Sultan Ibrahim Iskandhar Sri kularanmeeba Kathiri Bavana Mahaa Radun (born c. 1630 - d. 1687) was the

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Maldives Maldives (, ; dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ, translit=Dhivehi Raajje, ), officially the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖޭގެ ޖުމްހޫރިއްޔާ, translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa, label=none, ), is an archipelag ...

from 1648 to 1687. He was the son of HH Sultan Muhammad Imaduddin I and Kabaa Aisha. Iskandar ascended to the throne of Maldives at age 18, after the death of his father. During his reign, he rebuilt the Malé Hukuru Miskiy in

Malé Malé (, ; dv, މާލެ) is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 252,768 and an area of , it is also one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city is geographically located at the southern ...

and began educating his people by teaching the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

. Iskandar died in 1687 after ruling nearly for 40 years. He was succeeded by his son Kuda Muhammad under the regency of his consort

Mariyam Kaba'afa'anu Rani Kilege Mariyam Kaba'afa'anu Rani Kilege (died 1691) was a Sultana consort of the Maldives by marriage to sultan Ibrahim Iskandar I of the Maldives. She served as regent of the Maldives during the minority of her son, sultan Kuda Muhammad of the Maldive ...

Letters to the Mughal Empire

The

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

of the

Ibrahim Iskandar I, was alarmed by the trading activities of the

English East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southe ...

and the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and by their growing interest in

cowries Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Cypraeidae, the cowries. The term '' porcelain'' derives from the old Italian term for the cowrie shell (''porcellana' ...

and caires (coconut fibre). In the year 1660, Iskandar requested the assistance of the Mughal

Faujdar Faujdar is a term of pre-Mughal origins. Under the Mughals it was an office that combined the functions of a military commander along with judicial and land revenue functions. In pre-Mughal times, the term referred to a military officer but d ...

Balasore Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It i ...

, and even wrote a letter persuading the

Mughal Emperor The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...

Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...

to prohibit the

and the

to sail on profitable routes by the Indian coasts. The Maldives however was not directly subjected to the rule of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

Currency of Maldives

Loa laari or laari fothi ("circular coin") was first struck by Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar I during his regency from 1648-1687 CE. One of the known coins is the 1 laari coin made during 1660-1666 (Islamic calendar: 1070-1074 ) the coin weighs about 4.80 grams and is made from silver. On the obverse side of the coin the Sultan name, mint and date is written. Lettering:١٠٧٠ المحلى سنه اسكندرضرب في Translation: Iskandar Struck in Male 1070. On the reverse side of the coin the Sultan title is written. Lettering: السلطان البر والبحر Translation: Sultan of the Land and Sea. Another known coin made during his regency, a 1 laari coin made in 1685-1686 ( Islamic calendar: 1096-1097 ) weighs 4.80 grams and is made from silver. On the obverse side, the Sultan name and mint is written. The same inscription in Arabic as that of the first coin. And on the reverse side of the coin, the Sultan name, title and date is written.

References

1630s births 1687 deaths 17th-century sultans of the Maldives {{Cite web, url=https://en.numista.com/catalogue/maldives-1.html, title=Coins from Maldives – Numista