Benawa or banawa is a type of ship from Gowa, an old principality in the southwest corner of

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The earliest record of this vessel is from Hikayat Banjar, which was written in or not long after 1663. In the present, this vessel is already extinct; being replaced by vessels with a similar hull, namely palari and padewakang.

Etymology

The word ''benawa'' or ''banawa'' comes from the Old Javanese language, which means boat or ship. In different languages, the word may refer to a different type of vessel, depending on the context of the sentence.

Description

The benawa was made for transporting

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s and buffaloes. The hull is wide with a convex keel, with a high front and back stem and sternpost. On either side, there are paths attached to a number of transverse beams that are attached to the supports. The secondary function of these beams is to divide the deck space into equal compartments for animals. The deck above the "

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

" consist of bamboo lattice.G. E. P. Collins, East Monsoon (London, 1936); Makassar Sailing (London, 1937); 'Seafarers of South Celebes', The National Geographic Magazine, Washington, January 1945· It is steered with 2 quarter rudders, with helmsmen standing on the outboard galleries. The rudders are mounted on heavy crossbeams in such a way as to allow rapid emergency release. There is a cramped cabin for the captain below the poop deck. The vessel has 2 to 3 masts, both are three-legged posts with the hind legs attached to heavy tabernacles. The mast can be lowered easily if the forelegs pop out of the hooks that hold them in place. The sails are

tanja Tanja () is a feminine given name. It may refer to: Mononyms *''Tanja'' (born 1983), Russian-Estonian singer, also known as Tanja Mihhailova Given name *Tanja Andrejeva (born 1978), Macedonian handball player *Tanja Bogosavljević (born 1989), ...

and made with ''karoro'' matting. With European influence in the latter centuries, western-styled sails can also be used. In the past, Makassarese sailors may sail them as far as New Guinea and Singapore.

References

{{Indonesian traditional vessels Indigenous boats Boats of Indonesia Indonesian inventions Sailboat types Sailing ship types Sailing ships Two-masted ships Three-masted ships Sulawesi Tall ships 14th-century ships

Etymology

Description

See also

References