Anjediva fort

About the island :-Anjediv—the name means "fifth island" is the largest of an archipelago of five islands (known as the Panchdiva chain of five islands); the other four islands are the Kurnagal, the Mudlingud, the  Devgad and the Devragad. The fort island was also known as Agiadvipa (clear butter), Angedvpa (some isles), Agadvipa (derivative from goddess Aja ) and Adiadvipa (Ancient Island). It was called Aigidias by the Greek geographer Ptolomey.Etymology of Anjediv is also attributed to the name of the local Goddess Ajadurga Devi.

The fort :-It was initially developed for enhancing the military power as well as for overseeing the naval trade and business. The fort is small in size and the architecture exposed by excavations demonstrate that Anjediva Fort has large pillars along with various stone works and pots. The architecture of Anjediva Fort is based on the work of Kadambas and Chalukyas dynasty who ruled during the period of 11th and 12th century respectively. Anjediva Fort houses a church namely, 'Church of Our Lady of Springs' which was supposed be the temple of Aryadurga in traditional times. However, in later days the temple was converted into a church. The fort and the church both were situated in Anjadip Island with an area of about 1.5 square kilometre.

Its history :- In the year 1505, a Portuguese ruler, named Dom Francisco appeared in India and ordered to create four forts and one of them is Anjediva Fort. The fort was intended to act as vital hub for trade, mainly spices in several nations. In order to enhance the trade and to obtain better managerial control in Goa, a famous mariner Vasco da Gama along with a Jewish seller, Gaspar da Gama demanded the then Portuguese ruler to develop a maritime fort in the region of Anjediva. As a result, Dom Francisco initiated the construction of Anjediva Fort in 1505. The local people provided the requisite materials such as timber and bamboo among other stuffs in order to create the fort. It is said that the temple of Aryadurga which was situated in that area was used in order to gather stones for the construction of Anjediva Fort. It took approximately three months in order to create the fort.
After some year's Dom Francisco demolished the fort and its crumbling rooms are still viewable in present days.
In 1682, another Portuguese ruler named Alvor had reconstructed Anjediva Fort with inhabitation of over 600 persons. Facilities such as school and college was also established in the fort. Nevertheless, Anjediva Fort was abandoned by Portuguese people during 1843. Afterwards, Hindu and Christians started to use the fort as accommodation. It was said that when Anjediva Fort was under the authority of Portuguese rulers, it was attacked by Mughal ruler, Tippu Sultan. In the year 1961, Anjediva Fort was legitimately acknowledged as a portion of India.

Reason for building it :-it was engaged by Portuguese for military defences and also for regular naval stops for the ships and containers. The fort permitted Portuguese rulers to overthrow various strong foes. In the year 1506,