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| Wikipedia Guide |
| Lakshadweep ( listen (help·info); Malayalam: ലക്ഷദ്വീപ് Lakṣadvīp, Mahl: ލަކްޝަދީބު Lakshadīb), traditionally called in English the Laccadive Islands, the smallest union territory of India, is a group of islands 200 to 300 km off of the coast of Keralam in the Laccadive Sea. Their total land area is 11 sq mi or 32 km². Ten of the islands are inhabited. Lakshadweep is the northern part of the erstwhile Lakshadweepa.
Lakshadweep, comes from Lakshadweepa, which literally means one hundred thousand (लक्षं laksha) islands (वीप dweepa) in Sanskrit.
The people of all the northern islands speak a dialect of Malayalam. According to local folk beliefs, they descended from traders who were washed up on the islands during a particularly heavy storm. However, the people of Minicoy, the southernmost atoll, speak Mahl, a variant of Divehi, the language of the Maldives.
The islanders are ethnically similar to coastal Kerala's Malayali people, and were influenced by Arab traders. Inhabitants of... Read more at wikipedia... |
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| Title |
 Lakshadweep means "thousands of islands". |
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| Facts At A Glance |
| Main Languages |
Mahalayam , Mahi |
| Population |
60.00 thousands |
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| Description |
 This is the smallest Union Territory of India.It was constituted a Union Territory in 1956. Lakshadweep is an archipelago consisting of 12 atolls, three reefs and five submerged banks. It is a uni-district Union Territory with an area of just 32 Sq.Kms.It is comprised of 11 inhabited islands, 17 uninhabited islands attached islets, four newly formed islets and 5 submerged reefs. The inhabited islands are Kavaratti, Agatti, Amini, Kadmat, Kiltan, Chetlat, Bitra, Andrott, Kalpeni and Minicoy. Bitra is The smallest island is Bitra with a population of 225 persons (Census 1991). The uninhabited island Bangaram has been enumerated during 1991 census operation and has a population of 61 persons.
According to the 1991 Census, Lakshadweep has a population of 51707 persons. (It is 60,595 as per the Census -2001, provisional population Data sheet). More than 93% of the population who are indigenous, are Muslims and majority of them belong to the Shafi School of the Sunni Sect.
Malayalam is the main language of all the islands. Only in Minicoy people speak Mahl which is written in Divehi script. This language is spoken in Maldives also. The entire indigenous population has been classified as Scheduled Tribes because of their backwardness. According to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes list (modification orders), 1956, the inhabitants of Lakshadweep who and both of whose parents were born in these islands are treated as Scheduled Tribes. There are no Scheduled Castes in this Union Territory.
The main occupation of the people is fishing, coconut cultivation and coir twisting. Tourism is an impotant industry. |
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| Location |
 It is located between 8 ?- 12 ? 13" North latitude and 71? -74? East longitude.It is situated 220 to 440 Kms. away from the coastal city of Kochi in Kerala, in the Arabian sea. Considering its lagoon area of about 4,200 Sq.kms, 20,000 Sq.kms of territorial waters and about 4 lakhs Sq.kms. of economic zone. |
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| Travel Tips |
 These islands have a humid, warm & generally pleasant climate. The annual rainfall is 1640 mm, annual rainfall decreass from South to North. 80-90-days in a year are rainy days.. Winds are light to moderate during October to March. |
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| History |
 Historians have not found anything written about the early history of Lakshadweep. It's history is based on various legends. Local traditions confirm that the first settlement on these islands was in the period of Cheraman Perumal, the last king of Kerala. It is believed that he got converted to Islam, at the behest of some Arab merchants. He then left slipped his capital Cranganore, the present day Kodungallor - an old harbour town Kochi, for Mecca. After this incident search parties from different places went after him in sailing boats and left for the shores of Mecca. It is believed that one of these sailing boats of Raja of Cannanore met with a fierce storm and they were shipwrecked on the island now known as Bangaram. From there they went to the nearby island of Agatti. Finally the weather improved and they returned to the mainland . It is said that after their return another party of sailors and soldiers discovered the island of Amini and started living there. It is believed that the people sent there were Hindus. Even now deep Hindu Social stratification exists in these islands despite Islam. Legends say that small settlements started in the Islands of Amini, Kavaratti, Andrott and Kalpeni first and later people from these islands moved to the other islands of Agatti, Kiltan, Chetlat and Kadmat. This legend of Cheraman Perumal is not, however, substantiated.
