Direct monsoon sailing across the Indian Ocean (Hippalus)
Navegación directa a vela con el monzón (Hipalo)
- Date
- c. 100 BCE (tradición de Hipalo) · confidence low
- Place
- Berenice Troglodytica, Red Sea, Egypt
- Credited to
- Greco-Egyptian navigators, traditionally Hippalus
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
Using the seasonal reversal of the monsoon winds to cross the Indian Ocean in open water between the Red Sea and India in a matter of weeks, instead of hugging the coast. It opened regular trade between the Roman Empire and India.
Arab and Indian sailors knew the monsoon long before; Hippalus is a traditional attribution (Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Pliny) and Eudoxus of Cyzicus (c. 118 BC) is another candidate. The credit is for Greek exploitation, not for discovering the phenomenon.
What it led to
- Roman trade with India and the Muziris route
- the rise of Red Sea ports such as Berenice and Myos Hormos
- its description in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea