Maritime archaeology of Lakshadweep Islands, India

Abstract

Lakshadweep Islands lie on the sea route between South Asia, Far East and African countries Boats and ships used the islands of Lakshadweep as a stopover to take on fresh water The Islands of Lakshadweep played a significant role in the shipping route from Europe to Asia before the opening of the Suez Canal In order to delineate the earliest human habitation and maritime contacts of Lakshadweep Islands, archaeological explorations was carried on by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) and different types of pottery, Roman coins, Buddha heads and stone anchors have been recovered from the following islands in Lakshadweep Chain: Androth, Kadmat, Kavaratti, Kalpeni and Minicoy In addition to inshore explorations, shipwrecks have also been explored off Minicoy and Suheli Par This paper details the archaeological finds of Lakshadweep islands in order to ascertain the earliest habitation, maritime contacts and shipwreck remains.