Lakshadweep

Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R)

---

Lakshadweep Map

Lakshadweep is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands in the Arabian Sea, located 200 to 440 km off the Malabar Coast.

Variants

• Laccadive Islands
• Laccadives

Origin

The name Lakshadweep means "one lakh islands" (one hundred thousand islands) in Malayalam and Sanskrit, though the Laccadive Islands are just one part of the archipelago of no more than a hundred islands.

Geography

Kavaratti serves as the capital of the Union Territory and the region comes under the jurisdiction of Kerala High Court. The islands are the northernmost of the Lakshadweep–Maldives–Chagos group of islands, which are the tops of a vast undersea mountain range, the Chagos-Lakshadweep Ridge.The Lakshadweep originally consisted of 36 islands; however, due to the Parali island being submerged in water due to sea erosion, 35 islands remain.

Lakshadweep is an archipelago of twelve atolls, three reefs and five submerged banks, with a total of about thirty-nine islands and islets. The reefs are in fact also atolls, although mostly submerged, with only small unvegetated sand cays above the high-water mark. The submerged banks are sunken atolls. Almost all the atolls have a northeast–southwest orientation with the islands lying on the eastern rim, and a mostly submerged reef on the western rim, enclosing a lagoon. It has ten inhabited islands, 17 uninhabited islands, attached islets, four newly formed islets and five submerged reefs.

History

Ancient history: As the islands have no aboriginal inhabitants, scholars have suggested different histories for the settlement of these islands. Archaeological evidence supports the existence of human settlement in the region around 1500 BCE. The islands have long been known to sailors, as indicated by an anonymous reference from the first century CE to the region in Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. There are references to the control of the islands by the Cheras in the Sangam Patiṟṟuppattu. Local traditions and legends attribute the first settlement on these islands to the period of Cheraman Perumal, the last Chera king of Kerala. The oldest inhabited islands in the group are Amini, Kalpeni Andrott, Kavaratti, and Agatti.

The islands were also mentioned in the Buddhist Jataka stories of the sixth century BCE. Islam was established in the region when Muslims arrived around the seventh century. During the medieval period, the region was ruled by the Chera dynasty, the Chola dynasty, and finally the Kingdom of Kannur. The Catholic Portuguese arrived around 1498 but were expelled by 1545. The region was then ruled by the Muslim house of Arakkal, who were vassals to the Kolathiri Rajas of Kannur, followed by Tipu Sultan. On his death in 1799, most of the region passed on to the British and with their departure, the Union Territory was formed in 1956.

Mention by Pliny

Pliny mentions The Indus .... But first there are some other islands of which we must make mention. Patala,²⁰ as we have already stated, lies at the mouth of the Indus: it is of a triangular figure, and is two hundred and twenty miles in breadth. Beyond the mouth of the Indus are the islands of Chryse and Argyre,²¹ abounding in metals, I believe; but as to what some persons have stated, that their soil consists of gold and silver, I am not so willing to give a ready credence to that. After passing these islands we come to Crocala,²² twenty miles in breadth, and then, at twelve miles' distance from it, Bibraga,²³ abounding in oysters and other bell-fish. At eight miles' distance from Bibraga we find Toralliba, and many others of no note.

---

20 Supposed by some to have been Lower Scinde, and the vicinity of Kurrachee, with its capital Potala.

21 Ansart suggests that these may be the Laccadives. Their name means the "gold" and "silver" islands.

22 Probably an island near the mouths of the Indus.

23 Probably the same as the Bibacta of Arrian. The present name of it is Chilney Isle.