Ghurab

Lore & Background

The ghurab is first mentioned in the Hikayat Raja-Raja Pasai of the 1390s, where it carried a Majapahit princess to marry a Pasai nobleman. Later, the Hikayat Hang Tuah describes two ghurabs used by Majapahit to send gifts to Malacca, noting they were built 'in the style of the Arabs'. By the mid-16th century, Javanese and Malay fleets increasingly adopted ghurabs alongside lancaran and ghali, while the larger jong continued to be used in attacks on Portuguese Malacca.

Descriptions vary: early ghurabs were galley-like with oars and sails, while larger examples carried up to three masts and substantial armament. H. Warington Smyth in 1902 recorded a two-masted trading gurap built of giam wood, 300 ft long, with a 100 ft mainmast and fore-and-aft sails. The Acehnese sultanate reportedly possessed 120 large ghurabs in the 1570s, and the Mataram Sultanate deployed 59 goraps in the 1628 siege of Batavia.

Reader's Guide

The ghurab represents a key transitional vessel in Nusantara maritime history, blending indigenous shipbuilding with Mediterranean galley traditions. Its adoption after Iberian contact marks a shift from the large, deep-draft jong to more agile, cannon-armed warships suited for riverine and archipelagic warfare. The ghurab's dual role as merchant and warship, with swivel guns added for combat, made it versatile in both trade and conflict. Its presence in major historical accounts—from Majapahit diplomacy to Acehnese and Mataram naval campaigns—underscores its importance in regional power dynamics. The term itself is ambiguous, applied to different vessels across the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, and Nusantara, reflecting cultural exchange and adaptation. The ghurab's legacy lies in its embodiment of technological and tactical change, as Southeast Asian polities integrated foreign ship designs to meet local needs.

Did You Know?

• The name 'ghurab' comes from the Arabic word for raven or crow.
• The largest recorded ghurab was 300 ft long, built of giam wood, but its crew size is not recorded in the cited source.
• In the 1570s, the Acehnese sultanate reportedly had 120 large ghurabs.
• The ghurab could be converted into a warship by adding swivel guns called rentaka.