Mahé (, ), also known as Mayyazhi (), is a municipality and small town in the
Mahe district of the
Puducherry Union Territory. It is situated at the mouth of the
Mahe River and is surrounded by the State of
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
.
The district of Kannur surrounds Mahe on three sides and
Kozhikode district
Kozhikode (), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, along its southwestern Malabar Coast. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters.
The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation has a corporation l ...
on one side.
Formerly part of
French India, Mahe now forms a municipality in
Mahe district, one of the four districts of the
Union Territory
Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...
of
Puducherry. Mahe has one
representative in the
Puducherry Legislative Assembly.
Etymology
The name ''Mahe'' derives from ''Mayyazhi'', the name given to the local river and region in the
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
language. The original spelling found on French documents from the early 1720s is ''Mayé'', with ''Mahe'' and ''Mahie'' also found on documents, maps and geographical dictionaries until the early 19th century when the spelling ''Mahe'' became the norm. Therefore, the belief that the name of the town was given in honour of
Bertrand Francois Mahe de La Bourdonnais (1699–1753), whose later fame derived in good part from his association with India, including his capture of Maye in 1741, is incorrect.
Another claim that the spelling ''Mahe'' was officially adopted by the leader of the expedition that retook the city in 1726 in recognition of La Bourdonnais' role at the time is also unlikely. It is probable that the resemblance of Maye not to mention Mahe, with La Bourdonnais' family name prompted later generations to assume that the famous Frenchman was somehow directly or indirectly associated with the name to the town or the spelling of the name.
History
Before the arrival of European trading companies to the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
, this area was part of
Kolathu Nadu which comprised
Tulu Nadu
Tulu Nadu, or Tulunad, is a region and Proposed states and union territories of India, proposed state on the southwestern coast of India. The Tulu people, known as 'Tuluva' (pl. 'Tuluver') are speakers of Tulu language, Tulu, a Dravidian langu ...
,
Chirakkal and
Kadathanadu. The
French East India Company constructed a fort on the site of Mahe in 1724, in accordance with an accord concluded between André Mollandin and Raja Vazhunnavar of
Vatakara three years earlier. In 1741, Mahe de La Bourdonnais retook the town after a short period of occupation by the
Marathas
The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...
.
In 1761, the British captured Mahe and the settlement was handed over to the Rajah of Kadathanadu. The British restored Mahe to the French as a part of the 1763 Treaty of Paris. In 1779, the Anglo-French war broke out, resulting in the French loss of Mahe. In 1783, the British agreed to restore to the French their settlements in India, and Mahe was handed over to the French in 1785.

On the outbreak of the
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...
in 1793, a British force under
James Hartley captured Mahe. In 1816, the British restored Mahe to the French as a part of the 1814 Treaty of Paris, after the conclusion of the
Napoleonic Wars
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Napoleonic Wars
, partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
, image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg
, caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
. Mayyazhi remained under French jurisdiction as a small French colony, an enclave within
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...
, during the long span that began in 1816. After the
independence of India
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
the area continued to be French-ruled until 13 June 1954, when a long anti-colonial struggle culminated in its joining the Indian Union.
After the French left, Mahe became a district of
Puducherry Union Territory. The area of Mahe begins from Mayyazhi Puzha in the north to Azhiyoor at the south. Mahe consists of Mahe town and Naluthara, which includes four villages: Pandakkal, Pallur, Chalakara and Chembra. The ruler of
Kingdom of Mysore
The Kingdom of Mysore was a geopolitical realm in southern India founded in around 1399 in the vicinity of the modern-day city of Mysore and prevailed until 1950. The territorial boundaries and the form of government transmuted substantially ...
from the 1760s,
Hyder Ali (ca 1722–1782), gifted Naluthara to the French as a token of appreciation for the assistance they provided in the war.
Liberation of Mahe
Gandhians like
I. K. Kumaran led the struggle for union with India in Mahe after Indian independence in 1947. The municipal office of the French administration was attacked on 21 October 1948 at 9:00 PM. The French national flag was removed and the Indian national flag was hoisted on the municipal building (''Mairie'' in French). On 26 October, a French navy ship anchored in Mahe and the French regained control of Mahe. The ship left Mahe on 31 October. Communists tried to capture Cherukallayi enclave in April 1954. Two Indians were killed during the struggle. The Indian flag was hoisted in the Naluthura enclave on 1 May. The freedom fighters conducted an embargo on Mahe from June that year. On 14 July 1954, the Mahajanasabha organized a march into Mahe, which was liberated on 16 July 1954.
