A ghanjah or ganja[1] (Arabic: غنجه), also known as kotiya in India, is a large wooden trading dhow, a traditional Arabic sailing vessel.[2]
The ghanjah dhows had a curved prow with a characteristic trefoil ornament carved on top of the stem-head. They also had an ornately carved stern and quarter galleries. Their average length was 97feet with a 15m (49feet) keel-length and an average weight of 215 tons. Usually they had two masts, the main mast having a pronounced inclination towards the prow. They used two to three lateen sails; supplementary sails were often added on the bowsprit and on a topmast atop the main mast.[3]
The ghanjah is often difficult to distinguish from the baghlah, a similar type of dhow. Besides the trefoil-shaped carving on top of the stem-head, ghanjahs usually had a more slender shape.[4]
Ghanjahs were widely used in the past centuries as merchant ships in the Indian Ocean between the western coast of the Indian subcontinent and the Arabian Peninsula.[5] Many ghanjahs were built at traditional shipyards in Sur, Oman,[6] as well as in Beypore, Kerala, India.
Ghanjahs were largely replaced by the newer-designed and easier to maneuver booms in the 20th century.