Aminidivi
| Aminidivi അമിനിദ്വീപ് Amindivi Islands |
|
|---|---|
Island subgroup
 Aminidivi (India)
|
|
| Country | India |
| State | Lakshadweep |
| District | Lakshadweep |
| Area | |
| • Total | 9.26 km2 (3.58 sq mi) |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Malayalam |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
The Aminidivi Islands, are one of the three island subgroups in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. It is the northern group of the Lakshadweep, separated from the Laccadive Islands subgroup roughly by the 11th parallel north.[1] The total land area of the group is 9.26 km².
Formerly the Union Territory was known as Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands,[2] a name that was changed to Lakshadweep by an act of Parliament in 1973.[3] The Aminidivi group forms a taluka or subdivision.[4] The islands of Amini, Kiltan, Chetlat, Kadmat and Bitra are inhabited. The population numbered 18,876 at the 2001 census and Islam is the main religion of the islanders.[5]
Aminidivi has the highest recorded rainfall in India in a 24-hour period, at 1,168 mm on 2004-05-06.
Geography
Aminidivi consists of atolls with islands, three reefs or atolls with only unvegetated sand cays above the high water mark, and four submerged banks.[6] In addition, there is the island that gives its name to the group, Amini, which is located at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at the northwestern end of Pitti Bank, a largely sunken atoll.
| Atoll/Reef/Bank (alternate name) |
type | Land Area (km²) |
Lagoon Area (km²) |
No. of islets |
Pop. Census 2001 |
Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amindivi Islands | ||||||||
| Cora Divh | bank | - | 339.45 | - | - | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Sesostris Bank | bank | - | 388.53 | - | - | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Bassas de Pedro (Munyal Par, Padua Bank) |
bank | - | 2474.33 | - | - | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Cherbaniani Reef (Beleapani Reef) | reef | 0.01 | 172.59 | 2 | - | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Byramgore Reef (Chereapani) | reef | 0.01 | 57.46 | 1 | - | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Chetlat Island | atoll | 1.14 | 1.60 | 1 | 2289 | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Bitrā Island | atoll | 0.10 | 45.61 | 2 | 264 | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Kiltān Island | atoll | 2.20 | 1.76 | 1 | 3664 | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Kadmat Island (Cardamom) | atoll | 3.20 | 37.50 | 1 | 5319 | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Elikalpeni Bank | bank | - | 95.91 | - | - | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Perumal Par | reef | 0.01 | 83.02 | 1 | - | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
| Amini Island 1) | atoll | 2.59 | 155.09 1) | 1 | 7340 | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. | ||
Climate
| Climate data for Aminidivi (1971–2000) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31.3 (88.3) |
31.9 (89.4) |
32.5 (90.5) |
33.4 (92.1) |
33.3 (91.9) |
30.4 (86.7) |
29.6 (85.3) |
29.5 (85.1) |
30.3 (86.5) |
30.7 (87.3) |
31.2 (88.2) |
31.4 (88.5) |
31.3 (88.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 23.6 (74.5) |
24.4 (75.9) |
25.3 (77.5) |
26.5 (79.7) |
27.0 (80.6) |
25.7 (78.3) |
25.4 (77.7) |
25.2 (77.4) |
24.6 (76.3) |
25.2 (77.4) |
24.6 (76.3) |
23.8 (74.8) |
25.2 (77.4) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 14.5 (0.571) |
0.1 (0.004) |
2.5 (0.098) |
16.8 (0.661) |
127.4 (5.016) |
383.9 (15.114) |
322.5 (12.697) |
243.3 (9.579) |
160.2 (6.307) |
129.9 (5.114) |
109.6 (4.315) |
28.6 (1.126) |
1,539.2 (60.598) |
| Source: India Meteorological Department[7] | |||||||||||||
History
The islands were inhabited from ancient times by people of nearby Kerala to which were added later people of Arab descent. Vasco da Gama visited these islands around 1498. In mid 16th century all the inhabited islands of the Lakshadweep were conferred as jagir on the ruling family of the Cannanore Kingdom (Arakkal Kingdom) by the Chirakkal or Kolattiri Raja in order to grant protection from the Portuguese.[8]
In the latter quarter of the 18th century the islands of the Amindivi group of the Lakshadweep revolted owing to the rigours of the enforcement of the monopoly of coir rope trade.[9] Following the uprising, the northern islands put themselves under the rule of the Kingdom of Mysore in 1784, then ruled by Tippu Sultan. The southern group of the Cannanore Islands, however, remained loyal to the Arakkal Kingdom.[10]
In 1792, as a consequence of the Third Anglo-Mysore War and the defeat of Tippu Sultan, the Amindivi Islands came under the East India Company rule following the treaty of Srirangapatna. The Amindivi subgroup was then attached to the South Canara collectorate of the Madras Presidency of the British Raj in 1799,[11][12] hence they also became known as the South Kanara Islands.[13]
References
- ↑ GEBCO Gazeteer of undersea feature names
- ↑ Lakshadweep | union territory, India | Britannica
- ↑ The name of the Laccadive, Minicoy and Amindivi islands
- ↑ Lakshadweep Tehsil Map - Maps of India
- ↑ Web123India
- ↑ Prakash Chauhan & Shailesh Nayak, Detection of submerged reef banks in the Lakshadweep Sea using IRS-P4 OCM satellite data
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The imperial gazetteer of India (Volume 8)
- ↑ William Logan, Malabar Manual, p. CCLXXIX
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Times of India, dated 2005-07-25
- ↑ 1902 Encyclopedia - Laccadives (also known as: Laccadive Islands; Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands; Lakshadweep)
- ↑ R. H. Ellis, A Short Account of the Laccadive Islands and Minicoy. Government Press, Madras. 1924. p. 61
