Chap. XXVI. THE BEEBEE OF CANNANORE. 455 



very freely on the subject. It appears that, in about 1545, 

 the Laccadive islands were conferred in jagheer on the head 

 of the Moplah caste at Cannanore, the ancestor of the Beebee, 

 by the Eajah of Cherilml, on the payment of a certain tribute, 

 which was duly rendered to the Cherikul family until its 

 destruction by Hyder Ali in the last century. After the 

 storming of Cannanore by the English in 1791, the islands 

 came into possession of the East India Company, and in 

 1799 they were restored to the Beebee's family, subject to 

 the payment of an annual jjeslicush of 10,000 Es. 



In April, 1847, a hurricane of unequalled violence swept 

 over the islands, which are only nine feet above the sea in 

 the highest part. The wind tore up the trees by the roots, 

 the waves flooded the land, and almost everything on the 

 two most valuable islands was destroyed. The Beebee bor- 

 rowed a steamer from the Government to send supplies for 

 the relief of the islanders, and she also obtained a remission 

 of one-third of the lyeshcush for ten years, on certain con- 

 ditions connected with reforms in her administration. Her 

 difficulties have chiefly arisen from being unable to pay the 

 sum demanded for arrears of peshcush, and for the use of 

 the steamer, and in 1854 the English Government assumed 

 the administration of the islands until the debt was paid. 

 It was desired that the Beebee should give them up alto- 

 gether for a pecimiary equivalent, but to this she has 

 resolutely refused to consent. The islands have since been 

 restored to her.^ 



* The inliabitants of the Laccadive 

 islands are Sooni Mussulmaus. They 

 have some songs commemorating the 

 introduction of Islam 500 years ago, 

 but do not know when the Beebee of 

 Cannanore got possession. Menakoy, 

 the largest island, is a mass of coral 

 5^ miles in diameter. The land is 

 less than a mile wide, the rest being a 

 reef encucling a large lagoon. Within 



a hundred yards of the reef there 

 is no bottom. The lagoon, which 

 abounds in turtle and fish, has three 

 entrances from the sea, one of which 

 has a depth of two fathoms. The soil 

 of the island is a coarse powdered 

 coral, with a Mttle vegetable matter. 

 It is quite ilat, no part being destitute 

 of vegetation ; the south thickly co- 

 vered with cocoanut-trees and under- 



