» For the Indian actor, see Kamal Hassan. A kamal's a celestial navigation device that determines latitude. The invention of the kamal allowed for the earliest known latitude sailing, and employed in the Indian Ocean from the 10th century. It was then adopted by Indian navigators soon after, and then adopted by Chinese navigators some time before the 16th century. The kamal consists of a rectangular wooden card about 2 inches by 1 inch (5 cm by 2.5 cm), to which a string with several equally sp… (More on Kamal)