History of the Maldives

The location of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean

The history of the Maldives encompasses the history and prehistory of the present-day state of the Maldives , which consists of around 1190 islands located southwest of India in the Indian Ocean .

Settlement history

There is so far only sparse information about the first settlement of the Maldives. What is certain is that even before the introduction of the Islamic state religion, i.e. 1153 according to the Christian calendar, not only Buddhism , but also before that. a. also of Hinduism on the islands were prevalent.

Excavations also indicate that supporters of a sun cult had already left stone witnesses of their presence in the past: The legend speaks of the Redin, who settled the islands "from the north" and were not only good seafarers, but above all first-class stonecutters must: Heyerdahl's excavations prove his conviction that step pyramids are similar to the ziggurats from even older times.

In any case, it is certain that the Maldives were a center for trade contacts long before Islamization (albeit through intermediaries), contacts that extended to China in the east, west into the Mediterranean and as far as northern Europe: the special kind of cowrie shell , just at home in the Indian Ocean, for the procurement of which the Maldives had a monopoly, as it were, was found as grave goods in northern Norway on the breadth of the Arctic Circle, and Pliny the Elder had already suggested and described the sea route to China via the Maldives for economic reasons.

Historical religious influences

Investigations by Thor Heyerdahl and his team of professional archaeologists proved through excavations in 1983 and 1984 that first remains of Buddhist temples were found below Muslim mosques, below evidence of Hindu beliefs, and even deeper remains of sun worship cults. The subsequent culture, however, either used the material of the older buildings for the current buildings or smashed "pagan" sculptures and cover plates in order to use the fragments as filling material. This meant, for example, that the oldest mosques in the Maldives were not facing Mecca, but rather facing east-west due to the use of earlier foundations: the faithful were shown the correct alignment for prayer by means of lines drawn in the ground.

In 1153 the population of the Maldives was converted to Islam. Unlike in other Arab countries, it was not just men who held the sultanate, and the fact that women were largely on an equal footing with men, for example not veiled, is also noted by Ibn Battuta , who spent nine months in the Maldives in 1343. The most famous ruler was the Sultan Khadeeja Rehendi Kabaidhi Kilege, who ruled the country for 35 years in the 14th century. Even today women play a major role in public life in the Maldives. Half of the students, many business people, civil servants and ministers are women. However, the matriarchal influence is less pronounced than with the Muslim Minangkabau on Sumatra.

Colonial history

In the course of European "voyages of discovery" in the 16th century, the Portuguese occupied the islands in 1558 and tried to Christianize them, but met with fierce opposition. In 1573, a Maldivian uprising drove the invaders away. The leader Muhammad Thakurufaan is recognized today as a national hero on the national holiday.

After occupying neighboring Ceylon in the mid-17th century , the Netherlands made the Maldivian sultanate a protectorate , albeit without interfering in local affairs. When the Netherlands lost Ceylon to the British in 1796, the Maldives also came under British influence. It was not until 1887 that they formally regulated their supremacy by means of a treaty with the Sultanate of Malé , through which the Sultan accepted the influence of the British over the foreign relations and defense affairs of the island empire. Otherwise, the British were hardly present. Active and passive women's suffrage was granted under the colonial administration in 1932.

In 1932, the Maldives' first democratic constitution was promulgated.

During the Second World War , the British built an airfield on the island of Gan (Atoll Addu) , which they left to the legitimate government when they left in 1976. For the construction, however, a prehistoric structure, which was exactly in the extension of the taxiway, was razed.

On January 1, 1953, a "Republic of the Maldives" was proclaimed, but in the same year, on August 21, the sultanate was restored.

From 1959 to 1963, the southern Maldives split off as the Republic of Suvadiva .

History of the modern state

Flag of the Independent Maldives

On July 26, 1965, the Maldives gained full independence as a member of the Commonwealth . Her full membership of the United Nations was confirmed just two days later. The republic was reintroduced on November 11, 1968, followed by the withdrawal from the Commonwealth. A new constitution was drawn up. Active and passive women's suffrage were confirmed. On March 29, 1976, the last British troops left the island of Gan.

