Utheemu ( dv, އުތީމު) is one of the inhabited islands of

Haa Alif Atoll Haa Alif Atoll is the code name based on the letters of the Maldivian alphabet commonly used to refer to the administrative division officially known as North Thiladhunmathi Atoll ( Maldivian: ''Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi'') in the Maldives. It is ...

administrative division and geographically part of Thiladhummathi Atoll in the north of the

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

. It is an island-level administrative constituency governed by the Utheemu Island Council.

History

Utheemu is famed as the birthplace of Sultan Mohamed Thakurufaanu, who with his brothers and his companions fought an eight-year-long war to drive out the Portuguese invaders who occupied the Maldives from 1558 to 1573. ''Utheemu Ganduvaru'' is the wooden palace in which Sultan Mohamed Thakurufaanu lived and grew up. It is well preserved and evokes more than any other existing building in the Maldives, the lifestyle of the rich, centuries ago. The kings of the

Utheemu Dynasty The Utheemu dynasty was created in 1573 when Muhammad Thakurufaanu Al Auzam became sultan of the Maldives. The dynasty was named after the northern Maldives island of Utheemu, birthplace of Muhammad Thakurufaan. Muhammad Thakurufaan is considere ...

, Sultans Muhammed Imaduddin I (1632 to 1648 AD), Ibrahim Iskandar I (1648 to 1687 AD), Kuda Muhammad (1687 to 1691 AD) and Mohammed Moheyeddin (1691 to 1692 AD) all descended from this island. Regents from Utheem also ruled the Maldives from 1573 to 1632 AD, but the legal (though unrecognised) kings of the islands during this period were the exiled Christian Kings of the Maldives residing in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. From 1602 to 1607, a French sailor,

François Pyrard de Laval François Pyrard de Laval (; 1578 – ca. 1623) was a French navigator who is remembered for a personal written account of his adventures in the Maldives Islands from 1602 to 1607, which was part of a ten-year sojourn (1601–1611) in South Asia, ...

spent time on the Maldives, and gave a detailed account of the customs of the islanders during the Utheemu dynasty. His three-volume work was published in 1619 and is considered a valuable historical archive.

Geography

The island is north of the country's capital,

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 ...

Demography

Gallery

File:Utheemu01.jpg, Harbor File:Utheemu02.jpg, Beach, north shore File:Utheemu04.jpg, New mosque File:Utheemu05.jpg, Utheemu Ganduvaru residence File:Utheemu06.jpg, Ancient cemetery

References

External links

Isles: Utheemu
Islands of the Maldives {{Maldives-geo-stub