Maritime Conditions

The coastal Harappans came to play a major role in seafaring in the Gulf and the Arabian Sea. From Sutkagen-dor westward, the South Asian coast benefited from the sheltered sailing conditions of the Gulf. East and south of this area, however, ships were exposed to the perilous currents and storms of the Arabian Sea and to the strongly seasonal pattern of the winds. During the winter months, between October/November and March/April, the gentle northeast monsoon winds blow from India toward the Arabian Peninsula and ultimately East Africa. If the Harappans had the knowledge and skill to use these monsoon winds, they may have sailed directly between Gujarat and the Oman coast in the winter; the settlement of Ra's al-Hadd, where Harappan material, including a seal and an ivory comb, has been found, is today the natural landfall for ships using the monsoon winds. Marine conditions bring an

Abundance of fish into Arabian coastal waters during the late summer and winter, making this the main fishing season. This was therefore the time of year when contacts across the Gulf of Oman would have been at their peak, and this would have been the time when fishers and traders crossed between the Indus region and the lands of Arabia and the Gulf, especially the Oman peninsula.

In contrast, in summer, between May and September, the violent and stormy southwest monsoon winds make seafaring dangerous: there was therefore no easy route for seafarers from the Gulf to reach Gujarat at this time of year. Seafaring during the summer would probably have been confined to the calmer waters of the Gulf and to creeks and backwaters in the Indus delta and Gujarat.