textile exporters in the world. Its major trading partners are the European Union, the United States, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, with its strategically vital location between Southern, Eastern and Southeast Asia, Bangladesh is an important promoter of regional connectivity and cooperation
Bangladesh
–
Mahasthangarh is the oldest archaeological site in Bangladesh. It dates back to 700 BCE and was the ancient capital of the
Pundra Kingdom
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
–
Asia in 323 BC, the
Gangaridai Empire in relation to the
Nanda Empire,
Alexander 's Empire and neighbours
Bangladesh
–
The
Somapura Mahavihara, once the largest
Buddhist vihara in South Asia, built by Emperor
Dharmapala of Bengal
15.
Sambuk
–
Sambuk, known in New Persian as Sunbūk and in Arabic as Sambūk, Sambūq and Ṣumbūq, is a type of dhow, a traditional wooden sailing vessel. It has a characteristic design, with a sharp curve right below the top of the prow. The exact origins of the dhow are lost to history, most scholars believe that it originated in India from 600 BC to 600 AD. Some scholars claim that the sambuk, a type of dhow and it is the largest type of dhow seen in the Persian Gulf today. Usually a sambuk had one or two masts with lateen sails, but nowadays most are motorized and it has been one of the most successful dhows in history. Dhow Clifford W. Hawkins, The dhow, an history of the dhow. Cargo vessel, Sambuk dhow – National Maritime Museum
Sambuk
–
A Sambuk in
Aden in 1936.
Sambuk
–
v
16.
Caravel
–
A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave it speed and the capacity for sailing windward, Caravels were used by the Portuguese for the oceanic exploration voyages during the 15th and 16th centuries in the Age of Discovery. Prince Henry, Christopher Columbus, and Bartolomeu Dias all used caravels, until the 15th century, Europeans were limited to coastal navigation using the barge or the balinger, ancient cargo vessels of the Mediterranean Sea with a capacity of around 50 to 200 tons. Its name may derive from an ancient boat type known as carabus in Latin and καραβος in Greek, later adopted into Arabic as qārib, indicating some continuity of its carvel build through the ages. They were agile and easier to navigate than the barca and barinel, with a tonnage of 50 to 160 tons and 1 to 3 masts, being smaller and having a shallow keel, the caravel could sail upriver in shallow coastal waters. With the lateen sails attached, it was maneuverable and could sail much nearer the wind, while with the square Atlantic-type sails attached. Its economy, speed, agility, and power made it esteemed as the best sailing vessel of its time, the limited capacity for cargo and crew were their main drawbacks, but did not hinder its success. The exploration done with caravels made the trade of the Portuguese. However, for the itself, the caravel was later replaced by the larger carrack. The caravel was one of the ships in Iberian ship development from 1400–1600. Due to its weight and thus greater speed, the caravel was a boon to sailors. Early caravels generally carried two or three masts with lateen sails, while later types had four masts, in this form it was sometimes known as caravela redonda. It had a foremast with square sails and three masts with a lateen each, for a total of 4 masts. The hull was galleon-shaped, and it is considered a forerunner of the fighting galleon, the Portuguese man o war was named after the appearance of the man-of-war, which were in use until the 17th century. Iberian ship development, 1400–1600 Notorious - a replica caravel in Australia The History and Development of Caravels - A Thesis - George Robert Schwarz, B. A. University of Cincinnati, Chair of Advisory Committee, Dr. Luis Filipe Vieira de Castro, May 2008 Museu da Marinha Museu da Marinha, fac-similes, caravela Durchbruch am Kap des Schreckens dir
Caravel
–
Portuguese caravel. This was the standard model used by the Portuguese in their voyages of exploration. The lateen rigged caravel was able to sail close to the wind, closer than square rigged vessels. It could accommodate about 20 sailors.
Caravel
–
A lateen-rigged caravel, Caravela Latina
Caravel
–
A replica of the caravel Boa Esperança in the city of
Lagos, Portugal
Caravel
–
A typical round caravel or caravela de armada (of 1500-1505), with origin in the Portuguese model of caravela redonda or
square-rigged caravel (Livro das Armadas). There were also some other European and Mediterranean types of ships, also called round caravels, during the turn of the century and in the 16th century
17.
