Seafaring in IRAN

The history of seafaring in Iran and the use of handmade ships for seafaring in the Persian Gulf is several thousand years old.

Ever since they lived by the sea, Iranians were drawn to it and by building various vessels, they traveled in the sea and found many ways for sea voyages.

During these voyages, many trade routes were established between the ports of the Persian Gulf in the north and south, the Indian subcontinent, and numerous ports in the African continent.

For centuries, Iranians used wooden ships in the old ports of the Persian Gulf for navigation, especially for trade in different routes.

In these routes, there have been various types of sailing ships that we call “barges” today, but in the past they were called “jajahs”. Experts and historians have estimated the different types of lances used in the past to be more than 20 types.

But crossing the Persian Gulf route to the Indian subcontinent or Africa, due to crossing the ocean, required special ships to travel this long and difficult route safely.

Iranian sailors used a device called “Boom” for this purpose. The invention of canvas cannot be attributed to Iranians, but its use has been widespread in the ports of Iran and Kuwait since the past.

Iranian sailors, carrying products such as Iranian carpets, pistachios, dried fruits and dates from Basra and Abadan, generally went to India from the northern border of the Persian Gulf and the Oman Sea. If their destination was East Africa, they first went to Oman and Yemen and then to Africa.

The sailors who went to India loaded products such as teak wood, spices and Indian textiles in the ports of the subcontinent and they were going to Africa.

     The Persian Gulf has been the place of early humans and the first humans sailed in this sea for the first time. Then they took the art of boat building with their boats to other waterways and seas and taught the secrets of the work to all the coastal people.

The vice consul of France in Bushehr writes about early humans and their boating: “As is well known, human history began on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Therefore, the Persian Gulf is the first sea on which humans have sailed with small boats.

In any case, the first group of ancient people (Phoenicians, Babylonians, Chaldeans and Sumerians) as well as (Greeks, Persians and Persians) sailed in the waters of the Persian Gulf.

  After getting to know the coasts and ports near them and acquiring the technology of making and raising sails, rudder, compass and depth finder, Iranians embarked on long journeys with their handmade boats and ships.