History History

Hawittas, pyramid-shaped stone mounds, discovered in the Huvadhoo and Addu atolls attest to a human presence in the Maldives. Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl revealed carvings of lotuses and sunflowers on some of the stones indicating that the first occupants came from the Indus Valley.

The Mahavamsa, a chronicle that mixes legends and history, relates the settlement of Indo-Aryan peoples in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. This date is remembered as the first colonization of the Maldives.

The kingdom of Dheeva Maari was founded in the Maldives by a prince of the Aditiya solar dynasty of Kalinga, an ancient region in northeast India.

The Indian emperor Ashoka converted to Buddhism and sent proselytizing emissaries throughout South Asia, including the Maldives.

King Mahaabarena Additiya defeated the Indians in the northern Maldives and became the king of "fourteen atolls and two islands". He is the first king whose reign dates are known with certainty and the first to rule the entire Maldives archipelago.

King Bavanditta Maha Radun converted to Islam under the influence of an Arab merchant named Al-Barakat. The king took the name of Muhamed al-Adil and the title of Sultan. The Maldives became a sultanate.

Princess Khadija has her brother Sultan Shihab al-Din Ahmed assassinated. She acceded to the throne and became one of the first women to rule a Muslim state. In 1362, she was forced to abdicate by her husband. She had him assassinated and returned to the throne. In 1373, history repeated itself. Khadija's second husband forced her to abdicate in his favor. She had him assassinated 3 years later.

Intrigues and palace crimes follow one another at a frantic pace. The instability of power is maintained by the Ali Raja, who came from the south of India. These merchants who travelled the seas were nicknamed "the lords of the Maldives". They received a tribute to maintain a sultan on the throne, or on the contrary, to have him assassinated.

The Portuguese sought to establish a trading post in the Maldives. Under their influence, Sultan Hassan IX converted to Christianity and took the name Dom Manoel. He was immediately deposed and the Maldives was governed by a Council of Ministers. Dom Manoel took refuge in Goa. He was replaced on the throne by the Portuguese in 1558. His Catholic regent, Andiri Andirin, took charge of affairs.

Kateeb Thakurufan makes a pact with the Ali Raja. He pledged to cede the sovereignty of the Maldives to them if he came to the throne. He had Andiri Andirin assassinated, but concluded a treaty with Dom Manoel. The latter was replaced on the throne and ceded the co-regency to Kateeb Thakurufan and his brother Hassan.

Dom Manoel died and the throne reverted to his son Dom João who remained in Goa. The two Thakurufan brothers maintain the regency. In 1585, Ibrahim, Kateeb's son, inherited the regency. Dom João died in 1603 and was succeeded by his son Dom Philippe. Mohamed Imaddudin I became regent of the Maldives in 1620 and a Portuguese expedition was led in 1632 to abolish the regency. This failed and Mohammed Imaddudin I was officially proclaimed Sultan of the Maldives, putting an end to Portuguese domination.

Sultan Mohamed Mohyeddine re-establishes the Islamic penal code, the Sharia. The Ali Raja's attempts at control resumed and the sultans succeeded one another.

The British succeeded the Dutch in Ceylon and inherited the unofficial protectorate over the Maldives. In the middle of the 19th century, Indian merchants took over the Maldivian foreign trade. They held a monopoly on sugar, rice, dried fish, coconut and tortoise shell.

In order to counter India, Sultan Mohamed Muenuddin II signed a defence agreement with the British governor in Ceylon. The British guaranteed the protection of the Maldives while forbidding themselves to intervene in internal political affairs. However, they forced Sultan Mohamed Shamsuddin III to sign the first Maldivian Constitution in 1932.

Sultan Abdul Majeed Didi dies. The Regency Council submits the constitution of the Maldives as a Republic to a referendum. On¹ January 1953, Mohamed Amin Didi became the first President of the Maldives. He aimed to modernize the country, nationalized the fishing industry and banned tobacco consumption. A revolt broke out in Malé and Abdul Majeed Didi was sent into exile on Gaafaru. He died a few months later.

The sultanate is restored. Mohamed Farid Didi ascended the throne. He took the title of king after the British ended the protectorate in 1965. A new referendum decides on the return of the Republic to the Maldives in 1968.

Ibrahim Nasir was elected President of the Republic on 11 November 1968. He opened the country to tourism, built the first international airport and modernized the fishing fleet by motorizing the dhoni. He introduced English in schools, created the first national television channel and Radio Maldives. He is considered as the hero of Maldivian independence. He left the country in 1978 with millions of dollars from the state coffers and took refuge in Singapore.

Abdul Gayoom, the interim president, called for elections five months later. For 30 years, he ensured that he was the only candidate for the presidency. In 2008, he allowed a two-candidate vote for the first time and lost his position with 45.75%.

Mohamed Nasheed, founder of the Maldivian Democratic Party, was the first democratically elected president of the Maldives. During his term, he struggled to contain the onslaught of President Gayoom's loyalists. He resigned in 2012, under duress.

Abdulla Yameen wins the elections against Mohamed Nasheed who returns to the political arena. He has Nasheed prosecuted for corruption and sentenced to 13 years in prison. Yameen enters into an economic partnership with China. His mandate is marked by a restriction of freedoms and an attack on human rights: arbitrary arrests, return of flogging, impossibility of contesting election results.

Yameen loses the election to Maldivian Democratic Party candidate Ibrahim Solih. Solih reaffirmed privileged ties with India at the expense of China. He integrates the Maldives into the Commonwealth of Nations. In 2019, the Maldivian Democratic Party won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections, taking 65 out of 87 seats.

Mohammed Muizzu of the Progressive Party of the Maldives wins a new presidential election. This is followed by restrictions on the right to demonstrate and attacks on press freedom. The president talks of reinstating the death penalty.