 The sea has always been the lifeline for India. Surrounded by the soothing blues from three sides, the world's largest peninsula nation houses a huge wealth of maritime culture handed down by generations. And this has been true since the beginning of civilization. But sadly insofar as India's maritime heritage is concerned, our ancestors left little to no written records of even the chronology of our rich maritime past. However, circumstantial evidence finds that we had a very rich maritime past, including in seafaring, trading, commerce and navigation. There's enough evidence to suggest that ancient Indians were expert marine navigators. Indian scholars like Varaha Meheera from Ujjain and Aryabhata from present-day Kerala developed methods of computing a ship's position from the stars after accurately mapping the positions of celestial bodies. The stars were observed through many centuries at sea and it was passed on from one generation to another. It was these stars that guided mariners at night. These stars rose and set at a particular time during a particular season. This was known to most of the mariners and they used the rising and the setting of the stars in the specific season to go from one place to another. Expertise and navigation meant increased efficiency in overseas trade. The Indian peninsula was cut off from the north by the mighty Himalayas and surrounded on the east and west by vast expanses of water. Hence, to trade her surplus goods, India had no option but to take to shipping. Indians were known to be seafarers well before many others in this world. The first trade was with the Sumerians, the Egyptians and with Crete and later it extended itself beyond the Roman Empire into Europe and Africa. Archaeological research at sites like Mesopotamia, Bahrain, Egypt and Oman has led to the recovery of artifacts traceable to the Indus Valley civilization. At close to 5th century BC, there were no Europeans in the Arabian sea. The Arabs and the Hindus competed openly. The idea of sovereignty over the high seas was unknown to the Asian conception. Indian products, particularly spices, were in high demand in overseas trade. This demand was led by the world-renowned Malabar Pepper. Traders used to call it the Black Gold. To facilitate trade, both the western and the eastern coasts of India had numerous port cities. A port site should not be seen in isolation. This is because it is linked to many other port sites and that is how it becomes a link in a major network. So there were at least more than 60 port sites across the Indian Ocean, Red Sea and Mediterranean. What enabled the Basque-Otogama or Columbus in 15th century happened 1500 years back and that is the importance of Patanam and Mozeris. Then the first time in the history of humanity, these three continents came together. So Patanam reveals that story. Mozeris used to be a thriving port city of the eastern coast. Now known as Patanam, excavations at this ancient urban settlement reveals evidence of a vibrant global maritime trade. Incents, spices, textiles and precious stones reached the Arab and Egyptian ports and from there on travelled deep inside European empires. India became a much sought-after treasure island for the medieval Europeans. 1500 years back our ancestors, you know, travelled across the seas. So also the Europeans, the Africans, the eastern Mediterranean people came and went this far long distance and there was this connectivity which probably could be the first kind of globalization if it means the closer exchange of ideas, technology and belief systems and languages. Ashoka, one of the most illustrious emperors from India's early history, a keen follower of Buddhism, he wanted to share Buddha's message of peace across the planet. Ashoka ended up becoming one of the biggest global emissaries of Buddhism which at that time was largely confined to India. And Buddhism was the ideology of trade was promoting a rational life. You know, it was not religion as what it became later. It's a thought system. And religion, as a religion, you know, you cannot call Buddhism a religion because it denies God. It's a thought system which helps you to think and trade also is basically something that happens on a rational basis. They don't encourage discriminations. If I pay, you know, I have to get it. So they don't look at your color. They don't look at what who are you. So there is a egalitarian philosophy behind that kind of trade that existed and there needed an ideology that was promoting that thinking. This evolving relationship was based on mutual trade interests and not by force of arms. Chinese literary texts refer to maritime activity between India and China as far back as the 7th century BCE. Our systems of faith became our first global cultural ambassadors. Sixth century Chinese traveler, Far Haiyuan Tsung, who came to India in search of the Buddhist texts and visited Nalanda University has also written of India's remarkable maritime abilities in his memoirs. Local legends claim that most dynasties in Southeast Asia were founded by rulers from the Indian peninsula. According to Burmese chronicles, a prince of the Kapilavastu dynasty in Nepal sailed into Upper Burma and set himself up as king. The ruler who founded Ligur