Early history of the Maldives is found in metal tabs known as "loamaafaanu", Aryan immigrants first settled the Maldives islands around 500 BC, and it is also believed they colonized Sri Lanka at the same time.
South India and Sri Lanka also provided migrants. and the newest archaeological studies indicate the islands have been inhabited since 1500 BC. Except for a brief period of 15 years of Portuguese occupation in the 16th century, the Maldives has always been an independent state.
The Maldives was a British Protectorate from 1887 to 26 July 1965, and then changed from a Sultanate to a Republic on 11 November 1968.
Arab travellers made the first recorded contact with the outside world around 947 AD, bringing the potential for trade in spices, pearls, dried fish, coconuts and cowry shells which were the trading currency from Africa to China up to the sixteenth century.
News and descriptions of these exotic paradise islands with their valuable natural resources, resulted in even more ships bearing traders and other travellers calling on the Maldives.
Maldives Religious Background
Islam has been central to the life of Maldivians since it was embraced in 1153, and main events and festivals follow the Muslim Calendar. Children are taught the Arabic alphabet from infancy and religious education is provided at home and as part of the school curriculum.
The Culture of the Maldives
To cope with difficult survival circumstances, there is a system of mutual aid between the close island communities. Extended families provide a safety net for each other when experiencing times of difficulty.
Parents as well as other family members make contributions to care for the children. Men by tradition do the fishing during the day while the responsibility of looking after family affairs lies with the women; very often with community support. This is still practiced today in the smaller island communities.
Maldivian Ethnicity
The Maldivian people's origins are still somewhat mysterious. Sri Lanka and Southern India may well have provided the earliest settlers, however some also say that about 4,000 years ago it was Aryans from Lothal in the Indus Valley that followed them in reed sailing boats.
Before the country embraced Islam in 1153 A.D., the existence of Hinduism and Buddhism is suggested by archaeological evidence. It is not surprising therefore that the faces of Maldivian people today show the features of a variety of races that settled the islands around the shipping and maritime routes of the Indian Ocean. Arab, African and South East Asian mariners have long been plying the waters of the Maldives islands.
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