The Great Basses wreck is an early 18th-century shipwreck on Great Basses Reef, about 12 km off the south coast of Sri Lanka, discovered by

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

and Mike Wilson in 1961. The ship, ultimately identified as belonging to the

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

, yielded fused bags of silver

rupee Rupee is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...

s, cannons, and other artifacts. The discovery was carefully documented and became the basis for Clarke's 1964 book ''The Treasure of the Great Reef''.McAleer, Neil. ''Arthur C. Clarke: The Authorized Biography'', Contemporary Books, Chicago, 1992. A clump of rupees from the wreck was featured on the History Channel series '' Pawn Stars'' in the episode " Shocking Chum" (this segment was shown again in " Greatest Gambles").

References

External links

Taj Mahal Treasure
Treasure from shipwrecks Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean Shipwrecks of Sri Lanka Arthur C. Clarke 1961 in Sri Lanka Mughal Empire {{shipwreck-stub