Mahl people
Encyclopedia
Maldivians also called Maldive Islanders are a nation
and ethnic group
native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands comprising what is now the Republic of Maldives and the island of Minicoy
in Union territory of Lakshadweep
, India
. All Maldivians share the same culture and speak the Maldivian language which is a member of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages
. For ethnographic and linguistic purposes as well as geo-political reasons anthropologists divide the Maldivian people into 3 subgroups:
substratum, in addition to other later cultural influences in the islands.
Bengali
, Oriya
and Sinhalese people
have had trading connections to Dhivehi people in the past.
Conjectures have been made by scholars who argue that the ancestors of Dhivehi people arrived to the Maldives
from North West and West India
, from Kalibangan
between 2500 and 1700 BC and that they formed a distinct ethnic group around the 6th century BC.
the main myths of origin are reflecting the dependence of the Maldivians on the coconut
tree and the tuna
fish.
A legend says that the first inhabitants of the Maldives died in great numbers, but a great sorcerer or fandita man made coconut trees grow out of the skulls of the buried corpses of the first settlers. Therefore the coconut tree is said to have an anthropomorphic origin according to Maldive lore.
The coconut tree occupies a central place in the present-day Maldive national emblem
.
The tuna fish
is said to have been brought to the Maldivian waters by a mythical seafarer (maalimi) called Bodu Niyami Kalēfanu who went close to the Dagas (the mythical tree
at the end of the world) to bring this valuable fish.
in India. The Dheyvis were said to be olive-skinned and of medium height. When they came to these islands, they first settled in Isduva (Isdhoo) of the atoll Isduvammathi (Haddhummathi). They are said to have worshipped objects of nature, such as the sun, moon and stars. They had no king, but the leader of the tribe was their religious leader who was called sawamiah by the people who regarded him as an agent of God. The Dheyvis called all islands duva. Islands are still called dhu in Dhivehi, and the inhabitant of an island is called a dhoovehi. The legend states that the Dheyvis came to these islands at a time before Maurya ruler Asoka established his empire. The fact that a legend existing in the Maldives mentions this emperor seems to give some credibility to the authenticity of this oral tradition. If there had been no such legend, there is no reason for the ancient writer to know about Emperor Asoka, since his kingdom in Northern India in the 3rd century BC, could hardly have affected the lives of islanders in the Maldives.
After the Dheyvis, the next arrivals in the Maldives were people called Redhis (Maldivian plural Redhin), followed by Kunibis (Maldivian plural Kunibin). Both these tribes were said to have come from a region called Mahrast (present day Maharashtra and Gujarat) in India. The legend does not tell us where these two groups settled in the Maldives. There are some folk stories associated with the Redhin that give them almost supernatural powers. They are said to have been fair-skinned and light eyed, and are said to have built large monuments. They were adept at travelling at very high speeds on the sea. There are ancient mounds on some islands with names associated with the Redhin such as the Havitta in Fuvahmulah. Rashoveshi, an ancient local poem of Fuvahmulah says: "Havitta uhey haudhahau, Redhin thaneke hedhi ihau" (Meaning: How high the Havitta stands, which was made in the past by the Redhin). This poem gives a clue about the name Redhin. Also, there are graves in a cemetery of Madifushi in Mulaku Atoll, which are said to be that of Redhin. This cemetery used to contain very large tombstones, but these graves are more than likely to have been the graves of other foreigners. They may have been called Redhin, if their description corresponded with that given in folk-stories to the Redhin. Tradition gives a much earlier date to Redhin.
Aryas (Aryans) are said to have arrived in this country after the arrival of Redhin and the Kunibin. The Aryas came from India, although tradition says that they were not really from India, but from a place outside India. They brought their religion, Hinduism, customs and language. For the first time, a particular period is given in the legend for the arrival of a group, by mentioning the fact that this arrival took place about three centuries before the establishment of the kingdom of Emperor Asoka. This would place the arrival of the Aryans during the 6th Century BC. Maldives was then Dheeva Maari. With the arrival of the Aryas, the religion and the language of Dheyvis of the Maldives underwent changes. The Hindu religion was introduced, and the Indic Prakrit that finally evolved into present Dhivehi was probably adopted at this time, both brought from the Indian sub-continent.
