Sunday, March 1, 2009

History, Religion & Culture


The early history of the Maldives is enshrined in myth and legend. Archeological records indicate that the firstvisitorstotheMaldivessteppedashoreover5000yearsago.Accordingto folklore the Maldives was firstcolonizedbyanIndo-AryanracebetweenthefourthandfifthcenturiesB.C.

1st Century AD Roman manual of navigation Periplus Mari
Erithraei mentions islands assumed to be Maldives
2nd Century AD Ptolemy refers to Maldives in his geography.
362 AD Roman historian records visit of delegation
to Rome bearing gifts to Emperor Julian.
662 AD Historical Chinese document records the
King of Maldives sent gifts to Chinese
Emperor Kao-Tsung of Tang Dynasty.
1153 Maldives convert to Islam
1558 Portuguese invade Maldives
1573 Mohamed Thakurufaanu liberates Maldives from the Portuguese
1752 The Malabars invade and rule for 3 months
1887 Protectorate agreement with Great Britain
1932 First constitution enacted
1953 The firstRepublic
1954 Failure of the firstRepublic
1965 Independence from the British
1968 End of the monarchy, beginning of the second Republic
1972 Development of the firstislandresort
1972 Arrival of firsttouriststoislandresorts
Maldivian culture is a unique and practical phenomenon born of the fisher folk, the adventurer on the high seas, and the always-welcome guest. Binding this whole is our unique Sanskrit-driven language(called Dhivehi) and the Islamic faith.

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