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| Ruler on a boat with attendants 17th century, reign of Jahangir British Museum |
“Nawara, these boats were fashioned into fanciful shapes such as wild animals, etc. They were roofed in at one end, which was covered with broad cloth; they were better finished and lighter than a common boat (kishti). The boatmen were mostly from Kashmir and used Kashmiri calls to each other when working.“
~ From a footnote in Later Mughals (1922) by William Irvine. Source is given as Mirat-Ul-Istilah (1745) of Anand Ram Mukhlis who gives a description of Babar’s boating experience.
Nawara, the word among Mughals for river fleet, may now be an unfamiliar term in South Asia but boat people in another part of Asia recognize it. It is part of boat legends of Myanmar.
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