Northern islands were than populated by tribes from Southern India. These people are said to have been dark-skinned and used a different idiom, using words such as varam for the islands in which they lived. Examples given in the old manuscript are: Noḷivaram, Kuruhinnavaram, and Girāvaram. The proximity of the northern atolls to Southern India would have brought settlers from the coastal areas to settle in the Laccadive-Maldive archipelago. Immigration from the littoral areas of Malabar and the Coromandel Coast would have brought families of fishermen to these northern atolls where fishing was the main occupation of the people. Many of the old terms used by Maldivian fishermen come from the Dravidian languages, leading one to the assumption that these terms were brought by people from southern coastal India in ancient times. Historical records show that in the southern and central atolls of the Maldives, occupations such as farming and weaving were important in the early days.
Dheyvis, the first settlers, are said to have discovered Suvadimmathi (Huvadu Atoll) and settled in that atoll too. The tradition says that at a later date, people arrived from Sarandiva (Serendib) and settled there, corrupting the atoll's Dheyvi language and characters in the usage. One of the important characteristics of the Dheyvi language seems to have been a letter and sound unique to the language, called Rhaviyani, a soft sibilant still present in Dhivehi. It is said that after the people from Sarandiva arrived and settled in Suvadimmathi, this character in the Dheyvi language lost its purity and was pronounced as the "Sh" sound.
A short time after the arrival of the Aryas and the introduction of the Hindu religion, a prince of India is said to have arrived in the Maldives. This is the period calculated earlier from oral tradition, and the story also corresponds to that from the Mahavansa chronicle of Sri Lanka, about the king's son who was exiled from his country and arrived in Lanka, one of his ships losing its way and arriving in the Maldives. In the Maldivian legend, the prince who arrived in the Maldives, was the son of Brahmaditiya, king of Kalinga
(Brahmadatta, King of Kalinga at the time of Buddha's death c. 500 – 350 BC), a kingdom on the south-east of India (modern Orissa). King Brahmaditiya was displeased with his son and sent him to Dheeva Maari (Maldives). The name of this prince was Sri Soorudasaruna.
Sri Soorudasaruna established a kingdom of the Adeetha Vansha Dynasty (Solar Dynasty) in Dheeva Maari, a short period before the reign of Emperor Asoka in India. This would place the establishment of the first kingdom in the Maldives circa the 4th century BC. The tradition then states that Emperor Asoka established his kingdom in Pataliputra in India, and that his people went preaching the religion and teachings of Buddha to a place called Bairat
, to the west of Pataliputra. A group of people came to the Maldives from Bairat in order to teach the religion of Buddha. These people are said to have arrived in these islands during Asoka's reign, probably when he sent Buddhist missionaries to all the neighbouring countries, in the 3rd century BC. At the time the Buddhist missionaries arrived in the Maldives, the country was called Dheeva Mahl.
in Dhivehi language
.
One oral tradition says that the Giraavaru people (Tivaru people) are the indigenous people of the Maldives who were in the islands before Koimala arrived. They are of Dravidian origin, and the earliest island community of the Maldives; their presence predates Buddhism and the arrival of Indo-Aryans in the archipelago. This may be the reason that the Dhivehi kinship system is partly of Dravidian origin, and bears evidence of some matriliny, like the Nayar
and other matrilineal groups of Kerala
. Some of the kinship terms are clearly derived from Malayalam.
Five versions of the myth are given here and their significance in terms of culture history explained.
Once upon a time, when the Maldives were still sparsely inhabited, a prince of royal birth named Koimala, who had married the daughter of the king of Ceylon, made a voyage with her in two vessels from Srendib [Sri Lanka] Island. Reaching the Maldives they were becalmed and rested a while at Rasgetheemu island in North Maalhosmadulu Atoll.
The Maldive Islanders, learning that the two chief visitors were of Ceylon Royal descent invited them to remain; and ultimately proclaimed Koimala their king at Rasgetheemu, the original 'King's Island'.
Subsequently Koimala and his spouse migrated thence to Male' and settled there with the consent of the aborigines of Giraavaru Island, then the most important community of Male' Atoll.
The two ships were dispatched to Lanka, and brought over other people of 'the Lion Race' (Sinhalas
).
