According
to Ellen Kattner, oral tradition has it that Kamboranin and Kohoratukamana
(Click to see note), two princesses
from the Maldives, came to Minicoy. When they arrived, the tivaru,
who had been living there before, left the island for Sri Lanka.
Their descendants form the aristocracy of Minicoy. The lower classes
are made up of the descendants of their crew.
Minicoy
Lighthouse
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It
is unclear when Minicoy came to be grouped with the Laccadive
Islands now known as Lakshadweep. The term Lakshadweep means a
hundred thousand islands. The Laccadive group consists of only
25 islands and it is unlikely the name refers to a numerical value.
It is possible that the term originally applied to the Laccadive-Maldive-Chagos
archipelago. Even then the number of islands is only around 2000.
The
kings of the Maldives styled themselves as "Kings of Twelve
Thousand Islands". This indicated a huge number rather than
a numerical value. In the old Maldive duodecimal system of counting,
twelve thousand was a round figure such as a hundred thousand
in the decimal system. Clearly, therefore, twelve thousand was
the figurative duodecimal equivalent of the decimal a hundred
thousand. Even today in Maldive and Minicoy speech, terms such
as "lakka duvas" (a hundred thousand days) are used
to refer to a huge number- in this case, a huge number of days.
(click to see note)
The
coat of arms of the Ali Raja of Cannanore
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Until
the 16th Century, the Laccadives appear to have been
under the suzerainty of the Kolthari Raja of Chirakkal in what
is now the Indian state of Kerala. With the Portuguese ascendancy
in the region, it became necessary for the Kolthari to transfer
sovereignty of the islands to their hereditary admiral, the Ali
Raja of Cannanore. It is unclear if Minicoy was included in this
transfer or if in fact Minicoy ever formed part of the dominons
of the Kolthari.
Until
relatively recently, the kings and queens of the Maldives issued
edicts addressed to the subjects in their realm "Malikaddu
Midhemedhu". This meant "Between Minicoy and Addu".
Addu was the Southern-most island in the dominions of the Maldive
kings and was in Addu Atoll. The island was dredged off by the
British in 1959 to construct the airfield on neighbouring Gan
island. As late as AD 1696, a grant issued under the Seal of the
King Siri Kula Ran Mani of the Maldives referred to him as "Malikaddu
Midhemedhu ekanuonna mi korhu anikaneh nethee korhu" which
meant "Sole Sovereign with no other over what lies between
Minicoy and Addu". The grant was issued in the matter of
the building and upkeep of a mosque in the island of Finey in
Thiladhummathi Atoll.
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Athiri Ganduvaru Baugey Khadija Manika
(click
here to view Khadija Manika's genealogy)
Khadija
Manika, an aristocratic lady, is wearing a traditional
Minicoy-Maldive women's costume. Khadija Manika
is also a descendant of the Maldive Royal family,
the House of Hilaaly and Huraagey.
According
to ibn Batuta, only the feyli wrap-around
used to be worn from the waist down. The gown was
a compromise with Islam evolved a few centuries
after the conversion. There was much resistance
to imported foreign concepts of modesty.
Click
to read more.
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On
December 18, 1790 Minicoy was surrendered to the Court of Directors
of the English East India Company by the Ali Raja of Cannanore,
Junumabe Ali-Adi Raja Bibi II. The Ali Raja was allowed to administer
Minicoy 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. 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 coir monopoly. This was the beginning of the end of the
Ali Raja's real control over Minicoy.
n
1857, suzerainty over Minicoy transferred from the East India
Company to the Indian Empire when Queen Victoria was proclaimed
Empress.
In
1905 under the heavy burden of debts to the Empire, Mohamed Ali-Adi
Raja agreed to surrender sovereignty and control over Minicoy.
He died before the formal transfer. After an attempt to back track,
his successor Imbicchi Ali-Adi Raja Bibi finally signed over Minicoy
to the Emperor Edward VII on 9 February 1909, back dated to 1
July 1905. Following this, Minicoy was annexed to the District
of Malabar.
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A Hero
in Time?
Uteem
Mohamed Thakurufan and his band of rebels took
up arms against their king (Siri Dhirikusa Loka Hassan
IX later known as Manoel) who had converted to Christianity.
They made Minicoy their base while making raids on islands
under the sovereign authority of their king. Thakurufan
was an agent of the Ali Raja of Cannanore. The nature of
the relationship between Mohamed Thakurufan and the Ali
Raja of Cannanore was outlined in a letter sent by a later
Ali Raja, Mariambe Ali-Adi Raja Bibi, to the Sultan Mohamed
Mueenuddine I of the Maldives. The letter was dated Friday
17 Jamada-el-oula Anno Hegirae 1243 (7 December AD
1827). According to the letter Mohamed Thakurufan had entered
into a treaty ceding sovereignty of the Maldives to the
Ali Raja of Cannanore in the event Thakurufan was established
in power in Male. (refer page 294 of Divehi Tarikh).
A reply was sent from Malè explaining that Thakurufan
had no legal authority to enter into such a treaty with
the Ali Raja of Cannanore. (see also Myth
of Portuguese Rule)
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n
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 independent countries that were vassals
of the Emperor had the choice of acceding to either India or Pakistan.
While
Minicoy was a sovereign possession of the Emperor and not that
of an independent country such as Cannanore, Kashmir or Hyderabad,
it is unclear why India felt it necessary to hold a plebiscite
in Minicoy in 1956 to determine whether or not the people of Minicoy
wished to join the Indian Union.
On
1 November 1956, India formally annexed Minicoy and incorporated
it into the Union Territory of Laccadive Minicoy and Amindivi
Islands, renamed Lakshadweep in 1973
History 
