Social,
Environmental & Economic Sustainability
Our analysis of the rank of the district
Backwardness : Does not figure in list of 447 backward
districts
Sex Ratio Rank : 339
(Rank one is least sex ratio - Cenus 2001)
HIV Category District : C
(HIV Sentinel Surveillance 2004 - 2006)
Disability : 576 (Census 2001)
Literacy Ratio : 19 (Census 2001)
Minority : Does not figure in MCD
Brief About Lakshadweep
District
Early history of Lakshadweep is unwritten. What now passes for
history is based on various legends. Local traditions attribute
the first settlement on these islands to the period of Cheraman
Perumal, the last king of Kerala. It is believed that after his
conversion to Islam, at the behest of some Arab merchants, he slipped
out of his capital Cranganore, the present day Kodungallor
- an old harbour town Kochi, for Mecca. When his disappearance was
discovered, search parties went after him in sailing boats and left
for the shores of Mecca, in search of the king from different places.
It is believed that one of these sailing boats of Raja of Cannanore
was struck by 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 sighting other islands on their way. 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 unmistakable 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 universally 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
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 enraged the headman of the
island and he ordered his exit at once. St. Ubaidullah(r) stood
firm. Meanwhile, a young woman fell in love with him. He
gave her the name Hameedat Beebi and married her. This further
offended 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 he met with similar opposition but he
succeeded finally 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 island vessels. 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, ending
the Portuguese invasion. Even after the conversion of the
entire islands to Islam, sovereignty remained in the hands of
the Hindu Rajah of Chirakkal for some years. From the hands of
the Chirakkal Raja, the Administration of the island passed on
to the Muslim house of Arakkal of Cannanore around the middle
of the 16th century. The Arakkal rule was oppressive and unbearable.
So sometime in the year 1783 some islanders from Amini took courage
and went to Tipu Sultan at Mangalore and 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 as five 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
and Raja of Chirakkal decided to visit the island in order to
assess 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. so, came the British rule.
The sequestration of the islands 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 treated by the English as something of
misgovernment. 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 tiniest Union Territory of India, 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 32 Sq.Kms and is comprised of ten 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 of all having only 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.
It is located between 8 º- 12 º 13" North latitude and 71º
-74º East longitude, 220 to 440 Kms. away from the
coastal city of Kochi in Kerala, in the emerald 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, Lakshadweep
is a large territory.
Geology
There are no conclusive theories about the formation
of these coral atolls. The most accepted theory is given by the
English Evolutionist Sir Charles Darwin. He concluded in 1842
that the subsidence of a volcanic island resulted in the formation
of a fringing reef and the continual subsidence allowed this to
grow upwards.