To Koimala and his queen was born a male child who was called Kalaminja. He reigned as a Buddhist for twelve years, and was then converted to Islam, ruling for thirteen years more before finally departing for Mecca
.
This ruler's daughter married the chief minister and reigned as a nominal Sultana. She gave birth to a son also called Kalaminja, who, in turn, married a lady of the country.
From them the subsequent rulers of the Maldives were descended.
One day, while a hunter king of Sri Lanka was hunting, he caught a man-beast in his net. The man-beast couldn't walk, so the king taught him to do it. The man-beast then married the king's daughter, but he made political trouble in Sri Lanka, so was forced to leave. He and the princess arrived in Rasgetheemu and they lived there for some time, where the locals there asked them to rule them.
There was a king of India who was a hunter. Once, while out hunting with a net, he saw a creature which is like a human, but which walked on all fours, and which disturbed the people. This creature would also take hunters' nets and steal their prey, so the king couldn't get any catch. The king considered how he might capture this creature. He made big weights for his net, which no ordinary human could lift, and which would prevent the creature from taking the hunting net. One day, the king, with the help of many men, put the net over the creature, which could not get out because of the large stone weights. The king took the creature to the palace and looked after him well, and because he knew no language, the king taught him language, which took a long time. The creature started helping the king by showing him treasures in the forest, and the king came to respect him.
The king had a daughter who fell in love with this creature (in an alternate version, the king forced his daughter to marry the creature). The king, being angry, put the couple on a ship and sent them off into exile. Their ship came to Laam (Hadummati) Atoll (towards the south), where the exiled pair saw a crow which cried. They thought the crow was not a good omen, and it was therefore undesirable to land there, so they went on to Male'. They settled in what is now Sultan Park (site of the former palace) and started a kingdom.
After fifteen years, a jinni began to come from the ocean every once a month and disturbed the people... (from here follows the story of the saint who came and dispelled the jinni and caused all the people to become converted to Islam from Buddhism and Hinduism).
Three Jataka tales cited above seem to refer to the Maldives, particularly the comment that exiles from Bharukaccha went to a thousand islands [Laccadive and Maldive islands] where they found standing room, and that these were near an island named for coconuts [Kerala]. This suggests that not only did seafarers emanating from Bharukaccha and Suppara visit the Maldives, but Gujaratis actually settled there in pre-Buddhist times. The other Jataka tales suggest that ships from Gujarat going to South-east Asia stopped in the Maldives, and that merchants in search of treasures sailed in several seas called - maala (or maara).
The Maldives might well have been settled parallel with the arrival of Indo-Aryan speakers in Sri Lanka, as suggested in the above interpretations of the Sri Lanka myths and the Koimala story.
Mariners from the north-western coasts of the peninsula, from the time they commenced sailing to southern India, must have on occasion been blown over to the Maldives—unmanned canoes and rafts from Kerala even now get wafted there from time to time - and the dangers of shipwreck vividly described in several of the Jātakas might have arisen from contact with some of the thousands of reefs in the Maldives, which sailors have long dreaded. It may be, therefore, that shipwrecked Gujaratis, as well as exiles, were early settlers on the islands of the Laccadive-Maldives archipelago.
in Union territory of Lakshadweep
, India
. The secession of Minicoy from Maldivian rule and affiliating with the Indian government gradually led to the emergence of a non-maldivian population of Dhivehis. Thus, along with the Maldivian Dhivehis an Indian group of Dhivehis too emerged.
which was formed by the Southerners. It was from this that the name originated. The names Suvadive and Suvadivian suggest that the origin of the names lye in the ancient name for the three southernmost atolls of Huvadhu, Fuvahmulah and Addu which was Suvadiva.
The Suvadivians, living in the three southernmost atolls of the equatorial zone (Huvadhu, Fuvahmulah and Addu atolls) number approximately 60,000 and constitute about 20% of the total population. According to researchers, this group of Dhivehis are subject to have the closest proximity to the original Dhivehi people in terms of linguistics as well as in ethnic grounds. The reason behind this suggested by researchers and proven from historical records is that there were less interference from the outside world to this group. Unlike the other group of Dhivehis, this group was not affected by the Portuguese rule in the Maldives as it does not exceed the Suvadiva channel. Also there were no interference from traders and travellers as in case of the others.