On November 11, 1978, the dictatorial ruling President Amir Ibrahim Nasir was voted out of office. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom succeeded him.

The Maldives were reassigned to the Commonwealth in 1982 with "special status". The Maldives have been a full member of the Commonwealth again since June 1985.

President Gayoom was re-elected for an additional five years in 1983, 1988 and 1993. In 1998, during his fourth term in office, a new constitution came into force. In October 2003 he was re-elected with 90.28% of the vote.

On November 3, 1988, around 160 mercenaries attempted a coup against the government and occupied the capital. Indian paratroopers intervened and on November 4th restored the status quo .

On October 29, 2008, the then 41-year-old Mohamed Nasheed was elected as the new president in the Maldives' first democratic election. President Gayoom accepted his defeat. After popular protests and a mutiny by revolting police officers, Mohamed Nasheed resigned from his post as President on February 7, 2012. His successor was Mohammed Waheed Hassan , who had served as Vice President since 2008. He took his oath of office on the same day . A new election took place on September 7, 2013; the runoff election on November 16 was won by the challenger Abdulla Yameen . He was sworn in as President on November 17, 2013.

In 2016, the Maldives left the Commonwealth of Nations.

Web links

Commons : History of the Maldives  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Maldives Culture

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Heyerdahl, Fua Mulaku p. 335f, [note. 69], quoted from Pliny vol. 6: “We consider it worth the effort to describe the whole journey from Egypt in more detail […] and so it happens that one starts the journey home in the same year.” Pliny recommends the Traveling up the Nile and embarking on the Red Sea after the land journey, with due regard for the seasonal monsoons. He puts the value of tradable goods at at least 50 million sesterces when they are bought, and notes that the goods in Rome “yield a hundred times that amount”. Despite presumed exaggeration, good business….
2. ↑ Thor Heyerdahl: Fua Mulaku. Journey to the forgotten cultures of the Maldives. Bertelsmann, 1986.
3. ↑ According to the legend, a single man, a seafarer named Abu al Barakat Yusuf, achieved this: A jinn , who every month demanded, received, deflowered and killed a virgin as a sacrifice, he finally got by simply reciting the Koran that night expelled. Battuta explained the converter's origin as al Barbari, "from the Berber country", North Africa, that is, from Battuta's homeland. Heyerdahl was evidently refuted on site: If the fragments of the carved tablet that Battuta had translated were taken into account, the name could be read as Abu al Rikab Yusuf, with the addition of al Tabrisi, “from Tabriz”. S. Fua Mulaku p. 216f. Heyerdahl was also given a more plausible explanation for the change of state religion: the Buddhist Sinhalese of Sri Lanka had understandable desires for this ideal trade center between East and West. The switch to Islam put a stop to them - the distant Arabs would interfere little in the government, but for reasons of faith they would always be in the background as a protective power in the event of an intended occupation by Buddhists.
4. ↑ http://www.wernerlau.com/de/tauchen/malediven/reiseinformationen-thmd_5.html
5. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from January 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
6. ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 247.
7. ↑ Heyerdahl, Fua Mulaku, Bertelsmann 1986, p. 35.
8. ↑ - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. Accessed October 4, 2018 . 
9. ^ Spiegel Online on Nasheed's resignation . spiegel.de. Retrieved February 7, 2012.
10. ↑ Autocrat brother Yameen wins election. FAZ.net, accessed on November 20, 2013 . 
11. ^ Jason Burke: Abdulla Yameen wins Maledives election. The Guardian, accessed November 20, 2013 . 
12. ↑ Volker Pabst: The Maldives are leaving the Commonwealth. The confederation of states has threatened to suspend membership due to deficiencies in the rule of law. Male now anticipates this step. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, October 15, 2016, p. 5.