Sultanate of Maldives
The Sultanate of Maldives (Dhivehi: Dhivehi Raajje, "the country of the Dhivehi people") was an Islamic monarchy that controlled the Maldivian Archipelago for 815 years (1153–1968), with interruption.
Sultanate of Maldives Dhivehi Raajje (Dhivehi) | |||||||||||
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Maldives (bottom left) in 1920. | |||||||||||
| Status | Sovereign state (1153–1558, 1573–1600s, 1965–1968) Arakkal vassal (1757–1759, 1766–1773) Portuguese colony (1558–1573) Dutch protectorate (1600s–1796) British protectorate (1796–1965) | ||||||||||
| Capital | Malé | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Dhivehi | ||||||||||
| Government |
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| Sultan | |||||||||||
• 1153–1165 | Muhammad al-Adil | ||||||||||
• 1954–1968 | Muhammad Fareed Didi | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 1153 | ||||||||||
| 1573 | |||||||||||
| 1 January 1953 | |||||||||||
| 6 March 1954 | |||||||||||
• Independence from the United Kingdom | 26 July 1965 | ||||||||||
| 11 November 1968 | |||||||||||
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Maldives was a Buddhist kingdom until its last monarch, King Dhovemi, converted to Islam in the year 1153; thereafter he also adopted the Muslim title and name Sultan Muhammad al-Adil. Six dynasties would rule over the Maldives until the Sultanate become elective in 1932.
From the 16th century, the Sultanate increasingly came under European influence, starting with a 15-year period of Portuguese rule. After the expulsion of the Portuguese, the Maldives became subject to Dutch hegemony before finally becoming a British protected state in 1796. Following an abortive attempt at forming a republic in 1953, the emergence of a short-lived breakaway state, and the establishment of independence from the United Kingdom, the Sultanate was abolished following a successful referendum in 1968, and the Maldives became a republic.