About the Book:

Among the ports and harbours of the west coast of India, Goa occupies a strategic position whilst relatively good harbours have made it a centre of maritime trade for much of its history. Goa was one of the most important entrepots on the west coast of India. Maritime interaction of Goa with the rest of the India as well other parts of the world is well documented from the early centuries of the Christian era. Over the centuries, ports of Goa declined owing to siltation, foreign attack, then new ports were established and maritime trade continued. The location of Goa suited the Portuguese from every angle so they fought against Adil Shah and conquered and ruled Goa up to 1961. During these periods several ships have been wrecked in Goa waters either due to naval warfare, unskilled navigation or other reasons.

In order to reconstruct the maritime history of Goa both onshore and offshore explorations have been carried out and the present work is the outcome of the exploration. Moreover, it was for this reason that the first shipwreck exploration in Indian waters was carried out in Goa waters. In course of underwater exploration, shipwrecks have been found off Sunchi Reef, St Georges’ Reef and Amee Shoals, Sail Rock and Grande Island. The Sunchi Reef shipwreck is the oldest wreck so far surveyed in Indian waters and the first Portuguese wreck until now investigated. Coastal Geomorphology and Seabed topography of Goa has been recorded while undertaking shipwreck studies. In addition to shipwrecks, stone anchors have been documented in Goa waters and Chandor, Gopakapatana and Old Goa, the port sites of Goa have been explored. In separate chapters, a comprehensive report of analysis of elephant tusks and hippopotamus teeth recovered from Sunchi Reef shipwreck and the anatomical analysis of wooden stocks of iron anchors retrieved from Aguada bay have been included.

The book gives a comprehensive account of the rich maritime heritage of Goa and illustrated with both inland and underwater photographs, drawings and tables, and undoubtedly it will fascinate, enhance the knowledge of scholars and researchers and provide them with an insight into the maritime heritage of Goa.

Contents:

Preface
Abbreviations
List of Illustrations
List of Tables

Chapter-1: Maritime History of Goa
Chapter-2: Coastal Geology and Geomorphology of Goa and Equipment and Methodology
Chapter-3: Exploration and Excavation of Shipwreck off Sunchi Reef
Chapter-4: Exploration of Basel Mission Company Shipwreck off St George’s Reef
Chapter-5: Steam Engine Shipwreck Exploration off Amee Shoals
Chapter-6: Shipwreck Exploration off Sail Rock and Galgibaga
Chapter-7: Stone and Iron Anchors from Goa Waters
Chapter-8: Explorations off Aguada Bay; Baga; Grande Island; Old Goa; Gopakapatana
Chapter-9: Studies on the Elephant Tusks and Hippopotamus Teeth collected from Sunchi Reef Shipwreck
Chapter-10: Use of Timber in Shipbuilding Industry: Identification and Analysis of Timber from Shipwrecks off Goa Coast
Chapter-11: Analysis of Timber and Coating Material on an Iron Anchor Recovered off Aguada Bay, Goa

Bibliography
Index

About the Author(s):

Sila Tripati (1962) is a Maritime Archaeologist at the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), editor and author of books and published his works in the peer-reviewed national and international journals. He has participated in onshore and offshore explorations in the waters on the west and east of the Indian subcontinent. He specialises in shipwrecks, stone anchors, maritime trade and submerged ports.

A. S. Gaur (1965) is working in the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa since 1988, has undertaken extensive research in the field of Marine Archaeology and important projects include the underwater explorations at Dwarka, Bet Dwarka, Somnath, Kodinar, Ghogha on the Gujarat coast and many other sites all along the Indian coast. He has authored a book Harappan Maritime Legacies of Gujarat (2000) and co-authored three books Archaeology of Bet Dwarka (2005), Underwater Archaeology of Dwarka and Somnath (2008) and Maritime Archaeology around Porbandar (2012).

Sundaresh (1964) joined CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa in 1989 as a Technical officer (Marine Archaeologist). He has more than 91 papers published in National and International journals to his credit. He has co authored two books. He is member of 6 prestigious professional bodies as a life member and Honourable Treasurer for the Society for Marine Archaeology, Goa. He has participated in an international expedition for the study of submerged structures at Yonaguni Island in Japan waters and shipwreck explorations in Sri Lanka waters.