Abdul Majeed (

Dhivehi Dhivehi, also spelled Divehi, may refer to: *Dhivehi people, an ethnic group native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands. *Dhivehi language, an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Republic of Maldives ...

: އަލްއަމީރު އަބްދުލްމަޖީދު ރައްނަބަނޑޭރި ކިލެގެފާނު) (or Al Ameeru Abdul Majeed Rannabandeyri Kilegefaanu) (29 August 1873 – 21 February 1952) served as

Sultan of the Maldives Maldives was turned into a Sultanate in 1153 when the Buddhist King Dhovemi converted to Islam. Prior to that the Maldives was a Buddhist Kingdom, a Hindu Kingdom and before that a matriarchal society with each atoll ruled by a chief queen a ...

from 1944 to 1952. At the time, the Maldives were a British protectorate. Didi is recognized a reformer and has been described as "the father of the modern Maldives". He was fluent in Dhivehi, Urdu, English, Arabic and Sinhalese. Didi spent most of his life in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. He served as the Vice Prime Minister during his father's time. He served as the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of Sultan

Muhammad Shamsuddeen III Sultan Muhammad Shamsuddeen Iskander III, , ( Dhivehi: ސުލްޠާން މުޙައްމަދު ޝަމްސުއްދީން; 20 October 1879 – 12 March 1935), son of Ibrahim Nooraddeen and Kakaage Don Goma, was the Sultan of the Maldives first from ...

from 1926 to 1932. During his own reign, his son Prince Hassan Fareed Didi exerted significant control over the government through the Executive Council. After his death, the Maldives proclaimed its first short lived republican government under the pro-socialist president

Muhammad Amin Didi Sumuvvul Ameer Mohamed Amin Dhoshimeynaa Kilegefaanu ( Dhivehi: ސުމުއްވުލް އަމީރު މުހައްމަދު އަމީން ދޮށިމޭނާ ކިލެގެފާނު) (July 20, 1910 – January 19, 1954), popularly known as Mohamed Amin Did ...

. He also designed the

flag of Maldives The Flag of the Republic of Maldives ( dv, ދިވެހިރާއްޖެގެ ދިދަ, , translit=Dhivehi Raajjeyge dhidha) is green with a red border. The center bears a vertical white crescent; the closed side of the crescent is on the raising side ...

. Sultan Majeed Didi died on 21 February 1952 in

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The first Maldivian

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

Majeediyya School Majeediyya School (Dhivehi: މަޖީދިއްޔާ ސުކޫލް ) is the first Maldivian government school, located in Malé, Maldives. It was a single gender school that used to teach only boys students to the secondary level of education until ...

, was named after him.

References

1873 births 1952 deaths 20th-century sultans of the Maldives Prime Ministers of the Maldives Flag designers {{Maldives-bio-stub