Omanis
–
Omanis are the nationals of Oman. Omanis have inhabited the territory that is now Oman for thousands of years, in the eighteenth century, an alliance of traders and rulers transformed Muscat into the leading port of the Persian Gulf. Omani people are ethnically diverse, the Omani citizen population consists of different ethnic groups. The majority of the consists of Arabs, with many of these Arabs being Swahili language speakers and returnees from the Swahili Coast. Additionally, there are ethnic Balochis, Lurs, Lawatis, Persians, Omani citizens make up the majority of Omans total population. Over one and a million other Omanis live in other areas of the Middle East. Most Omanis live in farming villages that are located in either the fertile valleys of Omans mountainous interior, or along the eastern coast, interior farmers grow dates, fruits, and grains, while coastal villagers either fish in the Gulf of Oman or work on date palm plantations. Village homes are made of concrete blocks, mud brick, or wood. In rural areas, men wear white robes, turbans, the Omanis live in modern family units. Their society is patriarchal, or male-dominated, most Omanis live in villages, cities and towns. Their lifestyle has a variety of occupations, stronger family ties. They are more concerned with hospitality than with property, wealth, most live in older whitewashed houses and are employed as officials, laborers, merchants, and sailors. An increasing number of them are working in the petroleum industry. In 1970, Omans new sultan introduced several developmental programs to modernize the country. These included developing the oil industry, building new roads, hospitals and schools, Omani presence in the Swahili Coast can be traced since the Nabhani dynasty. In the late century, Zanzibar became part of the overseas holdings of Oman after Saif bin Sultan. Large numbers of Omanis settled in the Swahili Coast — especially after 1832, to the Omanis, the region became a land of economic opportunity. Omanis who migrated to the Swahili Coast looked forward to a better life, the Omani community in the Swahili Coast grew and became financially successful
Omanis
–
Ahmad bin Na'aman
Omanis
–
Omani people in
Nizwa
18.
Beypore
–
Beypore or Beypur is an ancient port town and a Municipality town in Kozhikode district in the state of Kerala, India. The place was known as Vaypura / Vadaparappanad. Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore, named the town Sultan Pattanam, there is a marina and a beach while Beypore port is one of the oldest ports in Kerala, which historically traded with the Middle East. Beypore is noted for building ships, known as dhows or urus in the Malayalam language. These ships were bought by Arab merchants for trading and fishing but are now used as tourist ships. According to Captain Iwata, founder member of the Association of Sumerian ships in Japan, Sumerian ships might have built in Beypore. There is evidence to prove that Beypore had direct links with Mesopotamia and was a prominent link on the maritime silk route. Beypore was ruled by four Kovilakams - Karippa Puthiyakovilakam, Manayat Kovilakam, Nediyaal Kovilakam, so we have North and South Parappanad factions to start with, branching off the Parappur lordship. It is believed that the Beypore Siva Temple protects the whole kingdom. Beypore was thronged first by Romans and afterwards by Chinese, Syrians, Arabs and in recent centuries by Europeans for trade. Beypore has long history of being a centre for shipbuilding since the first century AD, the Indian Ocean trade started from ancient times and strengthened during the medieval times. While in the old days Malabar directly traded with the Greeks and Romans and this exchange of goods resulted also in transfer of people from their abodes. Beypore was virtually free port with only an export import duty imposed by the ruling Zamorins, the intermediaries between the Arabs and the Nairs were the Moplah’s. Also the south east Malay ports sent ships to Malabar for the cloth from Kerala and it was also a stop over for Hajj pilgrims from south east Asia. Beypore is 180 km North of Cochin and 391 km away from Trivandrum, Beypore port is the second biggest port in Kerala after Cochin and currently handles about 100,000 tones of cargo and 7500 passengers per annum. The nearest ports are Kochi and Mangalore, now the port has a depth of about 5 meters alongside wharf and approach channel and it is proposed to be developed in stages and utilities like storage shed, cranes and tugs are already installed. Beypore port is one of the oldest ports in Kerala from where trading was done to the Middle East, the Uru_, or Fat Boat, is a generic name for large Dhow-type wooden ships made by vishwabrahmins in Beypore. This type of boat has been used by the Arabs since ancient times as trading vessels and these boats used to be built of several types of wood, the main one being teak. The teak was taken from Nilambur forests in earlier times, Beypore is located at 11. 18°N75. 82°E /11.18,75.82
Beypore
–
StonePier Beypore
Beypore
–
Beypore Fishing in Morning
19.