Each of the 3 atolls of the Suvadiva region speak their own distinctive forms of Dhivehi (Huvadhu bas, Mulaku bas and Addu bas), which are much different from the rest and as suggested by researchers, having a closer affinity to what may have been the original. Thus, the native features of the original Dhivehis are preserved in this group greater than any other group of Dhivehis.
In case of linguistics and ethnic grounds, this group of Dhivehis are identical to the main group of Dhivehis in Maldives. However, the secession of Minicoy from Maldivian rule and gradually becoming part of India, thus becoming the only non-maldivian group of Dhivehis make anthropologists to label the Dhivehis in Minicoy as one among the subgroups. The isolation of this group from the rest of the Dhivehis and the acculturation process which the Minicoyans may undergo as a result of this as well as the change in nationality is one of the reasons for separation of this group from the main group of Maldivians. The origin of this group like any other group of Dhivehis lye in the Maldives. The story of the Tivarun, the linguistics of the people in Minicoy and many other factors prove this side of the story.
Mahls are the only community of native Dhivehis (excluding migrant communities) outside the Republic of Maldives. They make up about 3% of the total population of all Dhivehis.
Most Mahls live in their native land of Maliku (Minicoy)
. Mahls are 15.67% of the total population of Lakshadweep emerging as a separate ethnic group among the rest of the population. All Mahl communities in India emerged from Minicoy.
There are Mahl communities (migrant communities from Minicoy) in other parts of India too. A number of Mahls have settled in the districts of Kozhikode
, Malappuram
, Ernakulam
and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)
in the southern state of Kerala
. The ancestors of present Mahl communities in Kerala migrated from Minicoy and settled there in the 17th century, when the islands of Lakshadweep
came under the rule of Ali Raja
hs/Arakkal Bheevi of Kannur
.
Since 1957, this group of Dhivehis in Minicoy are totally off-limits for their Maldivian counterparts. The direct transport between Minicoy and the Maldives was forbidden by the Indian government. Thus, this Indian group of Dhivehis are steadily undergoing a process of acculturation owing to lack of contact with the remaining Divehi people and pressure to use other languages such as Malayalam, English and Hindi. This proves to have a big influence upon the culture, linguistics and other day to day affairs of this group of Dhivehis.
(Duckworth 1912: 8-30).
In 1997, a Maldivian NGO, Society for Health Education, conducted a study on the mutations of thalassaemia found in Maldives. The results of this study showed one mutation that probably originated in the Middle East, another which could have been derived from Portuguese or Algerians, and another which probably originated from Asian Indians and Malays. The observations are consistent with the historical records of Maldives, showing that early travellers from India, Indonesia, North Africa, the Red Sea and Persian Gulf areas, settled in the Maldives. (Firdous et al. 1998:148,149). Thalassaemia is the commonest genetically transmitted blood disease found in Maldives, and the results of this study suggest that many of the people now living in Maldives had ancestors who came from the above mentioned countries.
Anthropological studies as well as ethnographic and linguistic researches suggest that in terms of ancestry the Dhivehis share similar genes principally with the Sinhalas of Sri Lanka as well as northern Indian populations, such as Marathis, Konkanis and Gujaratis with traces of Arab, Malay
, South Indian
and North Africa
n genes in the population.
. It has historically been, and to large extent still is, central to the Dhivehi identity. Unlike the other languages of South India, it is a Indo-European language, while other South Indian languages are Dravidian languages. However the language shows some influences of neighbouring Dravidian languages on it, and have a number of loanwords from Dravidian vocabulary.
(Shari'a). The law of the country prohibits the practice of any other religion by the country's citizens. In general all Dhivehis from the island of Minicoy too are Sunni Muslims. There may be a few Dhivehis who do not follow Islam
, though the public expression of such beliefs is virtually non-existent in Dhivehi societies.
Even though most of the Dhivehis are very religious, ancient beliefs survived until recently: for example, the islanders feared jinnis (evil spirits) which were believed to come from the sea, land and sky. These were blamed for everything that cannot be explained by religion or science. Today, this kind of beliefs are on the verge of vanishing completely from Dhivehi communities and can only be observed rarely.
A traditional meal called Keyn is prepared for the above Mauloodhus consisting of a number of courses. A single Keyn would serve 10 – 12 people and includes rice, curries, salads, grilled fish, coconut cream, coconut syrup, bananas, puddings and other delights.
