Maritime in India
In the context of Maritime and India, the most recognized incident is usually that of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama and his exploration across the Indian Ocean. His discovery of a sea route to India via Kozhikode is considered landmark to opening India to the Europeans.
However, Indian Maritime history started much before when the Indus Valley civilization initiated maritime trading with Mesopotamia back in 3rd millennium BCE taking silk and spices to the world. Long before the arrival of the Europeans, like numerous crafts that originated in India, shipbuilding was well-established. Indian maritime, back then, was a highly active sector and was sustained by the numerous ship-building establishments across the Indian coastline. Local craftsmen used Indian hardwood to construct these indigenous vessels which were considered to be far superior to vessels built elsewhere in the world.
From then to now, India has seen a sea change in the sector. In its current form, the industry is highly complicated and capital intensive. Due to the additional requirement of harbours with large space, shipbuilding in India has been restricted to four main centres, namely, Vishakhapatnam, Kolkata, Kochi and Mumbai. However, the Indian shipping industry is a significant contributor, both for defence as well as commerce.
In celebration of India’s maritime history, the National Maritime Day is observed on 5th April with the aim to support intercontinental commerce and the global economy as the most well-organized, safe and sound environmentally responsive approach of transporting goods from one to another corner of the world. On this day in 1919, navigation history was created when SS Loyalty, the first ship of The Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd, journeyed to the United Kingdom. This was a crucial step in Indian shipping history when sea routes were controlled by the British.
In 1959 India became an associate of IMO which convenes maritime conferences and conventions on a standard global basis. Sea route maturity and preservation is extremely essential for an all-round development of the country and being part if IMO Council enables India to engage with the international maritime community and maintain global industry standards.
With a large fleet of vessels, both on foreign going and coastal operations, Indian has seen nearly 5.13% growth year on year. This combined with increasing investments as well as favourable government policies continues to pave the way for a brighter future.
question_answer
How did India's contact with rest of the world contribute in the exchange of ideas and commodities? Explain.
Answer:
India has a long history of international ties. Despite living with in natural frontiers, Indian society has not developed in isolation. It has influenced the rest of the world and in return has also been influenced by the rest of the world. India's contact with the outside world was much before the sea routes. The various passes across the Himalayas has provided gateway to many ancient travellers. While Ocean restricted such interaction. These routes have contributed in exchange of ideas and commodities since ancient times. Due to unique position in Asia, the ancient land routes, including famous 'Silk Route' passed through the Indian subcontinent. The ideas of the Upanishads, the Ramayana, the Gita and other Indian scriptures were known to the world in older ages. The Indian numerals as well as decimal system long back crossed the border. The Arabs took these ideas to the West. India's silk, spices, handicrafts, muslin and other merchandise were taken from India to different countries. The Greek enriched the Indian culture with their contribution in the field of architecture, science, etc. Islamic influence (from West Asia) is clearly visible in architectural styles of domes, arch, minarets, etc.
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Solution
The correct option is B
All of the above
(NCERT 9th / 1st chapter.)
Expl: India’s contact with world has continued through the ages but her relationship through land route is much older than her maritime contacts. The various passes across the mountains in the north have provided passages to ancient travelers, while the oceans restricted such interaction for a long time.
India measures 3,214 km from north to south and 2,933 km from east to west.
India has a land boundary of about 15,200 km and a total length of the coast line of the mainland including Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep is n 7,516km.
The Indian states through which tropic of cancer passes are 8 in number these are – Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura and Mizoram.