Ghurab or gurab is a type of merchant and warship from Nusantara archipelago. The ship was a result of Mediterranean influences in the region, particularly introduced by the Arabs, Persians, and Ottoman.
Etymology
The name of this ship include gorap, gorab, gurab, ghurap, gurap, and benawagurab. The name comes from arab word "ghurāb" or "ghorāb", meaning raven or crow. The word also mean "vessel" or "galley" in Arabic or Persian. The word benawa or banawa comes from kawiJavanese language, which means boat or ship. In old Javanese language and Malay language the meaning is more or less the same.
Description
Ghurab is a medium to large-sized Malaytrading vessel. They can be converted into a warship by adding swivel guns. Early ghurab was galley-like, it has oars in addition to sails. The larger ghurab had 2 guns pointing fore and 15 on the each side, with the total of 32 guns. The smaller ones carried 2 fore and 10 on each side. The ghurab has projecting stern. H. Warington Smyth, in 1902 described a large 2-masted trading gurap built of giam wood. The dimension is as follows: 300 ft long, 30 ft wide, 20 ft depth, 11 ft freeboard. The capacity was 100 koyan, with 100 ft mainmast, crewed by 30 men. The vessel is using fore-and-aft sail made with cloth, with yard and gaff topsail.
Role
Ghurab is used as trading ship as well as warship. One of the earliest account of ghurab is from 15th century, being mentioned in Hikayat Hang Tuah. Two pencalang and two ghurab were used by Majapahit to send a letter and gifts to improve relationship with Malacca. The ghurabs were said to be "in the style of the Arabs' ". Until early 16th century main merchant and warship of the Javanese was the jong, but since the mid-16th century the maritime forces of the archipelago began to use new types of agile naval vessels that could be equipped with larger cannons: In various attacks on Portuguese Malacca after the defeat of Pati Unus, they no longer used jong, but used lancaran, ghurab and ghali. In 1515, Bintan attacked Kampar and Portuguese Malacca with 24 lancaran and 6 large ones called gurab. . The Hikayat Aceh states that the Acehnese sultanate had 120 large ghurab in the 1570s. The state ghurab of Aceh, Daya, and Pedir is said to carry 10 meriam, 50 lela, and 120 cecorong. Smaller ones carry 5 meriam, 20 lela, and 50 cecorong. In 1624, war fleet of the Mataram Sultanate numbered 2000 vessels consisted of gurab and small perahu. At 22 August 1628, 59 goraps of Sultan Agung's navy appeared at Batavia, unloading provisions for the Siege of Batavia.
Ships with similar name
There are several type of ships historically also called as ghurab or similar names. The description and construction of each vessels, however, isn't necessarily the same.
Mediterranean
According to Al-Maqrizi, ghurāb of the mediterranean sea were huge war galleys. According Ibn Mammati, these ships had 140 oars. Al-Maqrizi refers to both Muslim and Christian galleys as ghurāb. Reinaud said that ghorāb was the name given by Moors to true galleys. Ubaldo tells about ghurāb as vessels sailing to and from Tripoli. Genizah letters mentions about cargo ghurābs that sailed from the Maghrib and Sicily as well as those operating on the Nile, carrying shipments of carob and flax.
Indian Ocean
Indian ocean ghurāb, which often appears in the records of 17th century was native Arab-Persian and Indian cargo, pirate, and war vessels. Abu Shama ca. 1266-1267, in Kitab al-rawdatayn fi akhbar al-dawlatayn, wrote about ghurāb:
"They sail by their masts ; they quivers, but penetrate like arrows... It is no surprise that they are called ghurābs because they spread their wings like those of a dove"
Sidi Ali in 1552, describes ghurābs as “great vessels”; he also says that smaller ghurābs are “galliots with oars”. Grab of Malabar coast is a vessel that was generally of shallow draft, and broad in proportion to its length. Size could range between 150 and as much as 500 tons.