Kerala
–
Kerala historically known as Keralam, is an Indian state in South India on the Malabar Coast. It was formed on 1 November 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act by combining Malayalam-speaking regions, spread over 38,863 km2, it is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The region has been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE, the Chera Dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala, though it frequently struggled against attacks by the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, after independence, Travancore and Cochin joined the Republic of India and Travancore-Cochin was given the status of a state in 1949. In 1956, Kerala state was formed by merging Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin, Hinduism is practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. The culture is a synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, developed over millennia, under influences from other parts of India, the production of pepper and natural rubber contributes significantly to the total national output. In the agricultural sector, coconut, tea, coffee, cashew, the states coastline extends for 595 kilometres, and around 1.1 million people in the state are dependent on the fishery industry which contributes 3% to the states income. The state has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English, Kerala is one of the prominent tourist destinations of India, with backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions. The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology, One popular theory derives Kerala from Kera and alam is land, thus land of coconuts, this also happens to be a nickname for the state due to abundance of coconut trees and its use by the locals. The word Kerala is first recorded in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription left by the Maurya emperor Ashoka, the inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra, or son of Chera. This contradicts the theory that Kera is from coconut tree, at that time, one of three states in the region was called Cheralam in Classical Tamil, Chera and Kera are variants of the same word. The word Cheral refers to the oldest known dynasty of Kerala kings and is derived from the Proto-Tamil-Malayalam word for lake, the earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala is the Aitareya Aranyaka of the Rigveda. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two Hindu epics, the Skanda Purana mentions the ecclesiastical office of the Thachudaya Kaimal who is referred to as Manikkam Keralar, synonymous with the deity of the Koodalmanikyam temple. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil cherive-alam or chera alam, the Greco-Roman trade map Periplus Maris Erythraei refers to Keralaputra as Celobotra. According to Hindu mythology, the lands of Kerala were recovered from the sea by the warrior sage Parasurama. Parasurama threw his axe across the sea, and the water receded as far as it reached, according to legend, this new area of land extended from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. The land which rose from sea was filled with salt and unsuitable for habitation, so Parasurama invoked the Snake King Vasuki, out of respect, Vasuki and all snakes were appointed as protectors and guardians of the land
Kerala
–
A houseboat near
Alappuzha, Kerala
Kerala
–
Parasurama, surrounded by settlers, commanding
Varuna (the
Hindu God of water) to part the seas and reveal Kerala.
Kerala
–
A
dolmen erected by Neolithic people in
Marayur
Kerala
–
Silk Road map. The spice trade was mainly along the water routes (blue).
20.
Coir
–
Coir, or coconut fibre, is a natural fibre extracted from the husk of coconut and used in products such as floor mats, doormats, brushes and mattresses. Coir is the material found between the hard, internal shell and the outer coat of a coconut. Other uses of brown coir are in upholstery padding, sacking, white coir, harvested from unripe coconuts, is used for making finer brushes, string, rope and fishing nets. The English word coir comes from the Malayalam and Tamil word kayar, ropes and cordage have been made from coconut fibre since ancient times. Indian navigators who sailed the seas to Malaya, Java, China, arab writers of the 11th century AD referred to the extensive use of coir for ship ropes and rigging. A coir industry in the UK was recorded before the half of the 19th century. Coir fibres are found between the hard, internal shell and the coat of a coconut. The individual fibre cells are narrow and hollow, with walls made of cellulose. They are pale when immature, but later become hardened and yellowed as a layer of lignin is deposited on their walls, each cell is about 1 mm long and 10 to 20 µm in diameter. Fibres are typically 10 to 30 centimetres long, the two varieties of coir are brown and white. Brown coir harvested from fully ripened coconuts is thick, strong and has high abrasion resistance and it is typically used in mats, brushes and sacking. Mature brown coir fibres contain more lignin and less cellulose than fibres such as flax and cotton, so are stronger, white coir fibres harvested from coconuts before they are ripe are white or light brown in color and are smoother and finer, but also weaker. They are generally spun to make yarn used in mats or rope, the coir fibre is relatively waterproof, and is one of the few natural fibres resistant to damage by saltwater. Fresh water is used to process brown coir, while seawater and it must not be confused with coir pith, or formerly cocopeat, which is the powdery material resulting from the processing of the coir fibre. Coir fibre is locally named coprah in some countries, adding to the confusion, green coconuts, harvested after about six to 12 months on the palm, contain pliable white fibres. Brown fibre is obtained by harvesting fully mature coconuts when the nutritious layer surrounding the seed is ready to be processed into copra, the fibrous layer of the fruit is then separated from the hard shell by driving the fruit down onto a spike to split it. A well-seasoned husker can manually separate 2,000 coconuts per day, machines are now available which crush the whole fruit to give the loose fibres. These machines can process up to 2,000 coconuts per hour, the fibrous husks are soaked in pits or in nets in a slow-moving body of water to swell and soften the fibres
Coir
–
Segregation of coir fibre
Coir
–
Making coir
rope in
Kerala,
India
21.
