Maldives

Maldive Islands, officially the Republic of Maldives, is an island nation consisting of a group of atolls stretching south of India's Lakshadweep islands between Minicoy Island and the Chagos Archipelago, and about seven hundred kilometres (435 mi) south-west of Sri Lanka in the Laccadive Sea of Indian Ocean. The twenty-six atolls of Maldives encompass a territory featuring 1,192 islets, of which two hundred and fifty islands are inhabited.

The inhabitants were Buddhist, probably since Ashoka's period^{[citation needed]}, in the 3rd century BC and possibly Hindu before that. Islam was introduced in 1153. The Maldives then came under the influence of the Portuguese (1558) and the Dutch (1654) seaborne empires. In 1887 it became a British protectorate. In 1965, the Maldives obtained independence from Britain (originally under the name "Maldive Islands"), and in 1968 the Sultanate was replaced by a Republic.

The Maldives is the smallest Asian country in terms of both population and area; it is the smallest predominantly Muslim nation in the world. With two meters from sea level, it is also the country with the lowest highest point in the world.

Republic of Maldives

Flag	Coat of arms

Comparative studies of Maldivian oral, linguistic and cultural traditions and customs confirm that the first settlers were Dravidian people^[13] from from Kerala in the Sangam Period (300 BCE - 300 CE) of South India, most probably fishermen from the southwest coasts of mainland the modern Indian Subcontinent and the western shores of Sri Lanka. One such community is the Giraavaru people descended from ancient Tamils. Some argue that very early visitors to or settlers in the Maldives were probably Gujaratis. Seafaring from Gujarat began during the Indus valley civilization. The Jatakas and Puranas show abundant evidence of this maritime trade. Another early settlers might have been from Southeast Asia.^[14] They are mentioned in ancient legends and local folklore about the establishment of the capital and kingly rule in Malé.One theory suggests that the Giraavaru islanders may not have been the only early settlers in the Maldives, although considered to be one of the earliest communities of settlers on the islands The arrival of Sinhalese, who were descended from the exiled Kalinga Prince Vijaya and his party of several hundred, in the Maldives occurred between 543 to 483 BCE. They were made to leave their native regions of Orissa and the Sinhapura kingdom in north west India. According to the Mahavansa, one of the ships that sailed with Prince Vijaya who went to Sri Lanka around 500 BC, went adrift and arrived at an island called Mahiladvipika, which is the Maldives. It is also said that at that time the people from Mahiladvipika used to travel to Sri Lanka. Their settlement in Sri Lanka and some of the Maldives marks a significant change in demographics and the development of the Indo-Aryan language Dhivehi a branch off language of Sinhala).^{[citation needed]} There are some signs of Arab and east Asian inhabitants mostly in southernmost atolls.^{[citation needed]}

Isdhoo Loamaafaanu, the oldest copper-plate book discovered in the Maldives (Isdhoo, Laamu Atoll) to date.

Buddhism came to the Maldives at the time of Emperor Ashoka's expansion and became the dominant religion of the people of the Maldives until the 12th century AD.The ancient Maldivian Kings promoted Buddhism and the first Maldive writings and artistic achievements in the form of highly developed sculpture and architecture are from that period. Isdhoo Loamaafaanu is the oldest copper-plate book to have been discovered in the Maldives (Isdhoo, Laamu Atoll) to date. The book was written in 1194 AD (590 AH) in Evēla form of the Divehi akuru with the exception of the first plate, during the reign of Siri Fennaadheettha Mahaa Radun{Dhinei Kalaminja}.

First archaeological study of the remains of early cultures on the Maldives began with the work of H.C.P. Bell, a British commissioner of the Ceylon Civil Service. Bell was shipwrecked on the islands in 1879, and returned several times to investigate ancient Buddhist ruins. He studied the ancient mounds, called havitta or ustubu (these names are derived from chaitiya or stupa) (Dhivehi: ހަވިއްތަ) by the Maldivians, which are found on many of the atolls.

Although Bell asserted that the ancient Maldivians followed Theravada Buddhism, many local Buddhist archaeological remains now in the Malé Museum display in fact Mahayana and Vajrayana iconography.

In the early 11th century the Minicoy and Thiladhunmathi also possibaly other northern Atolls was conquered by the medieval Chola Tamil emperor Raja Raja Chola I , becoming a part of the Chola empire.

Illustration which appeared in an article in The Graphic depicts veranda sing (Fendaamathi Undholi) of royal palace, by the Englishman CW Rosett. He visited Maldives in 25th October, 1885 and stayed in Malé, his purpose was to exhibit his findings at the Colonial and Indian exhibition.

According to a legend from the Maldivian Folklore, in the early 12^th century AD a medieval prince named Koimala nobleman of the Lion Race from Ceylon, sailed to Rasgetheemu island (literally King's Town) in North Maalhosmadulu Atoll and from there to Malé and established a kingdom there. By then, the Aadeetta (Sun) Dynasty had for sometime ceased to rule in Malé, possibly due to invasions by the Cholas of Southern India in the Tenth Century. The indigenous people in Malé Atoll, the Giraavaru invited Koimala to Malé and permitted him to be proclaimed king. Koimala Kalou (Lord Koimala) reigned as King Maanaabarana, was a king of the Homa (Lunar) Dynasty, which some historians call House of Theemuge. Since Koimala's reign, the Maldive throne was also known as the Singaasana (Lion Throne).^[15] Before then,and in some situations since, it was also known as the Saridhaaleys (Ivory Throne).^[16] Some Historians accredit Koimala of freeing the maldives from Tamil Chola rule.

Queen Siri Raadha Abaarana Mahaa Rehendhi (Sultana Khadija), a 14th Century queen and her husband Mohamed El-Jameel giving an audience. The drawing is allegedly based on the writings of the fourteenth Century Moorish traveller Ibn Batuta, who on visiting Maldives was invited to stay as the Chief Justice(1347-1349). (For annotated selections from his writings, see Travels of Ibn Battuta (tr. by H. A. R. Gibb, 3 vol., rev. ed. 1958-71)

Several foreign travellers, mainly Arabs, had written about a kingdom over the Maldives ruled by a queen. This kingdom pre-dated Koimala's reign. al-Idrisi referring to the writings of earlier writers mentions the name of one of the queens. Her name was Damahaar. She was a member of the Aadeetta (Sun) dynasty. The Homa (Lunar) dynasty soveriegns inter-married with the Aaditta (Sun) Dynasty. This was why the formal titles of Maldive kings until 1968 contained references to "kula sudha ira" which meant "descended from the Moon and the Sun". No official records exist of the Aadeetta dynasty's reign.^[17]

The conversion to Islam is mentioned in the ancient edicts written in copper plates from the end of the 12th century AD. There is also a locally well-known legend about a foreign saint (a Persian from the city of Tabriz or a Moroccan Berber according to the versions) who subdued a demon known as Rannamaari. Dhovemi Kalaminja who suceeded Koimala converted to islam in the year 1153 AD

Over the centuries, the islands have been visited and their development influenced by sailors and traders from countries on the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

In 1953, there was a brief, abortive attempt to form a republic, but the sultanate was re-imposed. In 1959, objecting to Nasir's centralism, the inhabitants of the three southernmost atolls protested against the government. They formed the United Suvadive Republic and elected, Abdullah Afeef as president and Hithadhoo as capital of this republic.

Although governed as an independent Islamic sultanate from 1153 to 1968, the Maldives was a British protectorate from 1887 until July 25, 1965.