Maldives
Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an archipelagic country in South Asia, located in the eastern Arabian Sea, within the northern Indian Ocean. Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, about from the Asian continent's mainland. Maldives' chain of 26 atolls stretches across the equator from Ihavandhippolhu Atoll in the north to Addu Atoll in the south.
Maldives is the smallest country in Asia. Its land area is only, but this is spread over roughly of the sea, making it one of the world's most spatially dispersed sovereign states. With a population of 515,132 in the 2022 census, it is the second least populous country in Asia and the ninth-smallest country by area, but also one of the most densely populated countries. Maldives has an average ground-level elevation of around above sea level, and a highest natural point of only, making it the world's lowest-lying country. Some sources state the highest point, Mount Villingili, as.
Malé is the capital and the most populated city, traditionally called the "King's Island", where the ancient royal dynasties ruled from its central location. Maldives has been inhabited for over 2,500 years. Documented contact with the outside world began around 947 AD when Arab travellers began visiting the islands. In the 12th century, partly due to the importance of the Arabs and Persians as traders in the Indian Ocean, Islam reached the Maldivian Archipelago. Maldives was soon consolidated as a sultanate, developing strong commercial and cultural ties with Asia and Africa. From the mid-16th century, the region came under the increasing influence of European colonial powers, with Maldives becoming a British protectorate in 1887. Independence from the United Kingdom came in 1965, and a presidential republic was established in 1968 with an elected People's Majlis. The ensuing decades have seen political instability, efforts at democratic reform, and environmental challenges posed by climate change and rising sea levels. Maldives became a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation.
Fishing has historically been the dominant economic activity, and remains the second largest sector, behind the rapidly growing tourism industry. Maldives rates "high" on the Human Development Index, with a per capita income significantly higher than other SAARC nations. The World Bank classifies Maldives as having an upper-middle income economy.
Maldives is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the Non-Aligned Movement, and is a Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. It temporarily withdrew from the Commonwealth in October 2016 after being threatened with expulsion from the organisation for its human rights infringements and democratic backsliding. It was readmitted to the Commonwealth on 1 February 2020 after showing evidence of reform and functioning democratic processes.
Etymology
According to legends, the first settlers of Maldives were people known as Dheyvis. The first Kingdom of Maldives was known as Kingdom of Dheeva Maari. During the 3rd century BCE visit of emissaries, it was noted that Maldives was known as Dheeva Mahal.During – 1166, Maldives was also referred to as Diva Kudha, and the Laccadive archipelago which was a part of Maldives was then referred to as Diva Kanbar by the scholar and polymath al-Biruni.
The name Maldives may also derive from Sanskrit माला mālā and द्वीप dvīpa, or මාල දිවයින Maala Divaina in Sinhala. The Maldivian people are called. The word means "island", and means "islanders". In Tamil, "Garland of Islands" can be translated as Mālaitīvu.
The venerable Sri Lankan chronicle Mahavamsa mentions an island designated as in Pali, likely arising from an erroneous translation of the Sanskrit term, signifying "garland".
Jan Hogendorn, professor of economics at Colby College, theorised that the name Maldives derives from the Sanskrit , meaning "garland of islands". In Malayalam, "Garland of Islands" can be translated as . In Kannada, "Garland of Islands" can be translated as . None of these names are mentioned in any literature, however, classical Sanskrit texts dating back to the Vedic period mention the "Hundred Thousand Islands", a generic name which would include not only Maldives, but also the Laccadives, Aminidivi Islands, Minicoy, and the Chagos island groups.
Medieval Muslim travellers such as Ibn Battuta called the islands ' from the Arabic word ', which must be how the Berber traveller interpreted the name of Malé, having been through Muslim North India, where Perso-Arabic words were introduced to the local vocabulary. This is the name currently inscribed on the scroll in Maldives state emblem. The classical Persian/Arabic name for Maldives is Dibajat. The Dutch referred to the islands as the Maldivische Eilanden, while the British anglicised the local name for the islands first to the "Maldive Islands" and later to "Maldives".
