Baghlah
A large deep-sea dhow with a curved prow and lateen sails.
A baghlah is a large deep-sea dhow, a traditional Arab sailing vessel used for cargo. Its name derives from the Arabic word for mule.
Quick Facts
- Average length
- 100 ft / 30.5 m
- Average weight
- 275 tons
- Typical masts
- Two
- Typical sails
- Two to three lateen sails, sometimes with a jib and topmast sail
- Minimum crew
- 30 sailors
- Maximum crew
- 40 sailors
- Top speed
- 9 knots
Facts from the source article.
Description
The baghlah features a curved prow with a stem-head, and sometimes an ornately carved stern and quarter galleries. It averages 100 ft in length and 275 tons. Typically rigged with two masts carrying two to three lateen sails, it may also add a jib on the bowsprit and a sail on a topmast. Requiring at least 30 sailors, some crews reach 40. The similar ghanjah or kotiya is often hard to distinguish from the baghlah.
History
Baghlahs have served for centuries as merchant ships across the Indian Ocean and seas around the Arabian Peninsula, reaching east to Sindh, India, the Bay of Bengal, and the Spice Islands, and southwest to the East African coast. They were a main vessel type used by Bohra traders. In the early 19th century, some operated in pirate fleets from harbors in Persia or along the Arabian Peninsula. During the 19th century, the Royal Navy worked to suppress the Indian Ocean slave trade; Captain G. L. Sulivan's 1873 book called the bugala 'by far the most numerous class' of dhow. Though capable of 9 knots in favorable conditions, the baghlah is somewhat unwieldy and less popular than the easier-to-maneuver boom.
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