Demographics
As of the 2011 India census, Mahe had a population of 41,816, predominantly
Malayalis
The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian languages, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, ...
. Males constitute 46.5% of the population with Females constituting the remaining 54.5%. Mahe has an average literacy rate of 97.87%; male and female literacy were 98.63% and 97.25%, respectively. Both the Sex ratio (1184 females per 1000 male) and the literacy rates in Mahe are relatively higher compared to the rest of the nation. The national Sex ratio is 940 females per male and the literacy rate is at 74.04 per cent.
In Mahe, 10.89% of the population consists of children under six years of age. In the 2011 census, the overall child sex ratio was 978 girls per 1000 boys compared to the previous figure of 910 girls per 1000 boys in the 2001 census data. In 2011, children under 6 formed 10.89 percent of Mahe District compared to 11.34 percent in 2001. There was an overall net decrease of 0.45 percent between 2001 and 2011.
The share of
Hindus
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
in the population is 66.8% (27,940) and
Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
are 30.7% (12,856) as per the
2011 census of India. Christians account for 2.29% (958) of the population.
Locationwise distribution
* Mahe 10630
* Chalakara 6855
* Pandakal 8944
* Palloor 14250
* Cherukallayi 1255
Culture
The culture and geography of this area are like almost all of those in the Malabar Coast of
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
. There are only very few
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...
speakers in the town (fewer than 100). Only a few influences of French remain in the area. These are mostly reflected in architecture and a few old buildings.
The major festivals of this region are
Vishu,
Onam and Eid. The major language is
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
. The population also includes
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
speakers. The major religion is
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
, practised by 66.8% of the populace.
The few places that upheld the rich French culture once prevalent in the area are:
*
St. Teresa's Shrine, Mahe (built in 1736)
* Statue of Marianne commemorating the
French Revolution (situated in Tagore Park)
* The Government House
* The River Walk
*
Mahe Lighthouse
* The St. George Fort in
Cherukallayi
Climate
Mahe has a
tropical monsoon climate
An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Am''), typical for the Kerala and Karnataka coast. There is a dry season from December to March, but the location on the windward side of the Western Ghats means that during the westerly monsoon season the region receives exceedingly heavy rainfall, reaching up to in July.
Transport
Mahe’s nearest airport is the recently commenced
Kannur International Airport,
Mattanur, at a distance of . The next nearest airport is the
Kozhikode International Airport,
Karipur, at a distance of .
The nearest Railway Station is
Mahe railway station, where a few local and express trains stop. The nearest major railway stations, where several long-distance trains stop, are
Thalassery,
Kannur,
Mangalore
Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...
and
Vatakara.
There are a few
Puducherry Road Transport Corporation buses that operate in Mahe. Otherwise, the bulk of
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...
, including private buses based in
Malabar and
auto rickshaws, is managed by the
Kerala State Road Transport Corporation.
Administration
Mahe municipality is the seat of the local administration of Mahe. The Mahe municipal area comprises with one Assembly Constituency, i.e. Mahe. The municipal council was established in 1978. The Regional Administrator or Regional Executive Officer is used to exercise the power of the chairman and
Vice-Chairman in the capacity of Special Officer of Mahe Municipal Council. Civic elections were held during 2006 after nearly 30 years. Based on the elections, the chairman and 15 councillors of Mahe Municipality were sworn in.
Divisions
Mahe Pocket
#Mahe Town (Parakkal, Choodikotta, Manjakkal, Valavil, Mundock)
Cherukallayi Pocket
#
Cherukallayi
Naluthara Pocket
#
Chalakkara (Chalakkara South and a part of Chalakkara North)
#
Chembra (A part of Chalakkara North)
#
Palloor
#
Edayilpeedika (a narrow strip of land between Palloor and Pandakkkal, often considered as a part of Pandakkal)
#
Pandakkal
Wards
Mahe Municipality consists of 15 wards.