Malayalam
–
Malayalam /mʌləˈjɑːləm/ is a language spoken in India, predominantly in the state of Kerala. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and was designated as a Classical Language in India in 2013 and it was developed to the current form mainly by the influence of the poet Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan in the 16th century. Malayalam has official status in the state of Kerala and in the union territories of Lakshadweep. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages and is spoken by some 38 million people, according to one theory, Malayalam originated from Middle Tamil in the 7th century. However, the current understanding proposes the separation of Malayalam from Proto-Dravidian in the pre-historic era, Malayalam incorporated many elements from Sanskrit through the ages. Before Malayalam came into being, Old Tamil was used in literature and courts of a region called Tamilakam, including present day Kerala state, silappatikaramit was written by Chera prince Ilango Adigal from Chunkaparra, and is considered a classic in Sangam literature. Modern Malayalam still preserves many words from the ancient Tamil vocabulary of Sangam literature, the earliest script used to write Malayalam was the Vatteluttu alphabet, and later the Kolezhuttu, which derived from it. As Malayalam began to borrow words as well as the rules of grammar from Sanskrit. This developed into the modern Malayalam script, many medieval liturgical texts were written in an admixture of Sanskrit and early Malayalam, called Manipravalam. The oldest literary work in Malayalam, distinct from the Tamil tradition, is dated from between the 9th and 11th centuries, the first travelogue in any Indian language is the Malayalam Varthamanappusthakam, written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785. Due to its lineage deriving from both Tamil and Sanskrit, the Malayalam script has the largest number of letters among the Indian language orthographies, the Malayalam script includes letters capable of representing almost all the sounds of all Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages. Malayalam serves as a language on the islands including the Mahl-dominated Minicoy Island. The word Malayalam originated from the Sanskrit resp, Malayalam words malai or mala, meaning hill, and elam, meaning region. Malayalam thus translates as hill region and used to refer to the land of the Chera dynasty, the language Malayalam is alternatively called Alealum, Malayalani, Malayali, Malean, Maliyad, and Mallealle. The word Malayalam originally meant only for the name of the region, Malayanma or Malayayma represented the language. With the emergence of modern Malayalam language, the name of the language started to be known by the name of the region, hence now, the word Malayanma is considered by some to represent the olden Malayalam language. The language got the name Malayalam during the mid 19th century, the origin of Malayalam, an independent offshoot of the proto-Dravidian language, has been and continues to be an engaging pursuit among comparative historical linguists. Together with Tamil, Toda, Kannada and Tulu, Malayalam belongs to the group of Dravidian languages
Malayalam
–
Cover page of Nasranikal okkekkum ariyendunna samkshepavedartham which is the first book to be printed in Malayalam in 1772.
Malayalam
–
Malayalam-speaking area
Malayalam
–
Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan
Malayalam
–
Shakuntala writes to Dushyanta. Painting by
Raja Ravi Varma. The poetry was translated by
Kerala Varma as
Abhijnanasakuntalam
22.
