Nakhuda

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A Nakhuda was the captain of a pearling boat sailing in the Persian Gulf, typically from Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (then the Trucial States). 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 the "Jallas". Larger boats would even include a Muttawa to lead prayers. The vessels ranged from the relatively small Banoosh to the 100-foot Jalboot, a corruption of the English term jollyboat. 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. In the early 20th century, Lorimer recorded 1200 boats involved in the trade across the Trucial States, each carrying an average crew of 18.