LACCADIVA or Laccadives, an archipelago off the coast of Malabar, extending from lat. 8° 30' N. to the parallel of lat. 13° 52' N., and fropi long. 71° to 73° 40' E. Most of the islands are low, and surrounded by steep coral reefs. The inhabitants call them the Lakhera-ckevh. Ptolemy' mentions them as the Dimurce Insulin, but Am mianus Marcellus, in the 4th century, styles them merely Divi ; the Arabs and Persians call them Debajat. They were re-discovered in 1499 by Vasco da Gama, and afterwards plundered by the Portuguese. They were then subject to the Muhammadan chiefs of Cannanore, some of them afterwards were under the Beder queens of Bednore, and latterly under the Beebee of Canna nore and the British, and between the last two they are now apportioned. They were visited in 1844-45 by Mr. (Sir) W. Robinson, and in 1867 by Mr. Sewell ; 8 or 10 islands are more or less inhabited, and each with 2 to 3 miles of super ficial area. They are all about 15 to 20 miles apart, separated by great channels, but none of the islands are more than 10 to 15 feet above the sea level. The people in 1871 were 13,495 in number. They are of Maleala origin, but are Muhammadans, and adhere to the Alya Santana, or decensus ab utero, though some of the islands are adopting the filial law of inheritance. They are poor, quiet, and inoffensive, make good pilots. They produce the cocoanut palm and coir, jagari and a few pulses ; a few cattle, sweet potato, and betel-nut. The castor-oil and arnotto plants are grown ; tortoise-shell, holothuria or sea-slug, shells, and shark fins are collected.
The islanders subsist mostly on cocoanuts and fish, and their chief trade is in cocoanuts, coir, codoanut oil, jagari, mats, and coral. Their boats vary from 1 to 15 tons burden, and they visit the western coast of India from Goa to Cochin. They are taught Arabic and Baltite (a dialect of the Maleali) in the mosques by the priests. The largest island is about 7 miles long
and 2i broad, and there are many navigable channels between the islands, the largest of which is the Mamaie or the Nine-degree channel. They pay tribute to the British Government. Tho islands are very difficult to find in thick, squally weather, as scarcely any of them rise more than 6 feet from the surface of the water. When first coming in sight, the cocoanut trees, with which they are thickly covered, have the appearance of growing out of the sea, and, as a rule, no bottom is found at 100 fathoms close up to the beach. The language of the Laccadive group is Malealam, which is, however, written in the Arabic character; that of Minikoi is Mahl, with a mixture of corrupt Malealam. The headmen and pilots of most of the islands know a little Arabic ; and the male inhabitants can generally both read and write. The inhabitants are bold seamen and expert boat builders.
Each of the islands is situated on an extensive coral shoal, with an area of from 2 to 3 square miles. Beneath this crust is loose wet sand ; and by breaking the crust and removing a few spadefuls of sand, to allow the water to accumulate, a pool of fresh water may be obtained in any part. The water in these wells is quite fresh, and always abundant ; but it is affected by the tide,—rises and falls several inches,—and is said to be not very wholesome.
The islands under S. Canara are Amin-Divi, Chetlat, Kadamat, Kiltan, and Bitra (uninhabited) ; and the Cannanore islands under the Beebee of Cannanore are Agathi, Kavarathi, Antrot, Kalpini, Minikoi, and Sukeli (uninhabited).
More than one-sixth of the adult male popula lation of Minikoi perished in a cyclone in 1867.— Johnston, Gazetteer ; Imp. Gaz. ; Mr. William Robertson's Report; Mr. Sewell's Report.