Stone Anchors from Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep, India

Abstract

Lakshadweep Islands lie on the sea route between South Asia, Far East and African countries. Being on the trade route, boats and ships used the islands of Lakshadweep as a stopover to take on fresh water. Lakshadweep Islands played an important role in the shipping route before the opening of the Suez Canal.In order to understand the earliest human habitation at Lakshadweep Islands 2The Lakshadweep Islands (Fig. 1) lie on the west coast of India. Until the opening of the Suez Canal they lay on the trade-route between the Mediterranean and South-East Asian countries, and in ancient times were used as a stopover to take on fresh water. It is difficult to ascertain exactly when these islands were inhabited but Saigal (1990) has postulated that they were first settled c.1500 BC. The ships of Gujarat might have passed these islands on their voyages to Egypt c.1500 BC, and terracotta artefacts discovered at Kalpeni may belong to this period. However, further archaeological exploration needed to be undertaken. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) carried out surveys on the Lakshadweep Islands in order to understand their earliest human occupation. Exploration at Kavaratti, Androth, Agatti and Kadmat Islands has yielded Red Polished Ware (RPW), red ware, black ware, dull-red ware and buff ware (IAR, 1983-4; Rao et al., 1995-6). Furthermore, red ware and coarse grey ware belonging to the Early Historic and Medieval periods were also found at Amini, suggesting that the Lakshadweep islands were inhabited during the Early Historic Period, if not earlier. Though Islam came to Lakshadweep after the 11th and 12th centuries AD, the islanders had established trade relations with Oman and other Gulf countries, exporting coconut, coir and coconut wood, for which the islands were famous. The inhabitants built stitched boats, completely constructed from coconut palms-hull, masts, stitches, ropes and even sails (Hourani, 1995). With the passage of time the maritime contacts between the people of Lakshadweep and Arabs became closer, as demonstrated by the discovery of an Indo- 3Arabian stone anchor in the Jama Mosque on Minicoy. This paper discusses the stone anchors of Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep, and ascribes tentative dates to them in relation to the maritime history of the islands. Indo-Arabian stone anchorThe Indo-Arabian stone anchor found at the Jama Mosque at Funhilol on Minicoy had been used as a lintel for the entrance. Some years back, when the mosque was renovated, the anchor had been removed, and was found lying within the compound (Fig. 2). The mosque was built in the year 1344 of the Hijri (2008 is the Hijri year 1429, so 1344 = 1923). It has been trimmed neatly, and chisel-marks are visible on the surfaces of the lower portion. The upper hole is circular and the lower holes are square (one smaller than the other). A piece has been chipped from the upper side of the anchor, but there are no signs of wear. The upper portion of the anchor is tapered and round and...

Island Ecosystems Host Rich Diversity in Coconut (Cocos nucifera): Evidences from Minicoy Island, India

“…The Minicoy Island has served as a halting point for many seafarers from Southeast Asia to Africa before the opening of Suez Canal [48]. All these might have contributed towards the migration of coconut populations from Nicobar Islands and other SE Asian Islands to Minicoy and then to other places in Lakshadweep and from there to mainland India.…”

“…It was reported that domestic type coconuts, selected by early cultivators in Southeast Asian countries for large nut volume as a refreshing drinking water source, were subsequently carried during long voyages by ancestors of the Polynesians, who reached Madagascar in the west and Samoa in the east. Minicoy Island is situated in the path of this route and archaeological evidences point to the transport of goods through this Island [48]. Hence, the occurrence of large Fig.…”

Geochemical and mineralogical analysis of stone anchors from west coast of India: provenance study using thin sections, XRF and SEM-EDS

“…Numerous stone anchors of different shapes and types have been reported during onshore and offshore explorations around the world, notably from Arabian Gulf, Egypt, Israel, Greece, India, China, Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, South China Sea and Red Sea (Agius, 2005;Athiyaman and Jayakumar, 2004;Frost, 1970Frost, , 1985Frost, , 1989Frost, , 1996Gaur et al, 2007;Kapitan, 1994;Moll, 1927;Nibbi, 1993;Nouhuys, 1951;Raban, 2000;Tripati et al, 1998Tripati et al, , 2003Tripati, 2009;Souter, 1998;Upham, 1983;Wachsmann, 1998).…”

The peopling of Lakshadweep Archipelago

“…The local stories suggest the arrival of Islam in 661 AD by Arabians. Later, Cholas ruled the islands in 11 th , Portuguese in 16 th , Ali Rajahs in 17 th , Tipu Sultan in 18 th and finally it was under British Raj in 19 th Century 1–6 . Arab traveller Ibn Batuta mentioned about these islands in many of his stories 2 .…”