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History
Early Settlers
Legend has it that a prince and his wife,
the daughter of the King of today’s
Sri Lanka, stopped at Raa Atoll during a voyage
and were invited to stay as rulers.
Later King Koimala and his wife settled
in Malé with permission of the Giraavaru
tribe, the aboriginal tribe of Kaafu atoll.
Nowadays Giraavaru people are still easily
recognisable through their clothes and hairstyle,
but only a few hundred of them are left
and were resettled in Malé in 1978.
Their island, Giraavaru has been transformed
into a tourist resort. Aryans from India
and Sri Lanka are believed to have settled
in the Maldives from 1500 BC onwards - according
to latest archaeological findings. “Elu”,
an archaic form of Sinhala (spoken in Sri
Lanka) shows great similarities to Dhivehi.
As a favourite stop-over on the busy trade
routes, the Maldives have had many visitors
and influences, trading with Arabia, China
and India with coconut, dried fish and above
all the precious cowry shell, a small white
shell found on the beach, used as currency
in countries near the Indian Ocean. These
shells were found as far away as Norway
or West Africa showing the extent of the
trade relations of the Maldives.
Conversion
to Islam
Mohamed Ibn Batuta, a Moroccan traveller
who visited the Maldives in the 14th century
recorded an interesting legend on how the
Nationality converted to Islam. Abul Barakaath
Yoosuf Al Barbary, an Islamic scholar, visited
the Maldives during a time when people lived
in fear of the “Rannamaari”, a
sea-demon, who came out of the sea once a
month threatening to destroy everything unless
a virgin was sacrificed. The unfortunate young
girls were chosen by lot, had to stay in a
temple near the seashore and were found raped
and dead in the morning. The daughter of the
house he was staying at had been selected
to be the victim and he decided to save her.
Disguised as a girl he spent the night in
the temple reciting continuously from the
Holy Quran. In the morning when people went
to find out the fate of the chosen girl they
were amazed to find him alive and still reciting
the Quran. When the King found out that the
demon had been defeated through the power
of the Holy Quran he embraced Islam and ordered
all the subjects to follow him.
Maldivian
heroes
The Portuguese had a keen interest in the
Maldives due to the availability of cowry
shells, and ambergris, an important ingredient
in perfumes, and had been approached by the
formerly expelled Sultan, Hassan IX to help
him regain his throne. Three attempts were
repelled mainly due to Ali Rasgefaanu, who
proved to be a brave and tough fighter. He
became Sultan Ali VI but only for a few months
as he was killed during another Portuguese
attack, dying a martyr’s death. His
tomb, built at the very spot where he died
in the sea is now on dry land due to the reclamation
of land in Malé. Martyr’s day,
a public holiday, has been devoted to him.
The next 15 years saw the darkest period in
Maldivian history, when the Portuguese tried
to enforce Christianity upon the islanders.
Mohamed Thakurufaanu and his two brothers
from the island of Utheemu, used a form of
guerilla warfare for eight long years, during
which one of the brothers was caught and beheaded.
Their strategy was to land on an island at
night, kill the Portuguese in a surprise attack
and sail off before dawn. Thakurufaanu sought
the help of the Malabari, killed the Portuguese
leader Andreas Andre, locally known as Andiri
Andirin, and recaptured Malé. He was
made Sultan and reigned for 12 years forming
a trained standing army, introducing coins,
improving trade and religious observance and
founding a dynasty that lasted for 132 years.
The British
Protectorate
On December 16, 1887 the Sultan of the Maldives
signed a contract with the British Governor
of Ceylon turning the Maldives into a British
protectorate. The British government promised
the Maldives military protection and non-interference
in local administration in exchange for an
annual tribute paid by the Maldives. In 1957
the British established a RAF base in the
strategic southernmost atoll of Addu for £2000
a year, where hundreds of locals were employed.
19 years later the British government decided
to give up the base, as it was too expensive
to maintain.
Independence
The Maldives gained independence on July
26, 1965.Three years later a republic was
declared with Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir
as the first president. In 1978 President
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom became president and
has been re-elected thrice since then.A coup
attempt in 1988 by Sri Lankan mercenaries
was successfully repelled. Small as it is
the Maldives has always maintained independence
and a strong unity despite influences and
threats from outside. They are now an internationally
renowned Nationality, a member of the UN,
WHO, SAARC, Commonwealth, the Non-Aligned
Movement and others and play an important
role in advocating the security of small nations
and the protection of the environment