Acacia
–
Acacia, commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs, lianas and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australia, controversy erupted in the early 2000s when it became evident that the genus as it stood was not monophyletic, and that several divergent lineages needed to be placed in separate genera. It turned out that one lineage comprising over 900 species mainly native to Australia was not closely related to the mainly African lineage that contained A. nilotica—the first and this meant that the Australian lineage would need to be renamed. Botanist Les Pedley named this group Racosperma, which was inconsistently adopted and this was officially adopted, but many botanists from Africa and elsewhere disagreed that this was necessary. A number of species have been introduced to parts of the world. The heterogeneous group varies considerably in habit, from mat-like subshrubs to canopy trees in forest, the genus was first described from Africa by C. F. P. von Martius in 1829. Several hundred combinations in Acacia were published by Pedley in 2003, the genus of 981 species, Acacia s. l. in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae is monophyletic. All but 10 of its species are native to Australia, where it constitutes the largest plant genus, following a controversial decision to choose a new type for Acacia in 2005, the Australian component of Acacia s. l. now retains the name Acacia. At the 2011 International Botanical Congress held in Melbourne, the decision to use the name Acacia, other Acacia s. l. taxa continue to be called Acacia by those who choose to consider the entire group as one genus. Australian species of the genus Paraserianthes s. l. are deemed its closest relatives, the origin of wattle may be an Old Teutonic word meaning to weave. From around 700 A. D. watul was used in Old English to refer to the branches and sticks which formed fences, walls. Since about 1810 it refers to the Australian legumes that provide these branches, acacias in Australia probably evolved their fire resistance about 20 million years ago when fossilised charcoal deposits show a large increase, indicating that fire was a factor even then. With no major mountain ranges or rivers to prevent their spread and they began to form dry, open forests with species of the genera Casuarina, Eucalyptus and Callitris. The southernmost species in the genus are Acacia dealbata, Acacia longifolia, Acacia mearnsii and they are present in all terrestrial habitats, including alpine settings, rainforests, woodlands, grasslands, coastal dunes and deserts. In drier woodlands or forest they are an important component of the understory, elsewhere they may be dominant, as in the Brigalow Belt, Myall woodlands and the eremaean Mulga woodlands. Several of its species bear vertically oriented phyllodes, which are green, broadened leaf petioles that function like leaf blades, some phyllodinous species have a colourful aril on the seed. A few species have rather than leaves. Aborigines of Australia have traditionally harvested the seeds of species, to be ground into flour
Acacia
–
Acacia
Acacia
23.
Alan Villiers
–
Alan John Villiers was an author, adventurer, photographer and mariner. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Villiers first went to sea at age 15 and sailed on board traditionally rigged vessels and he commanded square-rigged ships for films, including Moby Dick and Billy Budd. He also commanded the Mayflower II on its voyage from the United Kingdom to the United States, Villiers wrote 44 books, and served as the Chairman of the Society for Nautical Research, a Trustee of the National Maritime Museum, and Governor of the Cutty Sark Preservation Society. He was awarded the British Distinguished Service Cross as a Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve during the Second World War, Alan John Villiers was the second son of Australian poet and union leader Leon Joseph Villiers. The young Villiers grew up on the docks watching the merchant ships come in and out of the Port of Melbourne, leaving home at the age of 15, he joined the barque Rothesay Bay as an apprentice. The Rothesay Bay operated in the Tasman Sea, trading between Australia and New Zealand and he learned quickly and gained the respect of his shipmates. An accident on board the barque Lawhill beached Villiers in 1922 and he sought employment as a journalist at the Hobart Mercury newspaper in Tasmania while he recovered from his wounds. His accounts of the trip would eventually be published as Whaling in the Frozen South, named for the Antarctica explorer James Clark Ross, the Ross was the largest whale factory ship in the world, weighing in at 12,000 tons. She was headed for the southern Ross Sea, the last whale stronghold left, Villiers writes, We had caught 228, most of them blues, the biggest over 100 feet long. These yielded 17,000 barrels of oil, we had hoped for at least 40,000, Villiers passage on board the Herzogin Cecilie in 1927 would result in his publication of Falmouth for Orders. Through it he met Captain Ruben de Cloux, who became his partner in the barque Parma. He wrote By Way of Cape Horn after his experiences on board the Grace Harwar in 1929. The full-rigged ship Grace Harwar was beautiful as the wind in her rigging called imperiously as she lay at the pier at Wallaroo, as Villiers stood on the dock, a wharf laborer warned Dont ship out in her. The warning would prove true, as Villiers friend Ronald Walker was lost by the time Grace Harwar made Ireland, more than 40 years old at the time, the ship had barnacles and algae growing along her waterline. Dirty bottoms make slow ships, and slow ships make hard passages, Villiers had a desire to document the great sailing ships before it was too late, and Grace was one of the last working full-riggers. With a small crew and no need for coal, such vessels undercut steam ships. The ill-fated voyage took 138 days, the Grace the last of the fleet for the year, the voyage was filmed in both movie and still form, serving as a record of significant images of that period. Villiers reunited with Ruben de Cloux in 1931, becoming a partner with him in the four-masted barque Parma, with de Cloux as captain, Parma won the unofficial grain race between the ships of the trade in 1932, arriving in 103 days despite broaching in a gale
Alan Villiers
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Alan Villiers aboard the Grace Harwar in 1929
Alan Villiers
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A LCI(L) during the Invasion of Sicily - 1943
24.