in the Malaya was thought to have been a descendant of Ashoka. According to Cambodian annals, an exiled prince of Indraprastha founded the kingdom of Cambodia. The histories of Java give a distinct account of numerous bodies of Hindus from Kalinga who landed on their island and established an era that still continues. Eventually, the countries of Southeast Asia comprehensively embraced Hinduism and Buddhism. Many sculptures show in splendid relief ships in full sail. They represent scenes recalling the history of Indian maritime exploits way back in time. Ancient India had a thriving maritime treat. So it's a natural corollary that India had a great shipbuilding tradition also. It was not an industry as we know it today. As it was more of a cottage industry confined to families. The great distinguishing tradition of shipbuilding those days was the knowledge was passed on from father to son orally. Many of these family and local traditions have been washed away by the waves of time. Whatever remains is embedded in our cultural practices and are localized as in the snake boats of Malabar. It was boats like these that were utilized not just to export goods from India's east coast to different parts of the world but were also used to protect the trade routes from pirates. Now they have evolved into cultural and festival icons and that's probably the reason why they continue to exist. Some glimpses of this ancient past can still be spotted in dominantly maritime societies scattered among the coastal communities of India. Snake boat making and racing from Kerala remains one such living heritage. The precise measurements and detailed knowledge base of these craftsmen reveal a tradition running for centuries. They are the modern day upholders of Indian expertise in cost effective but top quality shipbuilding. A skill set that has been recognized worldwide. While the snake boats represent a defense boat making tradition, the art of Thao or Urumaking stands for crafting large scale boats used for trading and leisure travel. The entire Thao is handcrafted from wood. Arguably, this is the world's largest living handicraft practice. Urumaking is an undocumented craft. There's nothing on paper and no blueprint from conception to completion. It is all in the mind of the master carpenter or maistri of a yard. Families of boat designers have been making these Thao boats in Beipur for more than 500 years now. When it comes to warship building, the story was almost the same as for merchant shipbuilding because we missed out on the industrial revolution. Like our ancestors in nation building had given ourselves a resolution to make sure that India becomes self-reliant in the shortest possible time. Our ancestors had determined to make the Indian navy a builder's navy rather than a buyer's navy and that determination has given the results which are so positive that the world is impressed at the strides that India has made in so far as warship building is concerned. India's expertise in warship building also extends to submarines, one of the most critical determining factors of modern naval warfare. Our technological acumen in the area is comparable to the best in the world, be it in the area of nuclear-powered high-stealth capability submarines or the conventional diesel-electric ones. Today, the Indian navy is forever keen to improve on its know-how and skills, but this was not always the case. This idea of navy as we know it today didn't exist till the coming of the Europeans. If you discount the Chola Interregnum in our history where the Chola Emperor sent out a naval fleet to Southeast Asia to protect his trading rights, the existence of a military marine as the modern navy is often referred to was non-existent. Anyone and everybody who wanted to trade and was willing to pay his dues was welcome. Naval fights of any large scale were unknown in India before the arrival of the Portuguese In the folk laws of Kerala, the first European colonists are often referred to as the Portuguese pirates. They posed a threat to India's trading rules. The arrival of the 20-gun Portuguese frigate San Gabriel off the coast of Calicut in 1498 marked the beginning of the Vasco de Gama epoch for India. Local sea commanders of Kerala, particularly four generations of Murakars were naval experts who specialised in stealth attacks. They fought the Portuguese and resisted their advance. In 18th century India, Kanhuji Angre, a Maratha fleet admiral of repute, acquired an almost mythical status as a Maratha navy chief. He was labelled a pirate by his European enemies because he fought against British, Dutch and Portuguese naval interests. Numerous attempts to subdue him failed. Angre remained undefeated till his death. Despite the bravery of these heroes, the Europeans ultimately won over, thereby starting four centuries of authority-based control of the seas. One could make a case that it was an inadequate appreciation of sea power that led to the colonisation of India. And there is also, I think, an interesting technological dimension, which is that India had demonstrated the highest levels of shipbuilding acumen at that time. When the British came to India and they were building ships in Surat, you find the recognition conferred on the local