A large wooden merchant sailing vessel used historically in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, with a distinctive high poop deck.
From Arabic origin, closely related to 'baggala.' A variant form used particularly in nautical contexts describing Indian Ocean trading ships from the medieval to early modern period.
Baghlas and baggalas are sometimes used interchangeably, but baghlas are often described as smaller and more agile—yet historians still debate which term applies to which boat, showing how shipwright traditions resisted written standardization!
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