Lakshadweep

Lakshadweep (Hindi: ????????? Tamil: ??????????) is the smallest Union Territory of India. It consists of 12 coral atolls, three coral reefs, and five banks. The total land area of the territory is 32 km². The islands are located in the Arabian Sea, between 200 to 300 km off the coast of Kerala.

Related Topics:
Union Territory - India - Coral - Atoll - Reef - Bank - Arabian Sea - Kerala

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Ten of the islands are inhabited, 17 are not. There are numerous islets which are not counted in this number.

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The inhabited islands are:

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• Agatti
• Amini
• Andrott
• Bangaram
• Bitra
• Chetlat
• Kadmat
• Kalpeni
• Kavaratti
• Minicoy

The main islands are Kavarrati (where the capital city, Kavarrati, is located), Agatti, Minicoy, and Amini. The total population of the territory was 60,595 according to the 2001 census. Agatti has an airport where there are direct flights from Cochin.

Related Topics:
Kavarrati - 2001 - Census - Cochin

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The name of the archipelago literally means hundred thousand islands (laksha = one hundred thousand, dweep = island).

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Until 1973, the island group was known by the anglicized name Laccadives (compare to Maldives, Sanskrit name Maladweepa).

Related Topics:
1973 - Anglicized - Maldives

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The people of the islands speak a dialect of Malayalam. It is a folk belief that they are descendants of traders who where washed up on the islands during a particularly heavy storm.

Related Topics:
Dialect - Malayalam

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The people of the islands are ethnically similar to the people of the Kerala coast of India and are of mixed Indian and Arab descent, except on the southernmost and largest island, Minicoy, where people closely resemble Maldivians, speak Mahl, a language closely related to Dhivehi (Maldivian) which could even be a dialect. 93% of the indigenous population is Muslim and were converted by the Arab apostle Mumba Mulyaka . The locals call themselves the Div-i or the Amadivi (from the mother island).

Related Topics:
Kerala - Arab - Minicoy - Maldivians - Dhivehi - Muslim

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The first westerner on the islands was Vasco da Gama, but the English were the first to explore the islands. It is also mentioned in great detail in the stories of the Arab traveller, Ibn Batuta. The Portuguese established a fort on the islands in May 1498, but the inhabitants rose up against them and chased them away. The islands subsequently became a suzerainty of the Ali Raja of Cannanore, and after the peace of Seringapatam in 1792 the southern group was permitted to remain under the management of the native chief at a yearly tribute.

Related Topics:
Vasco da Gama - English - Ibn Batuta - Portuguese - 1498 - Suzerainty - Ali Raja - Cannanore - Seringapatam - 1792

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