Persian Gulf
–
The Persian Gulf is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean through the Strait of Hormuz, the Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. The Persian Gulf was a battlefield of the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War and it is the namesake of the 1991 Gulf War, the largely air- and land-based conflict that followed Iraqs invasion of Kuwait. The gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive coral reefs, and abundant pearl oysters, the body of water is historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf. Some Arab governments refer to it as the Arabian Gulf or The Gulf, the name Gulf of Iran is used by the International Hydrographic Organization. The Persian Gulf is geologically young, having been formed around 15,000 years ago. Its length is 989 kilometres, with Iran covering most of the northern coast, the Persian Gulf is about 56 km wide at its narrowest, in the Strait of Hormuz. The waters are very shallow, with a maximum depth of 90 metres. Various small islands lie within the Persian Gulf, some of which are the subject of territorial disputes between the states of the region. The International Hydrographic Organization defines the Persian Gulfs southern limit as The Northwestern limit of Gulf of Oman and this limit is defined as A line joining Ràs Limah on the coast of Arabia and Ràs al Kuh on the coast of Iran. The Persian Gulf and its areas are the worlds largest single source of crude oil. Safaniya Oil Field, the worlds largest offshore oilfield, is located in the Persian Gulf, large gas finds have also been made, with Qatar and Iran sharing a giant field across the territorial median line. Using this gas, Qatar has built up a substantial liquefied natural gas, the oil-rich countries that have a coastline on the Persian Gulf are referred to as the Persian Gulf States. In 550 BC, the Achaemenid Empire established the first ancient empire in Persis, consequently, in the Greek sources, the body of water that bordered this province came to be known as the Persian Gulf. In the travel account of Pythagoras, several chapters are related to description of his travels accompanied by the Achaemenid king Darius the Great, to Susa and Persepolis, and the area is described. This water channel separates the Iran Plateau from the Arabia Plate, has enjoyed an Iranian Identity since at least 2200 years ago. Before being given its present name, the Persian Gulf was called many different names, the classical Greek writers, like Herodotus, called it the Red Sea. In Babylonian texts, it was known as the sea above Akkad, the name of the gulf, historically and internationally known as the Persian Gulf after the land of Persia, has been disputed by some Arab countries since the 1960s
Persian Gulf
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Persian Gulf from space
Persian Gulf
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A historical map of the Persian Gulf in
a Dubai museum with the word Persian removed
Persian Gulf
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Picture depicting extent of early civilizations around the Persian Gulf, including Lackhmids, and Sassanids.
Persian Gulf
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Picture depicting the Achaemenid Persian empire in relation to the Persian Gulf.
25.
Marine propulsion
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Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a ship or boat across water. Marine engineering is the discipline concerned with the design process of marine propulsion systems. Nuclear reactors producing steam are used to propel warships and icebreakers, nuclear reactors to power commercial vessels has not been adopted by the marine industry. Electric motors using electric battery storage have been used for propulsion on submarines, development in liquefied natural gas fueled engines are gaining recognition for their low emissions and cost advantages. Stirling engines, which are efficient, quieter, smoother running producing less harmful emissions than diesel engines. The Stirling engine has yet to be upscaled for larger surface ships, until the application of the coal-fired steam engine to ships in the early 19th century, oars or the wind were used to assist watercraft propulsion. Merchant ships predominantly used sail, but during periods when naval warfare depended on ships closing to ram or to fight hand-to-hand, galley were preferred for their manoeuvrability, the Greek navies that fought in the Peloponnesian War used triremes, as did the Romans at the Battle of Actium. In modern times, human propulsion is found mainly on boats or as auxiliary propulsion on sailboats. Human propulsion includes the push pole, rowing, and pedals, propulsion by sail generally consists of a sail hoisted on an erect mast, supported by stays, and controlled by lines made of rope. The development of piston-engined steamships was a complex process, early steamships were fueled by wood, later ones by coal or fuel oil. Early ships used stern or side paddle wheels, while ones used screw propellers. The first commercial success accrued to Robert Fultons North River Steamboat in US in 1807, steam propulsion progressed considerably over the rest of the 19th century. Notable developments include the surface condenser, which eliminated the use of sea water in the ships boilers. This, along with improvements in technology, permitted higher steam pressures. As the means of transmitting the power, paddle wheels gave way to more efficient screw propellers. Steam turbines were fueled by coal or, later, fuel oil or nuclear power, the marine steam turbine developed by Sir Charles Algernon Parsons raised the power-to-weight ratio. He achieved publicity by demonstrating it unofficially in the 100-foot Turbinia at the Spithead Naval Review in 1897. This facilitated a generation of high-speed liners in the first half of the 20th century, and rendered the reciprocating steam engine obsolete, first in warships, and later in merchant vessels
Marine propulsion
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A view of a ship's engine room
Marine propulsion
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A wind propelled fishing boat in
Mozambique
Marine propulsion
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SS Ukkopekka uses a triple expansion
steam engine
Marine propulsion
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The
NS Savannah was the first
nuclear-powered cargo-passenger ship
26.
