A very comprehensive historical background of Maldives history, of people, language, origins, and society is presented in an article on the International Institute for Asian Studies website. The article titled Where Did the Maldives People Come From? By Clarance Maloney writes that:
Read more with just a click: http://www.iias.nl/iiasn/iiasn5/insouasi/maloney.htmlThe Maldives people are a clear ethnic category, having a unique language derived from Sinhala but grafted on to an earlier Tamil base, and they have a homogeneous cultural tradition. In early medieval times they followed the Sri Lanka type of Buddhism, but in 1153 were converted to Islam by order of their ruler. There is another island located to the north of Maldives territory that belongs culturally to the Maldives, Minicoy (properly, Maliku), which because of events during the colonial period is now held by India as part of its Lakshadvip Island group. Most of the Maldives islands are tiny, less than a mile long, but Minicoy is the largest island populated by Divehi people. The Indian government does not allow foreigners to visit this island.
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Early references to the Maldives are found in the Commentary on the Bharu Jataka and the Khuddapatha, early Buddhist texts, and the Dipavamsa, the earliest Sinhala epic (4th century BC), and the Mahavamsa (3rd century BC). The country was probably overrun from
Kerala in the Sangam Period of South India (1-3 century AD). It is mentioned in the Greek text Periplus (1st century AD), by Pappas of Alexandria (4th century), and several fifth century Greek authors. The islands are mentioned by the Chinese travellers Fa Hsien (5th century) and Hsuan-Tsang (7th century), and in a document of the Tang Dynasty (8th century). The country was conquered by Tamil Pallavas from neighbouring Madras (late 7th century).Islamic records start with an account by Sulaiman the merchant (c. 900 AD), and Al-Mas'udi (916), Abul Hassan the Persian (1026), Al Biruni (1039), and Al-Idrisi (c. 1100). In the meantime, the country was reconquered by the Tamils, namely by Rajaraja Cola (1017). Europeans are on a more familiar territory when they read the account of Marco Polo (1279- 92). Ibn Battuta made two visits and spent a year and a half in the Maldives as an Islamic legal advisor (1343-46).
Portuguese accounts begin from about 1500. In the brutal competition for control of ocean routes they invaded the Maldives in 1588, killed the sultan, and established Portuguese rule, but that only lasted for fifteen years. Most interesting is a lengthy three-volume account by François Pyrard of Laval, who was held captive in the Maldives (1602-07) and learned Divehi. It is a gold-mine of original Divehi history, customs, and language.
British interest dates from the early 1600s. The Divehis had always managed to remain essentially independent, except for the brief Portuguese occupation, but in 1887 the sultan formally accepted British suzerainty. The only sustained historical work of the Maldives done in the British period was that by H.C.P. Bell, a British antiquarian who studied the Buddhist remains, texts, and coins. The British did not leave an administrative or cultural stamp as they did in India, except for their base in Gan in the south. The Maldives became independent in 1965 and joined the United Nations.
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Education has expanded very rapidly, and the Divehis, who were so long isolated from the wider world, are quickly adapting to their expanded opportunities. These changes have brought population growth through a decline in infant mortality, and a population shift to Male. The main long-term worry however is the rising level of the ocean, which threatens to obliterate the country within one or two centuries.The Maldives is an exceedingly interesting country, and merits more attention from specialists on South Asia and the Indian Ocean area.
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