Nakhuda

For the city in Iran, see Naqadeh. For the 1981 Hindi film, see Nakhuda (film).

Nakhuda (Persian: ناخدا, romanized: nâxodâ, lit. 'captain'), historically spelled Nacodah, is derived from the Middle Persian nāw khudāy "master of the boat".[1]

Historically, people with this epithet are Muslim and Kamili Jewish ship-owning merchants of Persian origin known to have crossed the Persian Gulf to trade in other coastal areas of the world. Besides in Southern Iran those with the surname Nakhuda can be found in coastal areas of the world in small numbers such as the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, Oman, Pakistan, Malaysia and India. It is also a title historically associated with pearl diving; [2] As nakhoda, it is also the Malayic word for a sea captain of any kind (not just what this article describes). The modern Gulf Arabic term is قبطان, ultimately a loanword from Latin capitāneus.


There is a town called Nakhl-e Nakhoda in Southern Iran in Hormozgan province on the Persian Gulf.[3]


Arabian Pearling vessels would typically take to sea with the Nakhuda, assistant Mijadimi, a singer Nahham, some eight divers Ghais, and ten haulers Saib. The cook on the vessel was titled Jallas. Larger boats would even include a Muttawa to lead prayers.[2][4]

The vessels ranged from the relatively small Banoosh to the 100-foot Jalboot, a corruption of the English term jollyboat.[5][6] The trade was lucrative - at the turn of the 19th century, revenues from the Gulf pearl trade were estimated at some £1,434,000, with an additional £30,439 of this earned from mother-of-pearl.[7]

In the early 20th century, Lorimer[who?] recorded 1200 boats involved in the trade across the Trucial States, each carrying an average crew of 18.[7]

  1. ^ "The mystery of the Nambiar Nakhuda". Archived from the original on 5 December 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Pearls and Pearl Diving". Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding. 2014-05-16. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  3. ^ "Nakhl e Nakhoda, Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, Iran". Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  4. ^ Heard-Bey, Frauke (2005). From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates : a society in transition. London: Motivate. p. 184. ISBN 1860631673. OCLC 64689681.
  5. ^ C., Peck, Malcolm (2010). The A to Z of the Gulf Arab States. Peck, Malcolm C. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. p. 151. ISBN 9780810876361. OCLC 606770070.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "Small sketches of brig off the Malabar coast 6 Jan 1853. Annotated - National Maritime Museum". collections.rmg.co.uk. Gooii Ltd. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  7. ^ a b Heard-Bey, Frauke (2005). From Trucial States to United Arab Emirates : a society in transition. London: Motivate. pp. 182–3. ISBN 1860631673. OCLC 64689681.