Date Palm
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Phoenix dactylifera, commonly known as date or date palm, is a flowering plant species in the palm family, Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet fruit. Although its place of origin is unknown because of long cultivation, the species is widely cultivated and is naturalized in many tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Date trees typically reach about 21–23 metres in height, growing singly or forming a clump with stems from a single root system. The leaves are 4–6 metres long, with spines on the petiole, the leaflets are 30 cm long and 2 cm wide. The full span of the ranges from 6–10 m. The species name dactylifera date-bearing comes from the Greek words daktylos, which date, and fero. Dates have been a food of the Middle East and the Indus Valley for thousands of years. There is archaeological evidence of cultivation in eastern Arabia between 5530 and 5320 calBC. They are believed to have originated around what is now Iraq, the Ancient Egyptians used the fruits to make date wine, and ate them at harvest. There is also evidence of date cultivation in Mehrgarh around 7000 BCE. Evidence of cultivation is found throughout later civilizations in the Indus Valley. In later times, traders spread dates around South West Asia, northern Africa, dates were introduced into Mexico and California by the Spaniards in 1765, around Mission San Ignacio. A date palm cultivar, known as Judean date palm is renowned for its long-lived orthodox seed and this particular seed is presently reputed to be the oldest viable seed, but the upper survival time limit of properly stored seeds remains unknown. Fossil records show that the palm has existed for at least 50 million years. The fruit is known as a date, the fruits English name, as well as the Latin species name dactylifera, both come from the Greek word for finger, dáktulos, because of the fruits elongated shape. Dates are oval-cylindrical, 3–7 cm long, and 2–3 cm diameter, dates contain a single stone about 2–2.5 cm long and 6–8 mm thick. Three main cultivar groups of date exist, soft, semi-dry, the type of fruit depends on the glucose, fructose, and sucrose content. The date palm is dioecious, having male and female plants
Date Palm
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Date palm
Date Palm
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Dates
Date Palm
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Young date palm
Date Palm
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Fresh dates, clockwise from top right: crunchy, crunchy opened, soft out of skin, soft.
27.
Mangrove
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A mangrove is a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are salt tolerant trees, also called halophytes, and are adapted to life in coastal conditions. They contain a complex filtration system and complex root system to cope with salt water immersion. They are adapted to the low oxygen conditions of waterlogged mud, the saline conditions tolerated by various mangrove species range from brackish water, through pure seawater, to water concentrated by evaporation to over twice the salinity of ocean seawater. The term mangrove comes to English from Spanish, and is likely to originate from Guarani and it was earlier mangrow, but this word was corrupted via folk etymology influence of the word grove. Mangrove swamps are found in tropical and subtropical tidal areas, areas where mangal occurs include estuaries and marine shorelines. The intertidal existence to which trees are adapted represents the major limitation to the number of species able to thrive in their habitat. High tide brings in water, and when the tide recedes. The return of tide can flush out these soils, bringing back to salinity levels comparable to that of seawater. At low tide, organisms are exposed to increases in temperature and desiccation. About 110 species are considered mangroves, in the sense of being a tree grows in such a saline swamp, though only a few are from the mangrove plant genus. However, a mangrove swamp typically features only a small number of tree species. It is not uncommon for a mangrove forest in the Caribbean to feature three or four tree species. For comparison, the tropical rainforest biome contains thousands of tree species, though the trees themselves are few in species, the ecosystem that these trees create provides a home for a great variety of other organisms. Mangrove plants require a number of adaptations to overcome the problems of anoxia, high salinity. Each species has its own solutions to problems, this may be the primary reason why, on some shorelines. Small environmental variations within a mangal may lead to greatly differing methods for coping with the environment, once established, mangrove roots provide an oyster habitat and slow water flow, thereby enhancing sediment deposition in areas where it is already occurring
Mangrove
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The world's mangrove forests in 2000.
