Gallivat on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The ''gallivat'' (or ''galivat'', or ''gallevat'', or ''gallowet'', or ''gallouet'') was a small, armed boat, with 
In 1754, a listing of Sidhi vessels seized by the EIC and held at Surat in 1759 gives the names of seven gallivats. The largest, ''Manzul'', had a length of 44 feet, a breadth of 17 feet, and a hold depth of 4 feet. The length and breadth measurements translate into a burthen (bm) of 52 ton. The smallest gallivat, ''Ram Chand'', had a length of 29 feet, a breadth, of 13 feet, a hold depth of 4 feet, yielding a burthen of 19 tons.
A gallivat that the EIC captured in 1775 measured 84 feet in length, and 24 feet in breadth, which yields a burthen of 213 tons. She had a single, forward-raked mast, and 24 oars, and carried ten 6-pounder guns. This would seem to be at the upper end of the size for a galivat, and represent a vessel more in the range of sizes for a grab.
sail
A sail is a tensile structure, which is made from fabric or other membrane materials, that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may b ...
s and oars, used on the Malabar Coast
The Malabar Coast () is the southwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. It generally refers to the West Coast of India, western coastline of India stretching from Konkan to Kanyakumari. Geographically, it comprises one of the wettest regio ...
in the 18th and 19th centuries. The word may derive from Portuguese "galeota" or alternatively, from the Maratha
The Marathi people (; Marathi: , ''Marāṭhī lōk'') or Marathis (Marathi: मराठी, ''Marāṭhī'') are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are native to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-A ...
"gal hat" ship. Hobson-Jobson has an extensive discussion of the origins of the term and its usage.
The gallivat typically had one or two masts with a lateen
A lateen (from French ''latine'', meaning "Latin") or latin-rig is a triangular sail set on a long Yard (sailing) , yard mounted at an angle on the mast (sailing) , mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction. The Settee (sail), settee can be ...
sail, and some 20 benches for oarsmen, one on each side. They were generally under 70 tons ( bm) in size, and had a prow much like that of a grab.
One of the ablest admirals of the 18th Century Maratha Navy, Kanhoji Angre (a.k.a. Angria), made great use of gallivats. Generally, each of his grabs would have an attendant gallivat, both to tow it in calms and to carry extra men.
On December 27, 1735 Angre attacked the East Indiaman
East Indiamen were merchant ships that operated under charter or licence for European trading companies which traded with the East Indies between the 17th and 19th centuries. The term was commonly used to refer to vessels belonging to the Bri ...
off Suvarnadurg. He deployed nine galleys, five grabs, and fifteen gallivats. ''Derby'' eventually struck her colours after having seven men killed and five wounded. Angre kept the surviving crew prisoners for 11 months until the Governor of Bombay ransomed them.
In 1754, a listing of Sidhi vessels seized by the EIC and held at Surat in 1759 gives the names of seven gallivats. The largest, ''Manzul'', had a length of 44 feet, a breadth of 17 feet, and a hold depth of 4 feet. The length and breadth measurements translate into a burthen (bm) of 52 ton. The smallest gallivat, ''Ram Chand'', had a length of 29 feet, a breadth, of 13 feet, a hold depth of 4 feet, yielding a burthen of 19 tons.
A gallivat that the EIC captured in 1775 measured 84 feet in length, and 24 feet in breadth, which yields a burthen of 213 tons. She had a single, forward-raked mast, and 24 oars, and carried ten 6-pounder guns. This would seem to be at the upper end of the size for a galivat, and represent a vessel more in the range of sizes for a grab.
Gallivats of the Bombay Marine
The BritishEast India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
made some use of gallivats, particularly for the Bombay Marine, which was the British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
's (EIC) navy.
1754
The largest gallivat, ''Shark(e)'', had a crew of six Europeans, six "Christian topasses", 20 lascars, and 16 soldiers. The smallest gallivat, ''Swift'', had a crew of two Europeans, 14 lascars, and 11 soldiers. Her smallest guns (½-pounders) were possiblyswivel gun
A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is a small cannon mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rot ...
s.''Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency'', Vol. 26, Part 3, p. 220. (Government Central Press, 1894). The soldiers were frequently from the Bombay Marine Battalion.
In 1759, the Bombay Marine had 13 gallivats, six at Bombay and seven at Surat. Each had a crew consisting of two Europeans, some two to six Christian topasses ( Luso-Asians), and 14 to 20 lascars. They carried from five to seven guns of various sizes.
1766
In 1773 the Bombay Dockyard built ''Hawke'', a gallivat, for the Bengal Pilot service. By 1802 the Bombay Marine had no gallivats in service.Notes
Citations
References
* * * * {{Sailing vessels and rigs Maratha Navy Sailboat types Tall ships Ships in art