Keyn is set out in a very large wooden dish called a Malaafaiy. The outside of this dish is placed within the dish and small individual plates are filled with curries, salads, and other items and set around the rice. This would be covered with the lid and wrapped in a white cloth and tied at the top. At the meal times this would be carried into the Mauloodh Haruge (dining hall specially made for this event) and placed on straw mats for service. Individual plates and other food items in individual dishes are placed as well. Beverages are individually set in glasses. Water is served in a ceramic jug. Food is consumed using the fingers of the right hand. At the end of the meal hand is washed using a copper jug into a copper basin. December 10 is marked as Kandu Rōdi duvas and April 14 as Gamu Rōdi duvas.
people.
Bocholhi
Made of rice flour, coconut – semi-firm (grated) and coconut palm syrup by mixing all the ingredients until freed from lump and cooked over a moderate heat until the mixture is thickened.
Godhan Furhu Boa Folhi
Made of flour, coconut – semi-hard (blended to a smooth paste), eggs, coconut cream, jasmine water, coconut palm syrup, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder and oil by mixing all the ingredients apart from the oil together. Cooked over a moderate heat and once the top of the pancake dries up, turned over and cooked.
Han’dulu Aurus
Made of rice (soaked overnight), washed and blended to a smooth paste), coconut palm syrup, Jasmine water and jasmine flowers by placing all the ingredients apart from the flowers in a thick-bottomed pan and cooked over a moderate heat by stirring constantly to avoid the mixture getting stuck to the bottom. Wrapped entirely with banana leaf and placed jasmine flowers over the sweets. This sweet will keep for two to three months without spoiling.
'
Han’dulu Furhu Kubus
Made of Patna Rice (soaked overnight, washed and blended to a smooth paste), coconut – semi-firm (grated), coconut palm syrup, caster sugar, banana leaf by cooking over a moderate heat the grated coconut, palm sugar and caster sugar until the mixture has thickened. Removed from heat and allowed cooling and added in the blended rice and kneaded thoroughly and combined all the ingredients well. Divided the mixture into eight portions and placed each portion on a banana leaf and wrapped entirely to seal and wrapped a second banana leaf around it and secured well.
Dug a suitable hole in the ground in which all the wrapped dough pieces could be placed neatly. Placed coconut fibres and coconut shells and burned them in the dug hole and removed the charcoals.
Placed banana leaves within the hole and placed the wrapped dough in the heated hole and placed neatly one against another.
Covered the dough parcels placed in the hole with another large piece of banana leaf and covered the leaf with two inch white sand. Placed the charcoals and coconut fibres and coconut shells over it and burned the coconut fibres and shells for half an hour.
Left the cooked kubus parcels overnight in the hole. In the morning scraped off the burnt ashes and charcoals aside and the sand covering the banana leaf and slowly lifted the wrapped kubus parcels.
Hukkaru
Made of coconut palm syrup by boiling the syrup over a moderate heat and cooked by stirring continuously until it starts to thicken. Removed from heat and whisked until frothy and cooled.
Huni Folhi
Made of Patna Rice flour, coconut – semi-hard (grated), coconut palm syrup by cooking all the ingredients over a moderate heat in a thick-bottomed pan stirring continuously.
When the mixture starts to come loose from the side of the pan removed from heat and taken a tablespoonful of the cooked mixture, spread on a cork wood leaf. Smoked and dried the leaves spread with the sweet over the fire place.
Karukuri Banbukeyo
Made of fried bread fruit (crushed coarsely), coconut palm syrup, jasmine water by bringing the syrup and the jasmine water to boil and cooked it over a moderate heat until it comes to ribbon stage. Added in the crushed breadfruit into the sugar and coated well. Removed from heat, allowed cooling and kept in an airtight container.
Karukuri Ala
Made of fried taro (crushed coarsely), coconut palm syrup and jasmine water by boiling the syrup and the jasmine water and cooked it over a moderate heat until it comes to ribbon stage. Added in the crushed taro in to the sugar and coated well. Removed from heat, allowed cooling and kept in an airtight container.
