Shipbuilding Industry one of the early industries developed in Bengal based on its old business of building boats and sea vessels. Many countries of Asia and Europe regularly bought ships built in chittagong. Indian, Dutch, Portuguese, French and English merchants from different parts of the world came to this region by ships and sails. The merchants of Bengal also went to different countries. The merchants of Yemen and Babylonian zones had monopoly trade with China and the Indian islands since the second century BC. The Arabian Muslim merchants came to Bengal for trade during the eighth and ninth centuries. The Europeans found trading with India more attractive after Vasco da Gama had discovered the sea route from Europe to India and new ports were set up in different parts of India to take the benefit of the added advantage. Bengal was in a very important position in this regard. Traders procured silk clothes, spices and sugar from Bengal and sold them in Europe at prices with high margins. Chittagong was the principal seaport of Bengal. A shipbuilding industry was developed near the port and the industry played a significant role in supplying ships to other places of India and to many countries of Europe.

Many travelers who visited Bengal provide accounts of the technology and extent of shipbuilding industry in Bengal. Other than at Chittagong, the industry was also developed near some large river ports of Bengal. Chittagong, however, remained the most important location. duarte barbosa mentioned about the sea vessels of the local Muslim traders in the 'Bengal' town (Chittagong). ma huan saw how ships were made at the port. caesar frederick entered Bengal in 1567. He mentioned that Chittagong port was the best centre of building ocean-going vessels. According to him, the ships built at Chittagong were more attractive than those built at Alexandria and belonging to the Sultan of Turkey. Venetian traveler Missia wrote that abundant timbers and other necessary elements suitable for shipbuilding were available in sandwip and Chittagong. The Sultan of Turkey bought ships built at Chittagong because they were the best and easily available. The shipbuilding industry flourished at Chittagong because loha kath (xylia dolabiformis), segun (tectona grandis) and jarul kath (lagerstromia speciosa) suitable for shipbuilding were available in abundance in the chittagong hill tracts.

Once the Sultan of Turkey got thirteen ships of sails built at Chittagong under one order. In the 17th century, the entire fleet of ships of the Sultan of Turkey was built at Chittagong. During the Mughal period, Bengal was at the top in building ships and boats. The Mughal naval force had a huge number of ships of this region and the ships built at Chittagong were used in the battles. In the first part of the nineteenth century, the shipyards of Chittagong manufactured ships up to 1,000 tons. The British Navy also used ships built at Chittagong and in 1805, it used them in the famous battle of Trafalgar. In 1818, the Germans procured a ship built from Chittagong. It was named the Deutschland Frigate. The list of ships owned by the Calcutta port in 1924 included 11 English ones, of which 8 were built at Chittagong. Caesar Frederick wrote that every year Chittagong exported 25 to 30 ships to other countries including Alexandria.

French traveler tavernier wrote about Dhaka as a town that stretched along the northern bank of a large river. He found that most inhabitants of the riverbank were carpenters. They built battle ships and small boats. He also observed that the Dutch used to buy the battle ships built by these carpenters and used them in their trade routes. At that time, a powerful naval centre developed here side by side with the prosperity of shipbuilding at Chittagong and Sandwip. Chittagong, sonargaon, Dhaka and other ports were the abode of many artisans who specialised in building boats and ships. Chittagong was the berth for the naval fleet of Sultan Fakhruddin Mobarak Shah and according to the accounts in Ain-i-Akbari, Dhaka was the headquarters of his naval forces.

The craftsmen engaged in shipbuilding at Chittagong were mostly illiterate. They had acquired the art of shipbuilding as an inherited skill. In Chittagong, the low caste Hindus of Balami Para and some Muslims of Agrabad were engaged in shipbuilding. They used simple technology in building ships. First, coarse mats made of bamboo slips were spread on plain land matched to the measurement of the ship. The model of the ship was then made by pasting thin wood on the design drawn on the bed. Gradually, the structure was constructed from the principal base using dara, gochha and planks of wood. After building the hold, the deck and the cabins were built. Then the mast was fixed for setting the sail and the helm was attached. Finally, the ship was equipped with the kalpat, the thin wooden bolts inserted in the joints of the wooden planks to seal the gaps. Many rollers were placed in rows and the ship was placed on them to slip into the water.

The shipbuilding industry of Chittagong was waning towards last part of the nineteenth century. The main causes were the obsolescence of the steam engines and the lack of support from the colonial rulers in a situation when the ships built in Bengal were cheaper, more durable and safer than those built in England and the British shipbuilders faced competition with the local shipbuilding industry. Although lord wellesly, Governor General of India, encouraged building of standard ships at cheaper costs for the English traders, the owners of the shipbuilding farms of England succeeded in getting a bill passed in their favor in the British Parliament. The bill contained that the British ships not having three-fourths of their sailors from British origin would be confiscated and Indian ships would not be allowed entrance to the ports of London, if the captain was not a British citizen. Discriminatory import duties were imposed on transshipments by the British and non-British ships. The duty was heavier for goods transshipped by non-British ships. The shipbuilding industry however, survived to meet local demands and gradually, the dockyards at Chittagong and other places of Bangladesh lost competitive edge in the face of modern technology adopted by the industry abroad and had turned into more a service centre than a manufacturing area. [Aminur Rahman]