Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in

Lakshadweep Lakshadweep () is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands divided into three island subgroups: the Laccadive Islands in the middle with the Amindivi Islands in the north separated roughly by the 11th parallel north and ...

, India. Along with Viringili, it is on ''Maliku atoll'', the southernmost

atoll An atoll () is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon partially or completely. There may be coral islands or cays on the rim. Atolls are located in warm tropical or subtropical oceans and seas where corals can ...

of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep. The island is situated 425 km west of

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, the capital city of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a 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 regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

Etymology

Minicoy is known as ''Maliku'' in the local language, Dhivehi, which is also the national and official language of the Republic of

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives,, ) and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is a country and archipelagic state in South Asia in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about from the A ...

. The language is a descendant of

Elu Prakrit Eḷu, also Hela or Helu, is a hypothesized language Middle Indo-Aryan language or Prakrit of the 3rd century BCE. It is ancestral to the Sinhalese and Dhivehi languages. R. C. Childers, in the ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society'', states ...

and is closely related to the

Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also s ...

, but not mutually intelligible with it. However, the Lakhshadweep Administration refers to Dhivehi as Mahl. This is due to a misunderstanding on the part of a British

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

who came to Minicoy in the 1900s during the time of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

. The official asked a local what his language was and he replied "Dhivehi-bas". The official looked confused as he had never heard of this language. Noticing this, the islander said "Mahaldeebu" as he knew that locals on the

subcontinent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

referred to the kingdom to the south (the Maldives) by that name. The civil servant then official recorded the language of Minicoy as Mahl. The ancient name of Maliku was ''Mahiladū'' meaning women's island. Mahiladū derives from

term ''Mahila du'', which literally means woman-island. However, the name ''Maliku'' is thought to have been derived from the Arab trader's term for the island, ''Jazirat al- Maliku'' ('the island of the king'). Minicoy islanders have long settled in the Nicobar Islands across the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

. These settlers regularly travelled back to Minicoy. The

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated ...

had a reputation in the Maldives and Minicoy of being inhabited by cannibals, and so collectively the Andaman and Nicobar groups were called "Minikaa-raajje" by Minicoy and Maldive islanders. This meant "cannibal kingdom". A British official once asked a Minicoy islander what the name of his island was. The islander told the official that he was from Maliku but usually lived in "Minikaa-raajje" (Nicobar). The official thought Maliku and Minikaa were the same place and recorded the name of this islander's home as "Minikaa". This later became anglicised as Minicoy. Little did this islander know that as a result of this cross-cultural exchange, his home would forever be called by a name that sounded like " cannibal" in his own language.

Geography

Minicoy is the second largest and the southernmost among the islands of the Lakshadweep archipelago. It is located 201 km to the southsouthwest of Kalpeni, at the southern end of the Nine Degree Channel and 125 km to the north of Thuraakunu,

, at the northern end of the

Eight Degree Channel Maliku Kandu and Māmalē Kandu Divehi are the traditional names of the broad Minicoy Channel between Minicoy (Maliku in Dhivehi) and Ihavandippolhu (Northern Thiladhunmathi Atoll) in the north of the Maldives. The latter name is given after the ...

. The atoll is 10 km in length, having a maximum breadth of about 6 km. The closest geographic feature is the Investigator Bank, a submerged shoal located 31 km to the northeast. It is located 400 km west off the coast of