''Mahe Pocket''
#
Mundock
#
Manjakkal
#
Choodikotta
#
Parakkal
#
Valavil
''Cherukallayi Pocket''
# Cherukallayi
''Naluthara Pocket''
# Pandakkal North
# Pandakkal Central
# Pandakkal South (including Edayilpeedika)
# Palloor North-East
# Palloor North-West
# Palloor South-West
# Palloor South-East
# Chalakkara North (including Chembra)
# Chalakkara South
Education
Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College, Mahe, was established in 1970 by
I. K. Kumaran. The Mahe Co-operative College of Teacher Education was established in 2005 and is part of the Mahe Co-operative Centre for Information Technology Ltd. Other institutions include Mahe Co-operative College of Higher Education & Technology, Mahe Institute of Dental Sciences & Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Government Ayurveda College,
Indira Gandhi Polytechnic College, Mahe and Rajiv Gandhi Govt Industrial Training Institute, Mahe.
The Pondicherry University Community College has a regional centre in Mahe.
There is a
Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV Mahe) at Pandakkal.
There are four higher secondary schools, three high schools, two middle schools and eight lower primary schools functioning in Mahe. The higher secondary schools are affiliated with the Board of Higher Secondary Education in Kerala and the high schools are affiliated with the state’s Board of Secondary Education. Out of the three high schools, one is a French Medium, the examinations of which are conducted by the Deputy Director of French Education, Govt. of Puducherry.
Banking facilities
The following banks provide banking facilities in Mahe.
*
Bank of India, Mahe
*
Canara Bank
Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank based in Bangalore, India. Established in 1906 at Mangalore by Ammembal Subba Rao Pai. The bank was nationalized in 1969. Canara Bank also has offices in London, Dubai and New York.
History
Amm ...
, Mahe I
*
Canara Bank
Canara Bank is an Indian public sector bank based in Bangalore, India. Established in 1906 at Mangalore by Ammembal Subba Rao Pai. The bank was nationalized in 1969. Canara Bank also has offices in London, Dubai and New York.
History
Amm ...
, Mahe
*
ESAF Small Finance Bank Limited, Mahe
*
Federal Bank, Mahe
*
HDFC Bank, Mahe
*
Indian Bank, Mahe
*
North Malabar Gramin Bank, New Mahe
*
South Indian Bank, Mahe
*
State Bank of India
State Bank of India (SBI) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational Public sector undertakings in India, public sector bank and financial service body headquartered in Mumbai. It is the largest bank in India with a 23% market shar ...
, Mahe
*
Syndicate Bank
Syndicate Bank was one of the oldest major commercial banks in India. It was founded by Upendra Ananth Pai, T. M. A. Pai and Vaman Srinivas Kudva. At the time of its establishment, the bank was known as Canara Industrial and Banking Syndicate L ...
, Mahe
*
UCO Bank, Mahe
*
Union Bank of India, Mahe Branch
Notable people
*
I. K. Kumaran, leader of the French Indian Liberation Movement and the first administrator of free Mahe.
*
M. Mukundan,
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
novelist and fiction writer.
*
V. N. Purushothaman, the last mayor and the first chairman of the Mahe municipality.
*
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an American filmmaker. His films often employ supernatural plots and twist endings. The cumulative gross of his films exceeds $3.3 billion globally. Shyamalan has received vario ...
, Indian American film director and screenwriter.
In popular culture
*
M. Mukundan's novel
Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil (transl. ''On the Banks of the River Mayyazhi'') describes the political and social background of Mahe.
*The 1992 Malayalam feature film
Daivathinte Vikrithikal, directed by
Lenin Rajendran
Lenin Rajendran was an Indian film director and screenwriter who worked in Malayalam cinema. He served as the Chairman of Kerala State Film Development Corporation from 2016 to January 2019.
Career
Beginning his film-making career as an assist ...
, based on the novel of the same name by M. Mukundan, is set in the ex-French colony of Mayyazhi (Mahe).
See also
Image gallery
File:Mahe, kerala.jpg, Morning in Mahe
File:MAHE LIGHT HOUSE.jpg, Mahe Light House
File:Mahé Town Hall.jpg, Mahe Town Hall
File:Mahé India 1867.jpg, Mahe in 1867
File:Church at Mahé, French India period.jpg, Mahe Church, 1940
File:Kallappally Mosque, new Mahe.jpg, Kallappally Mosque
File:KEEZHUR MONUMENT PUDUCHERRY - AN HISTORICAL PLACE.JPG, Keezhur Monument
File:Bharathan statue-01.jpg, Statue of freedom fighter Kumaran
References
External links
* Mahe District Website - https://mahe.gov.in
* Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College, Mahe
Official website*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahe, India
Geography of Kannur district
Cities and towns in Mahe district
Geography of Puducherry