BAGHLA

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aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

BAGHLA

Post by aukepalmhof » Tue Sep 14, 2010 11:55 pm

The BAGHLA a ships type mainly built at Persian (Arabian) Gulf ports, but it was used also to carry cargo to the East coast of Africa, Red Sea, and India.
Around the 1960s occasional seen.
In earlier times armed and often used as pirate vessels.
She distinguished from the dhows by a stern extension surmounted by a bitt with a truncated peg and curved rings; 5 windows on an elaborated carved transom, and by quarter galleries.
The long stem raked forward from a short straight keel that was deeper forward. The truncated stern ended in a slightly raked counter and a high poop.
Carvel-planked; double hull with a composition layer between; sides had tumblehome aft of amidships; considerable rise to the floors.
Some had bottoms sheathed with copper others sheathed with thin planking. Coated above the waterline with fish oil, whitened below with a mixture of sheep’s tail fat, lime, and paraffin.
Massive ruder came inboard through rudder trunk; tiller controlled with chains leading to the barrel of a steering wheel.
The largest did have two decks and was generally fully decked.
Large stern cabin.
Carried mostly two masts (as seen on stamp), but also three-masted BAGHLA were known. The two mast vessels; multipiece yards fished together. Mainmast forward raking, with a length equal of the ship length. Mizzenmast stepped at forward end of the poop, shorter and less raked.
Quadrilateral lateen-type sail with a short luff, of coarse canvas. Occasionally set a topsail to a temporary topmast and jigger. Sails are set outside the standing rigging.
Lengths 12 to 55 meters, with a crew of 20 -50 men.
The type is known under many other names in the region.

Kuwait 1970 15f sg482, Scott
Kuwait 1987 150f sg 1123/24, Scott?

Source: copied from Aak to Zumbra, a dictionary of the World’s Watercr
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baggala (2).jpg (127.87 KiB) Viewed 235 times
1987 26th-Anniversary-of-the-National-Day (2).jpg
1987 26th-Anniversary-of-the-National-Day (2).jpg (75.54 KiB) Viewed 235 times
1987 26th-Anniversary-of-the-National-Day 3 (2).jpg
1987 26th-Anniversary-of-the-National-Day 3 (2).jpg (78.8 KiB) Viewed 235 times
Last edited by aukepalmhof on Sun Aug 14, 2022 8:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Anatol
Posts: 1037
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 2:13 pm

Re: BAGHLA

Post by Anatol » Wed Apr 03, 2013 6:25 pm

Baghla made Kuwait famous as a shipbuilding centre, long before the booms did, although Kuwait was not alone in their construc¬tion and ownership. The most outstanding feature in the construction of the baghla's hull was its expansive transom stern heavily or¬namented with carving that, in a way, surpassed anything that was turned out by the famed North American ship-carvers. Transoms were completely framed with an arched half-round panel of carved foliation and a slightly bowed base divided into panels of arabesque carving. Both above and below this there would be further foliated scroll work. But this is not where the ornamentation ended. The stern always had five rectangular windows and without fail their mullions and lintels were exquisitely carved. A star and crescent moon invariably took pride of place above the centre window. The transom of the baghla extended out beyond the actual hull on each side and false timber work fanned out to meet up with the projecting arch of the transom so forming the bulges that represented the quarter galleries of the early European ships. These vestigial galleries bore no carving which was restricted to the stern, awning stanchions and a panel athwartships at the break of the poop. The stemhead motif in some bagklas the post was surmounted with a serrated globe similar to that of an Indian pattamar. James Hornell, was of the opinion that the high poop and elaborately carved sterns of the baghlas evolved directly from the eighteenth-century European vessels of war. Asian ships in these waters were originally sharp-ended and it is believed that the Portuguese vessels influenced the change to transom or square-stern construction as employed by the Arab in his baghlas. Baghlas reached an amazing size and it is known that some exceeded 500 tons, had a length 142 feet overall. With a beam of 28 feet 9 inches and a depth of a little more than 18 feet. Clifford Hawkins in the book "The Dhow" writes: Should it be possible to see baghlas, ganjas and kotias sail¬ing in company it would be almost impossible for the lay¬man to identify any one of them at a distance. These dhows were so very much alike that only when the stemhead motif became distinguishable could they be definitely recognized. It must be remembered, too, that often enough the stem-head would be hidden from view by the sail.
State of Bahrain 1979;100f;SG 259
Sultanat of Oman 1996;650b;SG 449

Sourse:C.Hawkins:The Dhow
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