Blog 174 - Marine Musings : A Merchant Mariner Clashes with a Pirate, Wins a Heart and Establishes a Dynasty (Part 1 of 2)
Updated: 6 days ago
Note : This story is part fact and part fiction. I leave the reader to sort it out for themselves.
The world knows my name as Koundinya, the name that my parents gave me lost to posterity, lost because of the tumultuous changes that took place in my life. From an unknown boy, I became Koundinya I.
This is my story. As I lie on my deathbed, my faded memory has flashes of my life as a young boy, in the Kingdom of Kalinga. As I decline, I slowly waft through the breeze of memories, the little that I retain.
We had only recently been released from the clutches of a murderous Mauryan army, as they were interested only in plunder and rape and not in the administration of the state. Surely, for how long a period can you continue to loot and rape a region?
Disinterested after gorging all possible pleasures, the Mauryans withdrew. There was a period of chaos, of no administration, of no governance, of penury for a time. I was born in such a time.
“When Fishes flew and Forests walked,
And figs grew upon thorn,
Some moment when the moon was blood,
Then surely I was born”.
I was born in a Brahmin family, Koundinya Gothra. My Father, a temple priest in one the temples that studded the delta of the Mahanadi river, was neither rich by any standards nor poor by any means. Beside his priestly duties in the temple that contained Vishnu and Shiva deities, which he religiously maintained, from which his livelihood was meagre, cultivating a small area of land and, keeping a part for his family, selling the remainder at the local weekly “Sandhai” - a weekly local market where everyone brought their produce and either bartered or sold for money - , he managed to keep us above the poverty line.
My Father’s parents had been rich, before the Mauryas came and looted everything. In his childhood, my Father was a keen attendant to the Gurukulam - (a gurukulam (or gurukul) is a traditional residential system of education from ancient India where students live at the home of their teacher (guru) to learn) - where he had studied all subjects, including astronomy, mathematics, Sanskrit and the Sanskrit texts, public administration, business, geography, history, in short a well rounded education.
In my younger days, he taught me and passed on every mite of learning the he had studied in his Gurukulam, as we, then, had no wherewithal to afford a Gurukulam, with my being wanted for temple duties and the maintenance of the plot of land, with occasional visits to the ‘Sandhai’. With him being the local ‘ayurvedic’ doctor, I learnt botany. Under the clear skies, I learnt astronomy. Under the deities’ feet, I learnt Sanskrit and the texts. The ‘Sandhai’ visits taught me business and, along the way, public administration.
As I became older, we managed to open up shops to sell not only our produce, but also of friends and compatriots. My interest in trade and business grew.
My Father’s forbearance in me grew to the extent I set up shop in Palur, a port city at the south western edge of Chilika Lake. Ships by the hundreds used to enter from the Bay of Bengal - originally called the Kalinga Bay - and traders by the thousands used to descend upon the markets of Palur and Manikapatna.
During the Kalinga period, Chilika Lake served as a major maritime hub where traders exported local commodities like fine textiles, ivory, precious stones, pepper, betel nuts, rice, and local animal products (such as elephants) in exchange for imported goods like pearls, silver, spices, and sandalwood from Southeast Asia, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and the Roman world via ports like Manikapatna and Palur.
From a farmer’s produce, I went on to trade in elephants, ivory, pearls, spices, betel nuts, chillies and all available products in the hinterland of my area.
It was then that my fantasies grew, on seeing ships of many nations. I wanted to own a ship. I wanted to sail. I wanted to trade. I wanted adventure. I wanted to see different lands.
Listening to the overseas traders and sailors, my mind was made up.
Always having been frugal, I set upon saving every pana that I could and slowly building a small treasure, enough to buy a second hand ship, with expenses for the crew. (Note : During the ancient Kalinga period, the primary currency used for trade and transactions consisted of silver punch-marked coins (known generically as Karshapana or Pana), alongside the extensive everyday use of cowry shells (kaudi). Coincidentally, the word Panam means ‘currency’ in Tamil, even today).
I brushed up my knowledge of astronomy, hired an experienced pilot and a set of crew, some of whom looked like cut-throats. A loan from the Merchant’s Guild and insurance from them, and with a promise of sub portions of the profits of the expedition to the crew, we sailed from the Chilkila lake and the port of Palur.
Note : These Guilds were not loose associations. They were organized, disciplined, and influential. Guilds coordinated caravans and ships, protected their members, negotiated with rulers, and funded temples.
I was not yet nineteen.
The second hand ship that I purchased was a ‘stitched’ ship, where wooden planks were bound together with cords or ropes instead of being held together by iron nails, known as the ‘tankai’ method. The key techniques were
No Iron Nails: Artisans constructed hulls entirely without metal fasteners. Instead, they drilled holes in wooden planks and stitched them tightly together using durable coir (coconut fiber) ropes
Hull Flexibility: Because the planks were tied rather than nailed rigidly, the hulls possessed unique flexibility. This allowed the vessels to bend and absorb the severe shock of high waves and crashing surf rather than snapping or springing leaks
Sealing and Waterproofing: To make the stitched seams watertight, builders caulked and sealed the gaps thoroughly using natural ingredients like coconut oil, animal fat, and vegetable resins or gums.
Local Timbers: Shipwrights selected sturdy indigenous woods—such as teak or similar durable coastal timbers—capable of withstanding long sea voyages across the Indian Ocean.
Propulsion: On these ocean-going trading vessels (mahanavah), we relied primarily on large cotton or plant-fiber square sails, driven by the predictable seasonal monsoon winds of the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.
We timed our voyage to coincide with the start of the monsoon, when winds from the North come pushing their way into the Bay of Bengal. Our sails were full, as we coasted Southern India.
The charted route was down the eastern coast of India and down Sri Lanka’s east coast, then across to South Asia, trading cargo along the way. We traded in the southern ports of Nagapattinam, Mammalapuram, Poompuhar, taking in cargo for export to South East Asia.
Crossing to Sri Lanka, we coasted down the east coast, stopped at one of their ports to top up provisions, water, before commencing our passage, more or less parallel to the equator. The trade winds were with us and we took advantage of the currents to get us into the Straits of Malacca.
We had on board a few “Thevangus” or “Slender Lorises”, one species of monkeys found in the forests of Southern India and Sri Lanka.. We used them as compasses, as they would always sit facing north.
Our destination was China.
After we passed Malacca Straits, we turned north, so as to meet and hug the coast of Cambodia where the Nagas roamed and proceed north to China. The crossing was a bit stormy and we were starting to leak at places. We decided to beach her at the tip of the land held by Nagas, to carry out repairs.
As we approached land, we were very alert, as the Nagas were famed for being fearsome and aggressive and spared no one. We sharpened our swords and axes, kept clubs and bows ready and oil and large wicks to set their ships or boats on fire.
Sure enough, we were spotted sneaking to shore and a ship with 4 boats in attendance came out to meet us. Even before they reached us, arrows started showering us. We were able to set two of their boats on fire, using flaming arrows.
We were 40, they were more than a hundred.
(Continued in Part II)
AR
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