Arabian Dhows

Timeline

1. c. 600–900Basra and the Omani coast · Persian GulfAgainst the backdrop of Islamic imperial expansion and the revival of Indian Ocean trade, a sailing-vessel tradition characterized by lateen rig, flat sterns, and mortise-and-tenon construction took shape along the Arabian Sea coast, laying the foundation for the later dhow type.
2. c. 900–1030Kilwa and the Malabar Coast · Swahili CoastThe single-masted lateen-rigged vessel type stabilized, linking ports such as Basra, Aden, Kilwa, and the Malabar Coast, forming a seasonally recurring Indian Ocean merchant route carrying spices, pearls, and cotton cloth.
3. 1031–1040Aden–Gujarat route · Gulf of AdenWhile the Fatimid dynasty controlled the Red Sea–Indian Ocean hub, dhows handled transshipment at Aden and the main freight traffic between East Africa and the West Coast of India, linking up with the indirect Song dynasty maritime trade network, and became the dominant vessel type of Indian Ocean shipping in the early to mid-eleventh century.
4. c. 1040–1500Ports throughout the Indian Ocean · Indian OceanAccounts by geographers such as Ibn Hawqal and al-Idrisi of Arabian Sea sailing vessels corroborate surviving physical remains; the vessel type long dominated regional sea transport before the Portuguese entered the Indian Ocean and influenced East African Swahili shipbuilding traditions.