Names of Maldives
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Maldives has been known by many different names during its long history of more than two thousand years. Although several different names are given, the location and the description of the islands confirm the fact that they are part of the Maldives Archipelago. In ancient times Malé was also called ''Mahal'', considered to be the origin of ''Mahal Dvipa'' or ''Maléldvip''. Throughout known history, Malé or Mahal was always the most important island, the island where the king resided. It is therefore a logical assumption that the name given to the islands, ''Mahal Dvipa'', contained a reference to the chief island of ''Mahal''.. A study of the names shows that in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, the original ''Mahal Dvipa'' became Arabicised by Middle Eastern travellers, to ''Mahaldib'', and later became Anglicised by the British Empire to emerge in its present form of ''Maldives''. However, throughout history the Maldivians have used the name ''Dhivehi Raajje'' to refer to their country, meaning 'the country of the Dhivehi people'. Xavier Romero-Frias, ''The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom'', Barcelona 1999,


List

Given below are some of the names by which Maldives was known through the centuries. * In the early fifth century AD, Palladius, Bishop of Hellenopolis (AD 360–430), a classical Greek bishop, refers to Maldives as ''Maniolae'', in his treatise ''On the Races of the Indians and the Brahmans'', adding that the magnet stone which attracts iron was produced in these islands. * One of the first known references to Maldives is given in the '' Mahavamsa'' (5th century), the ancient chronicle of the people of Sri Lanka. In these records Maldives is referred to as ''Mahinda-dvipa''. * In ancient South Indian
Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as fe ...
dynasty inscriptions of the 7th century AD, Maldives was called ''Dvipa Laksham'' 'a hundred thousand islands'. *
Hiuen-Tsang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
, a Buddhist monk who travelled in India for religious studies in the years AD 629 to 645, was the first Chinese writer to mention Maldives. He called the islands ''Na-lo-ki-lo-chou'' 'coconut islands'. * A
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
document from the Tang dynasty records the visit of Maldivians to China, bringing with them gifts from their king, Baladitiya, in AD 658 and also in AD 662. Maldives is referred to as ''Mo-lai'' in this document. * In a 10th-century
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...
record of the Chola dynasty, Maldives is given the name ''Munnir Palantivu Pannirayiram'' 'twelve thousand islands and the ocean where three waters meet'. * Sulaiman was a Persian merchant and sea-captain who lived in the first half of the ninth century AD. His manuscripts describing his travels and the places he visited were found in France in the 1700s. In his description of Maldives, he gives it the name ''Dibajat''.
AlBiruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...
in the 11th century and Muhammad al-Idrisi in the 12th century AD also referred to Maldives by the name of ''Dibajat''. * Abu Zayd, who lived in Iraq in the years AD 850 to 934, writes of Maldives as ''Dyvah Kouzah'' 'cowrie islands'. * In the
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...
commentary ''Tolkattiyam'' of the 13th century AD, Maldives is called ''Palpalamtivu'' 'many old islands'. * The Chinese writer Wang Ta-Yuan, writing in 1349, gave Maldives the name ''Pei Liu''. In AD 1414, Zheng He, the famous Chinese commander, came to Maldives, bringing with him a scribe by the name of Ma Huan to record their travels. In Ma Huan's records, Maldives is called ''Lu Shan Tieh-kan'' (陆山) 'the countries of the island mountains'. In AD 1436, the Chinese writer Fei Hsin called the islands ''Lu Shan Yang'' 'atolls of the Maldives'. * The 13th-century Kudahuvadhoo Loamaafaanu gives the name of Maldives as ''Panandheepu''. The Bodugalu Miskiiy Loamaafaanu gives the same name as ''Fanandheebu''. *
Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...
, who visited Maldives in 1343 and stayed for 18 months, and returned in AD 1346, called the islands by the name ''Dhibat al-Mahal''. * When the first Portuguese arrived in the East in the early 16th century, Maldives was referred to by them as ''Ilha Dywe''. * In AD 1573, when
Muhammad Thakurufaanu Al-Azam As-Sulṭaan al-Ghaazee Muhammad Thakurufaanu al-A'uẓam () (death 26 August 1585) or As-Sultan Ghazi Muhammad Bodu Thakurufaanu ruled over the Maldive Islands from 1573 to 1585. He is known for fighting the Portuguese who ruled over the Maldive ...
became sultan after the defeat of the Portuguese occupants, he Arabised the official name to ''Al Daulat min al-Mahaldibiyat''. * In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Maldives was called ''Maldiva Islands'' in many English records, but by the beginning of the 20th century, ''Maldives'' or ''Maldive Islands'' had become the commonly used name.


See also

* History of Maldives


References


External links


National Center for Linguistics and Historical Research
(a Maldives government agency) — this article incorporates text from the NCLHR publications, which are in the public domain {{Maldives topics History of the Maldives Maldives-related lists Maldives