History

People have been studying the history of the Maldives to find out its true history. It’s said that the very first settlers were probably from regions close by to the Maldives, these being Dravidian people.

The dominant religion until the 12th century AD was Buddhism, the early days of the Maldives are somewhat unknown as the first settlers didn’t leave any archaeological evidence suggesting where they exactly came from.

In today’s world Islam is a major part of the Maldivian community since it was introduced back in 1153. This conversion was mainly down to a Muslim traveller called Abu al Barakat, his tomb now lays in the Maldivian capital Male’ and has become a major historic attraction that people come from all over the world to see. Arab travellers have been converting other areas all over South Asia for centuries and in comparison to them the Maldives converted considerably late.

In 1965 the Maldives signed an agreement with the United Kingdom, the British gave the Maldivians the Gan International Airport to use as a domestic airport opposed to a British military base. A few years after in 1968 the Maldives eradicated Sultanate and established a republic under the presidency of Ibrahim Nasir for two terms.

Nasir appointed Ahmed Zaki as the prime minister who was arrested and banished to a remote atoll in 1975, people say this is because he was getting too popular – causing a threat to Nasir. In 1978 the former president fled to Singapore after he was overruled.