The fleet of Bangladeshi riverine country boats is the largest in the world approaching one million. The fleet can be divided into river fleet counting more than 700,000 boats and sea-going fleet, counting more than 50,000 vessels. This large number is explained by the geography of the country which is the largest deltaic plain on the planet. About 60% of Bangladesh is covered in a vast river system thus, boats, boat-building, and traditions surrounding water-based communications has always been rich in this region.
While sea boats from the Bay of Bengal adopted exotic styles due to the influences of foreign traders, the wooden boats of the inland waterways developed their shapes and forms free from foreign influences to about 50 types of vessels which includes but are not limited to the ghashi, soronga, dingi, panshi, patam, malar and raptani. The authenticity of design has remained intact as foreign travellers such as the Chinese, Arabs and later the Western conquerors, did not dare wander into the mighty and dangerous rivers of the country. Until the 20th century, the river boats of Bangladesh remained the same, built using skills and technologies that has been passed down from generation to generation of boat-builders.
In the 20th century, two big technical “revolutions” occurred that changed the riverscape of Bangladesh from colourful river-sceneries of hundreds of sails to a bare noisy one. In the 1980s, cheap diesel engines imported from China started being used as in-board engines for the river boats as their efficiency allowed the boats to become more economically profitable. This resulted in sudden motorisation of river boats and enabled the crew to save on costs of mast and sails. However, it also meant the disappearance of all the marvellous and unique riggings of our boats in less than 5 years.
The second “revolution” occurred with the change of boat-building material from wood to steel welded sheets. Rural electrification and the political will of preserving forests encouraged boat-builders to use steel welded sheets to build their new boats and wooden boats soon became too expensive and less economically viable. With the exception of a few types of boats such as salt carriers, wooden boats are thus no longer built. Traditional shapes are not even copied any more.
These sudden changes are inescapably bringing an end to a rich, central heritage and technological know-how of Bangladesh which previously had managed to survive for millenaries. Although this change in fleets in some ways is contributing to making our country more efficient by creating a fast and viable means of communication, many including maritime archaeologists and cultural bodies consider the disappearance of the most ancient and diverse river-going fleet and the related thousands of years old technology, an irreparable loss. This loss of a unique and precious part of our country’s culture also means the disappearance of a whole professional branch. The services of carpenters, sail-makers, rope-makers and blacksmiths, who had been respected and honoured craftsman, no longer have work. Their skills which used to be orally imparted are no longer required and are lost forever. As the boats they build do not have demand on the market, they are marginalized.
Friendship’s cultural preservation project strives not just to conserve this heritage but also to adapt it and find new uses for boats that facilitate socioeconomic and cultural development. Additionally, it is important for us to solidify our knowledge and understanding of the boat-building tradition, conserving and researching further, and also to promote this art and technology internationally.
Thus we have four major components to this programme which are as follows:
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Exhibition |
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Model Boats |
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Living Museum |
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Research and Development |
Our Cultural Preservation programme strives to not only create awareness, to save a central part of our heritage from being completely lost, but also to build upon the ancient knowledge, employ innovative ways to develop boats that will ultimately aid in making lives of fishermen, boatmen and others in the industry easier.