Brief History of the
Maldives
The Maldives have been inhabited for a long time; however it is uncertain
when the first people arrived. What is known is that the people today are
related to the people of India and Sri Lanka and it is most likely that earlier
settlers arrived from these locations, most likely India. For much of this early
history the islands have been fairly united and their major source of income
and export was cowrie shells, which were used as a currency in much of Asia.
In about the 200s BC Buddhism was introduced to the Maldives and this
religion, and aspects of it strongly influenced the culture and people for the
next 1400 years. However, due to few remains from this time period and
tradition buildings being made of wood, sadly there is little known history
from this time, outside a couple dozen religious monuments from this time.
Despite this, the culture to this day has strong Buddhist aspects in the form
of architecture, behavior, and customs.
In the 1100s AD Islam was introduced to the Maldives, although again little is
known about the conversion. Modern day history books (written by the
Muslim people today) claim prior to Muslim arrival the people were backward
and nothing else is mentioned, while the supposed conversion to Islam was
welcomed, although evidence suggests it was a bloody struggle.
The arrival of Muslims to the islands most likely came from the Middle East.
As a center of trade in the Indian Ocean a number of people had contact with
the Maldives and it is likely that people from the Middle East arrived through
these passageways to either convert the people or to gain access to their
cowrie shell trade, which also demanded their conversion.
The Maldives' rule of trade with India, Sri Lanka, and much of Asia and East
Africa ended with the arrival and domination of the Indian Ocean by the
Europeans in the 1500s and 1600s. This began with the Portuguese arriving
in 1558, but about 15 years later the people revolted and the Portuguese left.
Shortly after this the Dutch took control of the Maldives foreign affairs, but
left domestic affairs alone, establishing better relations than the Portuguese
had.
In 1796 the British had taken India and soon made their way south to the
Maldives, making it an official British protectorate about a century later in
1887, however, like the Dutch only controlled their foreign relations.
In 1932 the Maldives adopted a Constitution, but this document was
essentially written to support those who supported the British and soon it had
been destroyed as both the Sultan and the Chief Minister remained in limbo
with power being undefined. This state continued until 1953 when the
Sultanate position (an elected position) was overthrown and a republic was
created.
This new government introduced a number of liberal reforms, such as
expanded education and further women's rights. However this alienated
conservative Muslims and soon the government was overthrown. This led to
the sultanate and British military presence to guarantee peace. The most
notably addition from these events were that the British received a military
presence on the southern islands for a term of 100 years. The successive
government sought to alter this agreement, but the people on the southern
islands greatly benefited from British presence so rebelled in 1959, starting a
new country called the United Suvadive Republic, which lasted until 1963.
In 1965 the Maldives gained full independence from the United Kingdom, but
allowed the military base to remain. This new republic abolished the position
of sultan and went into effect in 1968. Although some positive changes were
implemented, in the 1970s the economy struggled as exports to Sri Lanka
declined and the United Kingdom abandoned their air base. In 1978 the
government leaders were overthrown and new leadership was brought in.
These new leaders focused on international cooperation, the development of
the nation's poor, and increasing tourism to the islands.
Since this time though the government hasn't truly allowed free and fair
elections and most political parties have been banned, although a change in
the presidency occurred in 2008. Despite this, most people seem to agree
with the government's policies, although numerous attempted coups have
taken place since the 1980s.