Kulhi Bis Fathafolhi
Made of Patna Rice flour, coconut (grated), Rihaakuru, Rihaakuru Bondi (blended), eggs, onion (sliced thinly), curry leaves (chopped), cherry pepper, juice of two limes, ginger, salt to season and oil by crushing the onion, curry leaves, cherry pepper, ginger with salt. Added and mixed the rice flour and coconut to make sandy texture. Formed a bay in the center of the rice mixture and add in the eggs and Rihaakuru and Rihaakuru Bondi. Mixed/kneaded the dough and divided the dough into 15 gram balls. Spread each ball to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut using a round cutter of 3 – inch diameter and pre-heated oil.
Meeraa
Made of coconut sap (collected at noon) by boiling the sap over a moderate heat and cooked by stirring continuously until it comes to ribbon stage. Removed from heat, greased a large tray and taken a spoonful of the cooked thickened syrup and placed it over the greased sheet in strings.
Thela Kubus
Made of Patna Rice flour, coconut palm syrup, eggs and coconut oil by whisking the egg and the syrup and added in the rice flour and beaten further. Poured a table spoonful of the mixture into the oil and deep-fried until golden.
Thelli Keyo
Made of plantain (peeled and cut length-wise) and oil by frying the bananas until crisped. Drained on absorbent kitchen paper and kept airtight container.
Veli Hakuru
Made of coconut palm syrup by boiling the syrup over a moderate heat and cooked by stirring continuously until it starts to crystallize. Removed from heat, allowed cooling and put into jars and seal well.
Other Cuisines Regularly Cooked
Frequent Dhivehi family names include Bee, Beefan, Boo, Didi, Fan, Fulhu, Kader, Kalaminja, Kalinga, Kavah, Kavya, Koi, Koya, Manik, Manika, Manike, Manikfan, Naha, Raha, Rana, Tarkan, Thakhan, Thakur, Thakurfan, Veer.
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
and ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands comprising what is now the Republic of Maldives and the island of Minicoy
Minicoy
Minicoy, locally known as Maliku is a census town in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep and was formerly a part of Maldive Islands.-Etymology:...
in Union territory of Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. All Maldivians share the same culture and speak the Maldivian language which is a member of the southern group of Indo-Aryan languages
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
. For ethnographic and linguistic purposes as well as geo-political reasons anthropologists divide the Maldivian people into 3 subgroups:
- The main group of Maldivians, numbering more than 250,000. This is the group inhabiting the numerous atolls stretching from IhavandhippolhuHaa Alif AtollHaa Alif Atoll - officially referred as Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi is the northernmost administrative division of the Maldives....
(Haa Alif) to Haddhunmathi (Laamu) in MaldivesMaldivesThe Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
. They constitute over 70% of the total population of all Maldivians. In a larger scale, the third group also comes under this group. From this group, it is the standard dialect of Maldivian language which is spoken in the Maldives capital Male' along with the central atolls. Slighter variants which are very closely related to the former are spoken in rest of the islands from the far north of Maldives down to Laamu Atoll. - The southern group of Maldivians, living in the three southernmost atolls of the equatorial zone (Huvadhu, Fuvahmulah and Addu atollAtollAn atoll is a coral island that encircles a lagoon partially or completely.- Usage :The word atoll comes from the Dhivehi word atholhu OED...
s) in MaldivesMaldivesThe Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
. This group numbers approximately 60,000 and constitute about 20% of the total population of all Maldivians. According to researchers, this group of Maldivians have the closest proximity to the original Maldivian people in terms of linguistics as well as ethnicity.: Each of the 3 atolls of this region speak their own distinctive forms of the Maldivian language (Huvadhu bas, Mulaku bas, Addu bas), which are much different from the rest and as researchers suggest having a closer affinity to what may have been the original. - The people of Minicoy (Malikun) - Mahls, numbering about 10,000. The island of Minicoy lies in the northern end of the atoll chain inhabited by Maldivians and is the northernmost group of the Maldivian people. They are only about 3% of the total amount of Maldivians. Although the people of Minicoy are identical to the main group of Maldivians from the first group in terms of ethnicity and linguistics and in a larger scale comes under that group, the day to day politics of MinicoyMinicoyMinicoy, locally known as Maliku is a census town in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep and was formerly a part of Maldive Islands.-Etymology:...
and after on the secession of the island from Maldivian rule and affiliating with the Indian government, thus acquiring a non-maldivian citizenship has made this group to be labeled as one among the subgroups of Maldivians. Due to reasons such as politics, having to live in great isolation from the remaining Maldivian people, the Minicoians are steadily undergoing a process of acculturation. This group has its own dialect (called Maliku bas or Mahl) which retains some features of an older Maldivian, and shows MalayalamMalayalam languageMalayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
influences as well. Still, the dialect is mutually intelligible with the standard Maldivian being more related to the slighter variants of northern Maldives from the first group.