In a conversational book published in 1563, Garcia de Orta writes: "I must tell you that I have heard it said that the natives do not call it Maldiva but Nalediva. In the Malabar language, nale means four, and diva means island. So that in that language, the word signifies 'four islands', while we, corrupting the name, call it Maldiva."
The local name for Maldives by the Maldivian people in Dhivehi language is,.
History
Ancient history and settlement
In the 6th–5th century BCE, kingdoms already existed in the modern-day Maldives. The country has an established history of over 2,500 years according to historical evidence and legends.The Mahāvaṃsa has records of people from Sri Lanka emigrating to Maldives. Assuming that cowrie shells come from Maldives, historians believe that there may have been people living in Maldives during the Indus Valley Civilisation. Several artefacts show the presence of Hinduism in the country before the Islamic period.
According to the book , written in the 17th century in Arabic by Allama Ahmed Shihabuddine of Meedhoo in Addu Atoll, the first settlers of Maldives were people known as Dheyvis. They are said to be from Kalibangan in India. The time of their arrival is unknown but before Emperor Ashoka's kingdom in 269–232 BCE. Shihabuddin's story tallies remarkably well with the recorded history of South Asia and that of the copperplate document of Maldives known as Lōmāfānu.
The ancient history of Maldives is told in copperplates, ancient scripts carved on coral artefacts, traditions, language, and different ethnicities of Maldivians. The Maapanansa, the copper plates on which the history of the first kings of Maldives from the Solar Dynasty was recorded, were lost early.
A 4th-century notice written by Ammianus Marcellinus speaks of gifts sent to the Roman emperor Julian by a deputation from the nation of Divi. The name Divi is very similar to Dheyvi who were the first settlers of Maldives.
The first Maldivians did not leave any archaeological artefacts. Their buildings were probably built of wood, palm fronds, and other perishable materials, which would have quickly decayed in the salt and wind of the tropical climate. Moreover, chiefs or headmen did not reside in elaborate stone palaces, nor did their religion require the construction of large temples or compounds.
Comparative studies of Maldivian oral, linguistic, and cultural traditions confirm that the first settlers were people from the southern shores of the neighbouring Indian subcontinent, including the Giraavaru people, mentioned in ancient legends and local folklore about the establishment of the capital and kingly rule in Malé.
A strong underlying layer of Dravidian and North Indian cultures survives in Maldivian society, with a clear Elu substratum in the language, which also appears in place names, kinship terms, poetry, dance, and religious beliefs. The North Indian system was brought by the original Sinhalese from Sri Lanka. Malabar and Pandya seafaring culture led to the settlement of the Islands by Tamil and Malabar seafarers.
Buddhist period
Despite being just mentioned briefly in most history books, the 1,400 year-long Buddhist period has a foundational importance in the history of Maldives. It was during this period that the culture of Maldives both developed and flourished, a culture that survives today. The Maldivian language, early Maldive scripts, architecture, ruling institutions, customs, and manners of the Maldivians originated at the time when Maldives were a Buddhist kingdom.Buddhism probably spread to Maldives in the 3rd century BCE at the time of Emperor Ashoka's expansion and became the dominant religion of the people of Maldives until the 12th century. Archeological evidence from an ancient Buddhist monastery in Kaashidhoo has been dated between 205 and 560 AD, based on the radiocarbon dating of shell deposits unearthed from the foundations of stupas and other structures in the monastery. The ancient Maldivian Kings promoted Buddhism, and the first Maldive writings and artistic achievements, in the form of highly developed sculpture and architecture, originate from that period. Nearly all archaeological remains in Maldives are from Buddhist stupas and monasteries, and all artefacts found to date display characteristic Buddhist iconography.