. The atoll contains two islands. The main island is located on the eastern and southeastern side of the lagoon, along the reef fringe. It measures about 10 km from its northern end to its southernmost point and it is about 1 km wide in its southern half, while the northern half is a narrow sandspit, often less than 100 m wide. Minicoy is almost completely covered with coconut trees. One of the few landmarks of the island is a tall lighthouse. On the southern side of the main island lies the uninhabited islet of Viringili ( dv, ވިރިންގިލި; ml, വിരിന്ഗാ, also called the Small Pox Island), measuring barely 200 m in length. Formerly the lepers of Minicoy were banished to this island where they lived in abject conditions. Maliku Atoll has a lagoon with two entrances in its northern side, Saalu Magu on the northeast and Kandimma Magu on the northwest. Its western side is fringed by a narrow reef and coral rocks awash. The interior of the lagoon is sandy and of moderate depth, rarely reaching 4 m. It has some coral patches. This atoll is administered under the Indian Union Territory of Lakshadweep. Nine Degree Channel separates Minicoy and the Laccadive Islands. The closest island to Minicoy is Thuraakunu in the Republic of the Maldives. Since 1956, the Indian Government has forbidden the direct travelling between the two islands despite their geographic proximity and ethnographic similarities.

Maliku Kandu Maliku Kandu and Māmalē Kandu Divehi are the traditional names of the broad Minicoy Channel between Minicoy (Maliku in Dhivehi) and Ihavandippolhu ( Northern Thiladhunmathi Atoll) in the north of the Maldives. The latter name is given after t ...

is the traditional name of the broad channel between Minicoy (Maliku) and Ihavandippulhu (Haa Alif Atoll) in the Maldives. In the Admiralty Charts it is called Eight Degree Channel. Other names for this channel are Addigiri Kandu and Māmalē Kandu. It appeared in old French maps with the name Courant de Malicut. Malikatholhu

Villages

There are total of eleven villages () on Minicoy Island. From north to south, they are: # Kendiparty # Pallessery # Kudehi # Funhilol # Aloodi # Sadivalu # New Boduathiri # Rammedu # Boduathiri # Aoumagu # Bada

Climate

Minicoy has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Aw'') with warm temperatures throughout the year. Precipitation falls during most of the year; only January to March are relatively dry.

History

Buddhist era

There are remains in an area of the island known as "Salliballu" dating back from Minicoy's

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

past, about 800 years ago. The most conspicuous archaeological sites are two mounds or large heaps of ruins belonging to a

stupa A stupa ( sa, स्तूप, lit=heap, ) is a mound-like or hemispherical structure containing relics (such as '' śarīra'' – typically the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns) that is used as a place of meditation. In Buddhism, circumam ...

and another related structure. These sites were investigated by the

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexand ...

in the 1980s. The excavations yielded few discoveries, for the sites had been much damaged and vandalized previously. Still, a much-damaged large

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...

head was found buried in the area. The name "Salliballu" originated in the local name for the " Christian cross", because the locals say that an inscription with a "cross" was found there. But it is likely that, coming from a Buddhist site, it was a cross-shaped

mandala A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...

or visvavajra, like those often found on inscriptions in archaeological remains in the Maldives. Xavier Romero-Frias, ''The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom.'' Barcelona 1999 Local oral tradition has it that Kamborani and Kohoratukamana, two princesses from the

, came to Maliku. When they arrived, the

Tivaru Tivaru (ތީވަރު ) or Dweepukar are said to be the first settlers of the Minicoy island of Lakshadweep off the Indian mainland. History The origin of the Tivaru is unknown. Clarence Malony suggests that they could be Dravidians from southern ...

, who had been living there before, left the island for

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The Kamborani's descendants are the bodun (land and shipowners) and the descendants of Kohoratukamana are the niamin (captains). The other status groups are made up of the descendants of their crew.

Colonial era

Under suzerainty of East India Company

According to the documented evidence, Minicoy Atoll has been under Indian administrations since the mid 16th century. Until the 16th century, the Laccadives was under the

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

of the Kolathiri Raja of Chirakkal in what is now the Indian state of

. With the Portuguese ascendancy in the region, it became necessary for the Kolathiri to transfer sovereignty of the islands to their hereditary admiral, the Ali Raja of Kolathunadu ( Cannanore). However, the kings and queens of the Maldives also issued edicts addressed to the subjects in their realm ''Malikaddu Midhemedhu''. This meant "Between Maliku (Minicoy) and Addu". Previously Addu was the southernmost island in the dominions of the Maldive kings and was in

Addu Atoll Addu Atoll, also known as Seenu Atoll, is the southernmost atoll of the Maldives. Addu Atoll, together with Fuvahmulah, located 40 km north of Addu Atoll, extend the Maldives into the Southern Hemisphere. Addu Atoll is located 540 ...

