Benawa or banawa is a type of ship from

Gowa Gowa (''Makassar language : '') is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency in the province of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It has an area of 1,883.33 km2 and a population of 652,329 at the 2010 census, increasing to 765,836 at the 2020 census; the of ...

, 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 world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The earliest record of this vessel is from

Hikayat Banjar The Hikayat Banjar (حكاية بنجر) is the chronicle of Banjarmasin, Indonesia. This text, also called the History of Lambung Mangkurat, contains the history of the kings of Banjar and of Kotawaringin in southeast and south Borneo respectivel ...

, 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 Padewakang were traditional boats used by the Bugis, Mandar, and Makassar people, Makassar people of South Sulawesi. Padewakang were used for long distance voyages serving the south Sulawesi kingdoms. Etymology No-one quite seems to know the or ...

Etymology

The word ''benawa'' or ''banawa'' comes from the kawi Javanese language, which means boat or ship. In the old Javanese language the word ''banawa'' means ''

perahu Proas are various types of multi-hull outrigger sailboats of the Austronesian peoples. The terms were used for native Austronesian ships in European records during the Colonial era indiscriminately, and thus can confusingly refer to the do ...

'' 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

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

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 livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

" 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 In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or " aft", part of the superstructure of a ship. The name originates from the French word for stern, ''la poupe'', from Latin ''puppis''. Thus th ...

. 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 ( sr, Тања) 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 ...

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