Sadhabas (or Sadhavas) (Odia: ସାଧବ sādhaba) were ancient mariners from the Kalinga region, which roughly corresponds to modern Odisha, India. They used ships called Boitas to travel to distant lands such as South-East Asia to carry out trade.[1][2][3][4]
The early hours of Kartik Purnima (the full moon day in October and November) was considered an auspicious occasion by the Sadhabas to begin their long voyages.[5] Coconuts, earthenware, sandalwood, cloth, lime, rice, spices, salt, cloves, pumpkins, silk sarees, betel leaves, betel nuts, elephants, precious and semi-precious stones were the main items of trade.[6] Even women went on voyages as well and were known as Sadhabanis (Odia: ସାଧବାଣୀ sādhabāṇī). Odia navigators were instrumental in spreading Buddhism and Hinduism in East and Southeast Asia. In addition, they disseminated knowledge of Indian architecture, epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Brahmic scripts writing system and Sanskrit loan words which are present in many Southeast Asian languages from different language families such as Khmer, Thai, Cham, Balinese etc.
Maritime trade declined only in the 16th century, with the decline of the Gajapati Empire.