. A 1696 CE grant issued under the Seal of the King Siri Kula Ran Mani ( Sultan Mohamed IV) of the Maldives, regarding the building and upkeep of a mosque in Finey at Thiladhummathi Atoll in Maldives, referred to him as which meant "Sole Sovereign with no other over what lies between Maliku and Addu".

Under direct rule of British India

In 1857, suzerainty over Minicoy transferred from the East India Company to the Indian Empire when

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

was proclaimed Empress. On 18 December 1790 Maliku was surrendered to the Court of Directors of the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

by the Ali Raja Cannanore, Junumabe Ali-Adi Raja Bibi II. The Ali Raja was allowed to administer Maliku in return for a tribute to the East India Company. She continued to dispute the transfer of sovereignty but in 1824, her successor, Mariambe Ali-Adi Raja Bibi made a formal written recognition of the suzerainty of the East India Company over Maliku (Minicoy). She and her successors, however, continued the tributary arrangement. On 27 July 1795, the Governor General of the Presidency of Madras under whose jurisdiction Minicoy was, abolished Junumabe Ali Adi-Raja Bibi's monopoly over coir trade. In 1905 under the heavy burden of debts to the Empire, Mohamed Ali-Adi Raja of Cannanore agreed to surrender sovereignty and control over Minicoy. He died before the formal transfer. After an attempt to backtrack, his successor Imbicchi Ali-Adi Raja Bibi finally signed over Minicoy to the Emperor

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

on 9 February 1909, backdated to 1 July 1905. Following this, Minicoy was annexed to the District of Malabar.

After independence of India

1956 plebiscite and integration with India

After the

independence of India The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

in August 1947, the possessions of the Emperor of India passed to either the Indian Union or Pakistan according to an agreed demarcation line. The rulers of the

princely state A princely state (also called native state or Indian state) was a nominally sovereign entity of the British Indian Empire that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule, subject to ...

of British India had the choice of acceding to either India or Pakistan. Since Minicoy was earlier in a sovereign possession of the British Raj, India held a plebiscite in Minicoy in 1956 to determine whether or not the people of Minicoy wished to join the Indian Union. A referendum was held and an absolute majority of the Minicoy decided to join the Indian Union.

Union Territory of India

After the plebiscite, on 1 November 1956, Minicoy was incorporated into the Union Territory of Laccadive, Minicoy, and Aminidivi Islands, renamed

in 1973. At this time, the Maldives was still not independent from the British.

India-Maldives maritime treaty

In December 1976, India and the Maldives signed a

maritime boundary treaty This is a list of maritime boundary treaties. Maritime boundary treaties are treaty, treaties that Boundary delimitation, establish a specified ocean or sea border, boundary between two or more countries or territories. These are also called mariti ...

whereby Minicoy was placed on the Indian side of the boundary. India and Maldives officially and amicably decided their maritime boundary in 1976, in 1982 when the brother of the

President of Maldives The president of the Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ރައީސުލްޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ) is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Maldives and the commander-in-chief of the Maldives National Defence ...

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom declared that the neighbouring Minicoy Island that belonged to India were a part of Maldives; Maldives quickly and officially denied that it was laying claim to the island.Ramesh Trivedi (2007). ''India's Relations with her Neighbours'' (Isha Books, ) p. 177. India and Maldives continue to enjoy friendly relations and a

strategic partnership A strategic partnership (also see strategic alliance) is a relationship between two commercial enterprises, usually formalized by one or more business contracts. A strategic partnership will usually fall short of a legal partnership entity, agency, ...

in economic and military fields.

