The Truth About Dhows!

A dhow is a wooden sailing vessel used mainly in the Indian Ocean. They originated from Persia in the 6th century and by the 8th century they were strong enough to travel to China from East Africa. They are defined by their large triangular sails, which allows them to go faster than their original square sails.  Sadly, after the engine was invented, dhows changed to use motors rather than sails.  An interesting fact is that they are sewn together with coconut fibres rather than nails.  This is because the sailors believed that there were magnetic rocks athe bottom of the ocean that would pull the iron nails dowwn and sink the boat!
Originally dhows were double ended and could go forward and backwards, but now they are mostly square at one end..  There are many different types of dhows in two main catergories which are coastal and ocean going dhows.  Some of the coastal dhows were the Sambuc and the Jalbur:  the Sambuc was a double ended cargo ship that was capable of carrying 15-60 tons; the Jalbur was square ended ship that could carry 15-20 tons of passengers or cargo.  Some of the ocean goping dhows were the Bum and the Baghala:  the Bum could carry 20-200 tons in the 1800's, but by 1940 it could carry 60-300 tons; the Baghala was a very large dhow that could carry 150-250 tons and later upto 300 tons.
The main cargoe in the 10th to 19th century was exporting ivory from Africa to India and China.  In the 13th century they also exported Zimbabwe gold until the 16th century.  Before that, in the 8th and 9th century they had exported slaves to Iraq for cultivating, and again later in the 19th century they imported slaves to Zanzibar to work on date plantations and dive for pearls.  In the 13th centry until mid 20th century they also exported dried and salted fish.  Dhows have also carried dates to all countries in the Indian ocean.
The dhow era ended in the mid 20th century when safer and faster methods were introduced, for example steam.  Dhows are still used by local fisherman in East Africa and by tourism companies.  I had the awesome experience of sailing on a dhow in the Indian Ocean while snorkeling and looking for dolphins!

I learned most of this information at the House of Wonders Museum in Stone Town, Zanzibar.  There is a cool dhow right in the middle of the museum.