The advent of Islam dates back to the 7th century around the year 41 Hijra. It is believed that one St.Ubaidullah(r) while praying at Mecca fell asleep. He dreamt that Prophet Mohammed(s) wanted him to go to Jeddah and take a ship from there to go to distant places. Thus, he left Jeddah immediately but after sailing for months, a storm wrecked his ship near these small Islands. Floating on a plank he was swept ashore on the island of Amini. He fell asleep there but again dreamt of the Prophet asking him to propagate Islam in that Island. Ubaidullah started doing so. But this annoyed the headman of the island and he ordered his exit at once. St. Ubaidullah(r) stood firm in his mission. Meanwhile, a young woman fell in love with him. He gave her the name Hameedat Beebi and married her. This further annoyed the headman and he decided to kill him. It is said that the headman and his henchmen surrounded Ubaidullah(r) and his wife to kill them. At once St.Ubaidullah(r) called up on the Almighty and the people were struck blind. At this time St.Ubaidullah(r) and his wife disappeared and as soon as they left the island people regained their eye sight. From Amini St.Ubaidullah(r) arrived at Andrott where initially he faced similar problem.Finally he succeeded in converting the people to Islam. He next went to other islands and successfully propagated Islam and returned to Andrott where he died, and was buried. The grave of St.Ubaidullah(r) is today a sacred place. Preachers from Andrott are respected deeply in far off lands like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Burma etc. It is a marabout or Mukbara.
The arrival of the Portuguese in India again made Laccadives an important place for seafarers. It was also the beginning of years of plunder for the islands. The finely spun coir was much sought after for ships. So the Portuguese started looting this island. They forcibly landed at Amini to procure coir sometime in the early 16th century. But it is said that the people killed all the invaders by poisoning them. Thus ending ending the Portuguese invasion.
The entire islands were converted to Islam, but the administration remained in the hands of the Hindu Rajah of Chirakkal for some years.Around the middle of the 16th. century the soverenity of the island was passed on to the Muslim house of Arakkal of Cannanore . The Arakkal rule was oppressive and unbearable. Some islanders from Amini in the year 1783 took courage and went to Tipu Sultan at Mangalore. They requested him to take over the Administration of Amini group of islands. Tipu Sultan at that time was on friendly terms with Beebi of Arakkel and after deliberations, the islands of Amini group were handed over to him. Thus the islands suzerainty came to be divided. Five islands came under the rule of Tipu Sultan and the rest continued under Arakkal house. After the battle of Seringapattom in 1799 the islands were annexed to the British East India Company and were administered from Mangalore. In 1847, a severe cyclone hit the island of Andrott. Then the Raja of Chirakkal decided to visit the island in order to see the damages and for distributing relief. An officer of the East India Company Sir William Robinson volunteered to accompany him. On reaching Andrott, the Rajah found it difficult to meet all the demands of the people. Sir William then offered the Rajah help in the form of a loan. This was accepted. This arrangement continued for about four years but when the interest started mounting, the English asked the Rajah to repay them which he could not. In 1854 all the remaining islands were handed over to the East India Company for Administration.Thus, came the British rule.
This is a clear example of the political manipulations and methods adopted by the British for establishing their supremacy in India. Its traditional system of administration was not acceptable to the English . But they were more interested in their own political and economic interests than the good government of the islands. Their policy was to exploit the profits from the islands through the Beebi without taking responsibility of its administration. The British later brought the Lakshadweep Regulation 1912,which confers limited power of judicial and magisterial status to Amins/Karanis of the islands. A reasonable restriction of outsiders were also brought into force by the above regulation. Nine Primary Schools and few dispensaries were started during the colonial rule in the islands.
The Union Territory was formed in 1956 and it was named Lakshadweep in 1973. |
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| Festivals |
Kolkali & Parichakali are the two popular dance forms in the Territory. They are an integral part of the cultural milieu except in Minicoy where " Lava ' is the folk dance form. Some of the folk dances have a resemblance with those in North Eastern India.
For marriages " Opana " is a common ritual, a song is sung by a lead singer & followed by a group of women. Picnics are a common leisure activity in Minicoy. The widely celebrated festivals are Idulfitr, Bakrid, Milad-Ul-Nabi & Muharram. |
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