Browsing by Author | މުސައްނިފުން "Heidemann, Frank"
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Item Fishermen in Minicoy (Maliku) : the production of Maldive fish as a sustainable economy(2022) Heidemann, Frank; ހައިޑެމަން ފްރޭންކްThe people of Minicoy (Maliku), the southernmost island of the Lakshadweep, produce Maldive fish, a delicacy widely known in India, Sri Lanka and beyond. Maldive fish, locally hikimas, is a cooked and dried tuna fillet that is as hard as wood and can be used for several years after processing. For many centuries it has been an essential part of the diet of seafarers, the pioneers of pre-colonial globalisation in the Indian Ocean. Maliku fishermen catch bait fish in the lagoon and skipjack tuna in the open ocean within a radius of 25 miles. Hikimas is produced by local women in their homes for export and partly for their own consumption. Despite the motorisation of fishing boats and other modernisations, fishing with pole and line and the production of hikimas proved to be a most sustainable form of catching and processing fish. It remained basically unchanged since it was first documented in the fourteenth century. I shall argue that fishing on Maliku is more than an economic activity, as it is a central aspect of producing home and belonging also for other occupational groups, particularly seamen, the largest professional group. Fishing and hikimas production are most inclusive economies with transparent distribution of surplus and wealth, and therefore contribute to a society that is often described as “egalitarian”.Item Minicoy from Prehistory to 1973 : the political history of a small coral island in the Indian Ocean(2024) Heidemann, Frank; Naajih, Muhammad; ހައިޑެމަން ފްރޭންކް; ުމުޙައްމަދު ނާޖިހItem The seamen from Minicoy : an oral history of the social transition in the laccadive sea(Serials Publications, 2020) Heidemann, Frank; ފްރޭންކް ހައިޑްމަންSeamen from Minicoy (Maliku), the southernmost island of the Lakshadweep, were and are an integral part of the local maritime economy. Since time immemorial the people of Maliku developed an ocean-based economy including fishing, trading and boat building. Local society was based on a matrilineal and matrilocal kinship system and Muslim faith. From the eighteenth century onwards Malikun worked as seamen on ships in South Asia and beyond. In sharp contrast to other seamen, Malikun are not uprooted individuals or “marginal men”, because seafaring was the best, and almost only option for young men from this island and has always been an honourable occupation. Today, most of them work worldwide in the merchant navy. This article is based on interviews during a multi sited fieldwork in Maliku, Kochi and Mumbai. I shall argue that long-lasting dynamics in the twentieth century were induced by their Seamen´s association and by the Indian state and its administration. The most significant change is the disaggregation of an ancient status system and a growing diaspora in Kochi. The Minicoy People´s Welfare Association, formerly Minicoy Seamen´s Association, owns hostels in Mumbai and became a home-away-from-home. This network provides information and offers help in the complex legal context which controls the movements of Indian seamen.