Islamic period
The importance of the Arabs as traders in the Indian Ocean by the 12th century may partly explain why the last Buddhist king of Maldives, Dhovemi, converted to Islam in 1153. Adopting the Muslim title of Sultan Muhammad al-Adil, he initiated a series of six Islamic dynasties that lasted until 1932 when the sultanate became elective. The formal title of the sultan up to 1965 was, Sultan of Land and Sea, Lord of the twelve-thousand islands and Sultan of Maldives which came with the style Highness.A Moroccan traveller named Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari is traditionally cited for this conversion. According to the story told to Ibn Battutah, a mosque was built with the inscription: 'The Sultan Ahmad Shanurazah accepted Islam at the hand of Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari.' The folk tale regarding the spread of Islam by al-Barbari involved a local belief to an oceanic deity named Rannamaari. According to the legend, Rannamaari demanded sacrifice of a female virgin each month from the locals. This tradition practiced for long time, until al-Barbari visit Maldives and managed to convert the local ruler and convinced him along with his subjects to abandon the Rannamari worship. According to modern Norwegian archaeologist, it is likely the myth of Rannamari was heavily influenced by Buddhist tantric rituals and beliefs that were practiced in the islands at the time.
Some scholars have suggested the possibility of Ibn Battuta misreading Maldive texts, and having a bias towards the North African, Maghrebi narrative of this Shaykh, instead of the Persian origins account that was known as well at the time. Others have it that he may have been from the Persian town of Tabriz. This interpretation, held by the more reliable local historical chronicles, Raadavalhi and Taarikh, is that Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari was Abdul Barakat Yusuf Shams ud-Dīn at-Tabrīzī, also locally known as Tabrīzugefānu. In the Arabic script the words al-Barbari and al-Tabrizi are very much alike, since at the time, Arabic had several consonants that looked identical and could only be differentiated by overall context. "" could be read as "Yusuf at-Tabrizi" or "Yusuf al-Barbari".
The venerated tomb of the scholar now stands on the grounds of Medhu Ziyaaraiy, across the street from the Friday Mosque, or Hukuru Miskiy, in Malé. Originally built in 1153 and re-built in 1658, this is one of the oldest surviving mosques in Maldives. Following the Islamic concept that before Islam there was the time of Jahiliya, in the history books used by Maldivians the [|introduction of Islam] at the end of the 12th century is considered the cornerstone of the country's history. Nonetheless, the cultural influence of Buddhism remains, a reality directly experienced by Ibn Battuta during his nine months there sometime between 1341 and 1345, serving as a chief judge and marrying into the royal family of Omar I. For he became embroiled in local politics and left when his strict judgements in the laissez-faire island kingdom began to chafe with its rulers. In particular, he was angered at the local women going about with no clothing above the waist— a cultural epithet of the region at the time- was seen as a violation of Middle Eastern Islamic rules of modesty—and the locals taking no notice when he complained.
Compared to the other areas of South Asia, the conversion of Maldives to Islam happened relatively late. Maldives remained a Buddhist kingdom for another 500 years. Arabic became the prime language of administration, and the Maliki school of jurisprudence was introduced, both hinting at direct contact with the core of the Arab world.
Middle Eastern seafarers had just begun to take over the Indian Ocean trade routes in the 10th century and found Maldives to be an important link in those routes as the first landfall for traders from Basra sailing to Southeast Asia. Trade involved mainly cowrie shells—widely used as a form of currency throughout Asia and parts of the East African coast—and coir fibre. The Bengal Sultanate, where cowrie shells were used as legal tender, was one of the principal trading partners of Maldives. The Bengal–Maldives cowry shell trade was the largest shell currency trade network in history.
The other essential product of Maldives was coir, the fibre of the dried coconut husk, resistant to saltwater. It stitched together and rigged the dhows that plied the Indian Ocean. Maldivian coir was exported to Sindh, China, Yemen, and the Persian Gulf.