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Mahé, a small town (9 km²) in the south of India on the Arabian Sea, has the official name of Mayyazhi in the local Malayalam language. The Kannur District of the state of Kerala surrounds the town on three sides.
Formerly a French colony, Mahé now forms a municipality in Mahe district of the Union Territory (the lands directly administered by the Union (federal) government of India) of Pondicherry (based on the east coast). Mahé has two members (MLAs) in the Pondicherry Legislative Assembly, representing Mahé and Pallur.
Mahé has an interesting church, the Saint Theresa Church.
The original name of Mahé, Mayyazhi, means "eyebrow of the sea".
Demographics
As of 2001 India census, Mahé had a population of 36,823, predominantly speakers of Malayalam. Males constitute 47% of the population and females 53%. Mahé has an average literacy rate of 85%, higher than the national average of 59.5%, with male literacy at 86% and female literacy at 85%. In Mahé, 11% of the population consists of children under 6 years of age.
Naming
The name Mahé originated in honour of Bertrand François Mahé de La Bourdonnais (1699–1753), a key architect of French policy in India. One hypothesis suggests that the form of the word originated from Mayyazhi, which evolved to sound like Mayye, and which the French adopted as "Mahé".
An alternative account suggests that the Count de La Bourdonnais adopted the name of the Indian town as part of his own name, rather than vice versa.
History
The French East India Company constructed a fort on the site of Mahé in 1724, after an accord concluded between André Mollandin and the raja Vazhunnavar of Badagara three years earlier. In 1741, Mahé de La Bourdonnais retook the town after a period of occupation by the Marathas.
Mayyazhi remained under French jurisdiction until 13 June 1954, when a long independence struggle culminated in its joining the Indian Union.
Mahé consists of Mahé town and Naluthara, which includes four villages: Pandakkal, Pallur, Chalakara and Chembra. The ruler of Mysur from the 1760s, Hyderali (ca 1722–1782), gifted Naluthara to the French as a token of appreciation for the help they gave in opposing the English.
Education in Mahé
Schools
Jawaharlal Nehru Higher Secondary School was previously known as La Bourdonnais College, named after the French captain who was instrumental in setting up the French enclave.
This school was previously known as Govt. Girls High School. During French rule the name of the school was Ecole de Filles.
Many private schools also operate in Mahé. The St Theresa church, for example, runs Avila School and St. Theresa School at Chembra.
College
Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College, the premier college in Mahé, was established in the year 1970,as realisation of the dream project of I.K.Kumaran, the leader of French-Indian Liberation Movement, who was the representative form Mahe to the legislative assembly.
College is situated at the picteresque Mount Vera, Chalakkara, a short distance from Mahé Town. Affiliated to Pondicherry University, the college offers undergraduate courses in Malayalam, Hindi, English, Economics, Chemistry,Botany, Physics,Computer Science, Zoology and Mathematics. Post-graduate courses in Botany and Hindi also are conducted.
Mahe Municipality
Mahe Municipality is the seat of Local Administration in Mahe.
Mahe Municipality consists of 14 wards.
