The Maldives were populated perhaps
many thousands of years ago. The oral tradition of the
Maldives does not have any reference concerning how or
where the original inhabitants came from. But it’s most
likely that the first settlers came from the coastal
regions of India and Sri Lanka. The oldest legends tell us that some people came from
the North and became kings, but in all these legends
Maldivians were already living in their islands, when
those events happened.
Ibn Batuta, a Moroccan traveler who visited the Maldives in the
14th century recorded an interesting legend on how the country
converted to Islam. Abul Barakaath Yoosuf Al Barbary, an Islamic
scholar, visited the Maldives during a time when people lived in fear of
the "Rannamaari", a sea-demon, who came out of the sea once a month
threatening to destroy everything unless a virgin was sacrificed. The
unfortunate young girls were chosen by lot, had to stay in a temple near
the seashore and were found raped and dead in the morning. The daughter
of the house he was staying at had been selected to be the victim and
he decided to save her. Disguised as a girl he spent the night in the
temple reciting continuously from the Holy Quran. In the morning when
people went to find out the fate of the chosen girl they were amazed to
find him alive and still reciting the Quran. When the King found out
that the demon had been defeated through the power of the Holy Quran he
embraced Islam and ordered all the subjects to follow him.
After Islam was taken up, the islands of Maldives prospered and have a
glorious past. In 1953, Maldives discarded monarchy and became a
Republic. Mr Mohammed Amin Didi, the introducer of the Republic System
of Government in Maldives became the first President. But the republic
did not survive and a Sultanate was reinstated till 1968. On November 11
1968 , the sultanate was once and for all abolished to be replaced by a
Republic and now continues to be with its present name. Through all
these Maldives never lost its identity as a secluded haven
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