War in Ancient India c7.s3.35

c7.s3.35

Coming to later times we have the account of Huen Tsang who notices a fleet of 30,000 sail belonging to the King of Assam. There is inscriptional evidence of the possession of a fleet under the Kākatīyas and the Cholas in South India. Marco Polo testifies to the huge size and efficient construction of Indian vessels while Yule in his *Cathey* refers to Rajput ships *en route* to China. Friar Odoric saw one with 700 passengers. Varthema (1503 A.D.) saw vessels of 1,000 tons burden built at Masulipatam. According to Dr. Vincent, India built great sized vessels from the time of Agathareids (171 B.C.) to the 16th century. And no wonder the Portuguese when they first landed at the west coast were carried away by the excellent India vessels. Later still, the Vijayanagara Empire, which had as many as 300 ports,¹²³ had a powerful fleet. The naval commander was styled *Naviyādaprabhu*.¹²⁴ More of this in the section on naval warfare.