Laccadive High Sea

West of the Indian coast, the Laccadive islands rise as low coral atolls between the Arabian Sea and the waters bearing their name. Their northern group, the Amindivi Islands, lies off the Malabar coast. The islands were known to ancient sailors, and later formed part of the routes linking South Asia with the Middle East. Portuguese interest in their coir brought intervention in the late fifteenth century; islanders expelled them in 1545, after which the rulers of Kannur held the inhabited islands.