Minicoy Atoll

Minicoy, called Maliku by its inhabitants, is a long coral island north of the Maldives. Its people speak a language closely related to Maldivian and have long looked to the sea for fishing and travel. The island was connected with the Maldivian sultanate before coming under the Ali Rajas of Kannur by the sixteenth century. Its position between the Maldives and the Indian coast placed it within a maritime world of shifting allegiances and trade. In 1824 the Arakkal ruler acknowledged the East India Company’s suzerainty over Maliku.