Mangrove
Mangrove
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A red mangrove, Rhizophora mangle.
Mangrove
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Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal.
28.
Monsoon
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Usually, the term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally changing pattern, although technically there is also a dry phase. The term is sometimes used for locally heavy but short-term rains. The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the West African and Asia-Australian monsoons, the inclusion of the North and South American monsoons with incomplete wind reversal has been debated. The south-west monsoon winds are called Nairutya Maarut in India, the English monsoon came from Portuguese monção, ultimately from Arabic mawsim and/or Hindi mausam, perhaps partly via early modern Dutch monsun. Strengthening of the Asian monsoon has been linked to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau after the collision of the Indian sub-continent and Asia around 50 million years ago. Because of studies of records from the Arabian Sea and that of the wind-blown dust in the Loess Plateau of China, testing of this hypothesis awaits deep ocean sampling by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program. The monsoon has varied significantly in strength since this time, largely linked to climate change. A study of marine plankton suggested that the Indian Monsoon strengthened around 5 million years ago, then, during ice periods, the sea level fell and the Indonesian Seaway closed. When this happened, cold waters in the Pacific were impeded from flowing into the Indian Ocean and it is believed that the resulting increase in sea surface temperatures in the Indian Ocean increased the intensity of monsoons. Five episodes during the Quaternary at 2.22 Ma,1.83 Ma,0.68 Ma,0.45 Ma and 0.04 Ma were identified which showed a weakening of Leeuwin Current. The weakening of the LC would have an effect on the sea surface temperature field in the Indian Ocean, thus these five intervals could probably be those of considerable lowering of SST in the Indian Ocean and would have influenced Indian monsoon intensity. The impact of monsoon on the weather is different from place to place. In some places there is just a likelihood of having a more or less rain. In other places, quasi semi-deserts are turned into green grasslands where all sorts of plants. The Indian Monsoon turns large parts of India from a kind of semi-desert into green lands, see photos only taken 3 months apart in the Western Ghats. In places like this it is crucial for farmers to have the right timing for putting the seeds on the fields, Monsoons are large-scale sea breezes which occur when the temperature on land is significantly warmer or cooler than the temperature of the ocean. These temperature imbalances happen because oceans and land absorb heat in different ways, in contrast, dirt, sand, and rocks have lower heat capacities, and they can only transmit heat into the earth by conduction and not by convection. Therefore, bodies of water stay at an even temperature
Monsoon
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Advancing monsoon clouds and showers in Aralvaimozhy, near
Nagercoil,
India
Monsoon
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Monsoon clouds over
Lucknow,
Uttar Pradesh.
Monsoon
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Western Ghats on May 28 in dry season, 2010
Monsoon
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Western Ghats on August 28 in rainy season, 2010
29.
Kamal (navigation)
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A kamal is a celestial navigation device that determines latitude. The invention of the allowed for the earliest known latitude sailing. It originated with Arab navigators of the late 9th century, and was employed in the Indian Ocean from the 10th century and it was adopted by Indian navigators soon after, and then adopted by Chinese navigators some time before the 16th century. The kamal consists of a rectangular wooden card about 2 by 1 inch, the kamal is used by placing one end of the string in the teeth while the other end is held away from the body roughly parallel to the ground. The angle can then be measured by counting the number of knots from the teeth to the card, the knots were typically tied to measure angles of one finger-width. When held at arms length, the width of a finger measures an angle that remains fairly similar from person to person and this was widely used for rough angle measurements, an angle known as issabah in Arabic, or a chih in Chinese. By modern measure, this is about 1 degree,36 minutes and it is equal to the arcsine of the ratio of the width of the finger to the length of the arm. Due to the width of the card, the kamal was only really useful for measuring Polaris in equatorial latitudes. This fact may explain why it was not common in Europe, for these higher-latitude needs somewhat more complex devices based on the same principle were used, notably the cross-staff and backstaff. The kamal is still a tool recommended for use in sea kayaking, in such an application, it can be used for estimating distances to land. Sextant McGrail, Sean, Boats of the World, Oxford University Press, carreiro, Portugals Golden Years, The Life and Times of Prince Henry The Navigator
Kamal (navigation)
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A simple wooden kamal.