Myths and legends
There is no historical evidence about the origin of Maldivians; there is also no indication that there was any negrito or other primitive aboriginal population, such as the Andamanese. No archaeology has been conducted to investigate the prehistory of the islands. There is, however, a DravidianDravidian
-Language and culture:*Dravidian languages, a family of languages spoken mainly in South India and North-Eastern Sri Lanka*Proto-Dravidian, a model of the common ancestor of the above languages*Elamo-Dravidian languages, a proposed language family...
substratum, in addition to other later cultural influences in the islands.
Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
, Oriya
Oriya people
The Oriya, known classically by various names , are an ethnic group of eastern India and of eastern Indo-Aryan stock...
and Sinhalese people
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
have had trading connections to Dhivehi people in the past.
Conjectures have been made by scholars who argue that the ancestors of Dhivehi people arrived to the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
from North West and West India
West India
West India or the Western region of India consists of the states of Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra, along with the Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It is highly industrialized, with a large urban population. Most of Western India was part of the Maratha Empire before...
, from Kalibangan
Kalibangan
Kalibangān is a town located at on the left or southern banks of the Ghaggar , identified by some scholars with Sarasvati River in Tehsil Pilibangān, between Suratgarh and Hanumāngarh in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan, India 205 km. from Bikaner...
between 2500 and 1700 BC and that they formed a distinct ethnic group around the 6th century BC.
Myths of origin
According to Maldivian folkloreMaldivian Folklore
Maldive Mythology or Maldive Folklore is the body of myths, tales and anecdotes belonging to the oral tradition of Maldivians. Even though some of the Maldivian myths were already mentioned briefly by British commissioner in Ceylon HCP Bell towards the end of the 19th century, their study and...
the main myths of origin are reflecting the dependence of the Maldivians on the coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
tree and the tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
fish.
A legend says that the first inhabitants of the Maldives died in great numbers, but a great sorcerer or fandita man made coconut trees grow out of the skulls of the buried corpses of the first settlers. Therefore the coconut tree is said to have an anthropomorphic origin according to Maldive lore.
The coconut tree occupies a central place in the present-day Maldive national emblem
Emblem of Maldives
The Maldivian National Emblem consists of a coconut palm, a crescent, and two criss-crossing National Flags with the traditional Title of the State.-Interpretation:...
.
The tuna fish
Skipjack tuna
The skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis, is a medium-sized perciform fish in the tuna family, Scombridae. It is otherwise known as the aku, arctic bonito, mushmouth, oceanic bonito, striped tuna, or victor fish...
is said to have been brought to the Maldivian waters by a mythical seafarer (maalimi) called Bodu Niyami Kalēfanu who went close to the Dagas (the mythical tree
Kalpavriksha
Kalpavriksha , also known as kalpataru, kalpadruma and kalpapādapa, is a mythological, wish-fulfilling divine tree said to fulfill all desires. It was mentioned in Sanskrit literature from the earliest sources onwards...
at the end of the world) to bring this valuable fish.
Legend of the first settlers
The first people who settled in the Maldives were a race called Dasyu Dheyvis from KalibangaKalibangan
Kalibangān is a town located at on the left or southern banks of the Ghaggar , identified by some scholars with Sarasvati River in Tehsil Pilibangān, between Suratgarh and Hanumāngarh in Hanumangarh district, Rajasthan, India 205 km. from Bikaner...
in India. The Dheyvis were said to be olive-skinned and of medium height. When they came to these islands, they first settled in Isduva (Isdhoo) of the atoll Isduvammathi (Haddhummathi). They are said to have worshipped objects of nature, such as the sun, moon and stars. They had no king, but the leader of the tribe was their religious leader who was called sawamiah by the people who regarded him as an agent of God. The Dheyvis called all islands duva. Islands are still called dhu in Dhivehi, and the inhabitant of an island is called a dhoovehi. The legend states that the Dheyvis came to these islands at a time before Maurya ruler Asoka established his empire. The fact that a legend existing in the Maldives mentions this emperor seems to give some credibility to the authenticity of this oral tradition. If there had been no such legend, there is no reason for the ancient writer to know about Emperor Asoka, since his kingdom in Northern India in the 3rd century BC, could hardly have affected the lives of islanders in the Maldives.