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

continues to contribute to the

security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...

of the island nation of

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, the island of Minicoy had a population of 9,495. Males constitute 49% of the population and females 51%. Minicoy has an average literacy rate of 82%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 80%. In Minicoy, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Transport

MV ''Corals'', MV ''Lagoons'', MV ''Amindivi'', MV ''Arabian Sea'', MV ''Bharat Seema'', MV ''Dweep Setu'', MV ''Kavaratti'', MV ''Lakshadweep Sea'' and MV ''Minicoy'' are the important passenger ships connecting

with

. The passage takes between 14 and 20 hours.

Agatti Airport Agatti Airport is a regional airport serving Agatti Island, in the union territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is located at the southern end of the island, and is the sole airstrip in the archipelago, which lies off the west coast of mainland ...

is the only civilian airport in

. Helicopter transfer is available from Agatti to Kavaratti throughout the year. The flight from

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part ...

to Agatti takes approximately one hour thirty minutes. Flights operate six days a week. The Government of India is planning to develop an airport at Minicoy Island to boost tourism and promote tuna fishing industry for improving livelihoods in Lakshadweep. The

authorities are seeking an opportunity to invest in Port City of Kerala Kollam. They are ready to invest in a passenger terminal with dormitory facilities and an office to guide the people of Minicoy reaching Kollam Port. Traditionally, Lakshadweep's connections with the mainland have been through Kollam,

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

and

Beypore Beypore or Beypur (formerly Beypoor) is an ancient port town and a locality town in Kozhikode district in the state of Kerala, India. It is located opposite to Chaliyam, the estuary where the river Chaliyar empties into Arabian Sea. Beypore i ...

ports. But Minicoy, a small atoll at the southernmost end of the archipelago, is closer to Kollam than to either Kochi or Beypore.

Notable people

Ali Manikfan Muraduganduvar Ali Manikfan (born 16 March 1938, Minicoy Island, Lakshadweep), also known as Muräduganduvar Ali Befanu, is an Indian marine researcher, ecologist, shipbuilder, and a polyglot. is his family name and is a title. He is noted fo ...

, born 1938

Image gallery

File:ISS002-E-7260.PNG, Satellite picture of Minicoy File:Map of Lakshadweep-en.svg, Map

References

Bibliography

* Bell, H.C.P.: The Maldive Islands, An account of the physical features, History, Inhabitants, Productions and Trade. Colombo 1883. * Ellis, R.H.: ''A Short Account of the Laccadive Islands and Minicoy''. Government Press, Madras, 1924. * Kattner, Ellen: ''The Social Structure of Maliku (Minicoy).'' In: ''International Institute of Asian Studies (IIAS) Newsletter''. Nr. 10, 1996, S. 19–20. (Online at http://www.maldivesroyalfamily.com/minicoy_kattner.shtml). * Kattner, Ellen: ''Bodu Valu – Big Ponds: Traditional Water Management and its socio-cosmic Implications in Minicoy/Maliku, an Indian Ocean island''. In: Ohlig, Christoph (ed.) ''Antike Zisternen''. Publikationen der Deutschen Wasserhistorischen Gesellschaft, 9. Norderstedt: Books on Demand GmbH, 2007, pp. 145–172. * Xavier Romero-Frias, The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom. Barcelona 1999, * Divehi Tārīkhah Au Alikameh. Divehi Bahāi Tārikhah Khidmaiykurā Qaumī Markazu. Reprint 1958 edn. Male' 1990. * Divehiraajjege Jōgrafīge Vanavaru. Muhammadu Ibrahim Lutfee. G.Sōsanī. * "The Encyclopaedia of Islam", new edition, Index Volume, Fascicule 2, Glossary and Index of Terms, Bill, 2006, LARGE book-size paperback, 592 pages, . *Das, Nrupal: Minicoy Island: Beaches, Culture and People of Minicoy, Lakshadweep Islands. 2018, Kindle, 37 Pages (Available Online �
Minicoy, Lakshadwweep Islands

External links

Amateur (Ham) Radio Special Event Station VU7M of Minicoy Lighthouse ILLW 2012
{{Authority control Islands of Lakshadweep India–Maldives border