Sea Traders of Odisha
In olden days the ‘Sadhabas’ (Sea traders of Odisha) used to sail off to distant islands like Java, Sumatra, Bali, Indonesia, Singhala (Sri Lanka) etc. for their trade by huge boats. Those boats are called as Boita. The sailors used to set sail in the Asadha month (of Odia calendar, rainy season) and come back by the Baisakha month (summer season). The Kings of ancient Kalinga were masters in the making of Boitas (boats) and Potas (submarines). It is still astonishing to many, that how they do their journey so far on boats with carrying such a heavy amount of commodities while they don’t have any modernized boats, don’t aware of compasses to detect direction and don’t have anything to predict the current weather conditions! The Kings of ancient Kalinga were masters in the making of Boitas (boats) and Potas (submarines). It is still astonishing to many, that how they do their journey so far on boats with carrying such a heavy amount of commodities while they don’t have any modernized boats, don’t aware of compasses to detect direction and don’t have anything to predict the current weather conditions!
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