Page 19 - MDSL Final

UNDERSTANDING MARITIME DOCTRINE

CHAPTER 1

UNDERSTANDING MARITIME DOCTRINE

Historical Preview

Sri Lanka is a country with a rich maritime tradition spanning over 2550
years.

The ship that carried Vijaya the son of Sinhabahu (reigned in Sinhapura,
a city in the present Gujarat) is said to have landed at Tambapanni on
the very day of the Lord Buddha’s Parinirvanaya (passing away). The
Buddha, it is said, foresaw that Vijaya would convert this island into an
abode of men and that Buddhism would flourish there in the future. 1

The first settlement of Indo-Aryan mariners and emigrants arrived from
Northwestern India to Ceylon towards the end of 4th century BC were an
agricultural community. The pioneer settlement had encouraged further
waves of emigrants to follow this distance by sea which is approximately
1500 miles and none but intrepid seamen in seaworthy ships could have
accomplished this succession of outward and return voyages. 2

Before these settlements, these mariners who were traders would have
made several voyages back and forth carrying our products or their
profits which shows the expertness in seafaring, building of sea going
vessels, ocean navigation and sustainability at sea and knowledge of
winds and currents. Seafaring, in every aspect of its activities, was the
forte of these earliest colonists of Ceylon and should have been the
inherited skill of their descendants, the Sinhalese. Even in the reign of
King Devanampiya Tissa (250-210 BC), it is said that these voyages up
to Ganges and back had been made by the king’s envoys with gifts to
Mauryan Emperor, Asoka. 3

In the 3rd century BC, there had been active maritime trade between the
Arabs and the Indians. Then, in the 2nd century BC, the Greeks had begun
to cut out the Arabs intermediaries and to make coastwise expeditions

To Nurture a Stable Environment at Sea 1