History of the Maldives

The history of the Maldives traces settlement and political change across an Indian Ocean archipelago, from early communities and Buddhist kingdoms to an Islamic sultanate and modern republic.

Early settlement of the Maldives: The arrival and establishment of communities in the Maldivian archipelago before its documented sultanate. Settlement preceded the islands’ Buddhist kingdoms and later Islamic state.
Sultanate of the Maldives: A hereditary Islamic monarchy that governed the Maldives for centuries. The sultanate was the archipelago’s central political institution before republican rule.
Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-Auzam: A Maldivian military leader who expelled Portuguese forces from Malé in the sixteenth century. His resistance became a defining episode in the sultanate’s history and national memory.
Portuguese rule in the Maldives: The brief Portuguese occupation of Malé in the sixteenth century, ended by local resistance. The occupation and its defeat became a landmark in the sultanate’s defense of its autonomy.
Buddhism in the Maldives: The religious tradition practiced in the Maldives before the archipelago’s conversion to Islam. Buddhist remains and accounts illuminate the islands’ pre-Islamic past.
Maldives under British protection: The period when Britain controlled the Maldives’ external affairs under a protectorate arrangement, formalized in 1887. British protection limited external sovereignty while leaving much internal governance to the sultanate.
Mohamed Amin Didi: The first president of the Maldives, who led the short-lived republic founded in 1953. His presidency embodied the first major attempt to replace the sultanate with a republic.
Maldives independence: The Maldives’ attainment of independence from Britain on 26 July 1965. Independence ended the protectorate and restored full control over foreign relations.
Conversion to Islam in the Maldives: The adoption of Islam in the Maldives, traditionally dated to 1153. Conversion marks the transition from Buddhist rule to the sultanate’s Islamic political order.
First Republic of the Maldives: The short-lived Maldivian republic established in 1953 under President Mohamed Amin Didi. Its brief existence exposed conflict over replacing the monarchy with republican government.

Linked from 1 page

MaldivesNarrower topic: Its successive kingdoms, sultanates, and republics explain the country's political development.