craftsmen and the way in which Wadia, as he was then known, becomes a master builder. At the Bombay shipyard when the European supervisor died, one of the carpenters, Lovji Nussarvandji Wadia, was appointed master builder in his place. These Indian experts changed the European notions of shipbuilding by building sturdy vehicles at a much lower cost. Our mastership builders had a sturdy tradition to fall back on. The Vedas and our ancient epics have numerous references to sea travel. That would not have been possible without a firm knowledge of oceanography and the movements of the sea. About 159 huge ships of over 100 tonnes were built in Bombay between 1736 and 1821, including 15 of over 1,000 tonnes. Ships constructed in Bombay in its heyday were said to be vastly superior to anything built anywhere else in the world. They were built from Indian Teak, Malabar Teak. And at that time, for about roughly 50 to 60 years, Indian ships were considered to be the best in the world because of the craftsmanship and the fact that they could out sail any of the European ships that were being built at that time. And then you find this is where the colonial techno-economic compulsion kicks in and by a very, very invidious manner of taxation, Indian bottoms, that is, Indian ships are taxed higher and thereby the European and the British intent is to kill and stifle the Indian shipbuilding industry. And somehow Indian shipbuilding never recovers from that particular stranglehold. The Bombay Dry Dock, the first modern dry dock in Asia, was built by Lovji and his brother Surabji in 1750. The English used the Bombay Docks as a hub for ship maintenance. This was critical as the massive trade vehicles connecting the Arab world with Europe and the Far East needed a body shop somewhere in between and Bombay was just perfectly placed. You must remember that a naval ship operates in a corrosive environment because a part of the ship is always underwater and is subjected to massive amount of corrosion. Periodically, every ship enters a dry dock. What it basically means is that the ship enters a dock, it is fastened and secured by states and the water inside the dry dock is pumped out. As the water is pumped out, the underwater part of the ship can be examined and this can happen only in a dry dock and it's important that any modern day ship is periodically dry docked to check the material state of its hull and carry out effective repairs in time. Lothal in present day Gujarat was probably the world's first tidal dock, at least the first that we know of. The Harappans built this natural dry port around 4,500 years back. Lothal dock was located on the river Sabarmati away from the main current to avoid deposition of silt. The remains of the dock reveal that the Harappans were well aware of the principles of hydrology. The technology used here was highly advanced. India has continued to expand its reach in sea trade and expertise in seafaring well into the modern times. We are counted among the best in the world in terms of using the latest and the most advanced technologies and equipment. The shipbuilding and repair yards in Mumbai are carrying forward a tradition of excellence that started ages back with the shipbuilders from Surat. The Mumbai port stands testimony to various twists and turns of modern Indian maritime history. Even today, busy and well-managed ports like these ensure that sea trading still tops the export charts in India. By 2013, 95% of India's foreign trade by volume and 75% by value was conducted by sea. Also, more than 70% of our oil was imported by sea. All of this trade happens under the watchful eyes of our competent and confident Navy. It not only remains defensive and with the primary role of protecting India's territorial integrity and protecting the sea lines of communication or trade routes that are very critical to the economic sustenance of the land. It also ensures that it always creates and maintains bridges of friendship across the seas. The Indian Navy's overseas deployments include goodwill, maritime diplomacy and building confidence with like-minded nations. We have created the largest number of friends across the seas on all continents through the sea route. The maritime defensive capability of our Navy gets supported by some of the best technologies available to the sector. It uses its expertise in rescue operations, mainly to save Indians marooned in crisis and conflict situations across the globe. It also involves itself in confidence-building measures like bilateral and multilateral naval exercises. The Indian Navy also has a critical role in tackling natural disasters. During the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, India sent out our warships loaded with relief materials. India's maritime heritage today has evolved out of thousands of years of peaceful sea trade and the extensive seafaring experiences of our ancestors. For centuries, we have reached out to the world with a message of peace and freedom and the world has come to us with the same expectations. The Indian way forward has always been to develop a spirit of partnership and collaboration. We still move ahead with the same purpose, riding the waves of mutual progress to become the true wave riders in time.