After the Dheyvis, the next arrivals in the Maldives were people called Redhis (Maldivian plural Redhin), followed by Kunibis (Maldivian plural Kunibin). Both these tribes were said to have come from a region called Mahrast (present day Maharashtra and Gujarat) in India. The legend does not tell us where these two groups settled in the Maldives. There are some folk stories associated with the Redhin that give them almost supernatural powers. They are said to have been fair-skinned and light eyed, and are said to have built large monuments. They were adept at travelling at very high speeds on the sea. There are ancient mounds on some islands with names associated with the Redhin such as the Havitta in Fuvahmulah. Rashoveshi, an ancient local poem of Fuvahmulah says: "Havitta uhey haudhahau, Redhin thaneke hedhi ihau" (Meaning: How high the Havitta stands, which was made in the past by the Redhin). This poem gives a clue about the name Redhin. Also, there are graves in a cemetery of Madifushi in Mulaku Atoll, which are said to be that of Redhin. This cemetery used to contain very large tombstones, but these graves are more than likely to have been the graves of other foreigners. They may have been called Redhin, if their description corresponded with that given in folk-stories to the Redhin. Tradition gives a much earlier date to Redhin.
Aryas (Aryans) are said to have arrived in this country after the arrival of Redhin and the Kunibin. The Aryas came from India, although tradition says that they were not really from India, but from a place outside India. They brought their religion, Hinduism, customs and language. For the first time, a particular period is given in the legend for the arrival of a group, by mentioning the fact that this arrival took place about three centuries before the establishment of the kingdom of Emperor Asoka. This would place the arrival of the Aryans during the 6th Century BC. Maldives was then Dheeva Maari. With the arrival of the Aryas, the religion and the language of Dheyvis of the Maldives underwent changes. The Hindu religion was introduced, and the Indic Prakrit that finally evolved into present Dhivehi was probably adopted at this time, both brought from the Indian sub-continent.
Northern islands were than populated by tribes from Southern India. These people are said to have been dark-skinned and used a different idiom, using words such as varam for the islands in which they lived. Examples given in the old manuscript are: Noḷivaram, Kuruhinnavaram, and Girāvaram. The proximity of the northern atolls to Southern India would have brought settlers from the coastal areas to settle in the Laccadive-Maldive archipelago. Immigration from the littoral areas of Malabar and the Coromandel Coast would have brought families of fishermen to these northern atolls where fishing was the main occupation of the people. Many of the old terms used by Maldivian fishermen come from the Dravidian languages, leading one to the assumption that these terms were brought by people from southern coastal India in ancient times. Historical records show that in the southern and central atolls of the Maldives, occupations such as farming and weaving were important in the early days.
Dheyvis, the first settlers, are said to have discovered Suvadimmathi (Huvadu Atoll) and settled in that atoll too. The tradition says that at a later date, people arrived from Sarandiva (Serendib) and settled there, corrupting the atoll's Dheyvi language and characters in the usage. One of the important characteristics of the Dheyvi language seems to have been a letter and sound unique to the language, called Rhaviyani, a soft sibilant still present in Dhivehi. It is said that after the people from Sarandiva arrived and settled in Suvadimmathi, this character in the Dheyvi language lost its purity and was pronounced as the "Sh" sound.
A short time after the arrival of the Aryas and the introduction of the Hindu religion, a prince of India is said to have arrived in the Maldives. This is the period calculated earlier from oral tradition, and the story also corresponds to that from the Mahavansa chronicle of Sri Lanka, about the king's son who was exiled from his country and arrived in Lanka, one of his ships losing its way and arriving in the Maldives. In the Maldivian legend, the prince who arrived in the Maldives, was the son of Brahmaditiya, king of Kalinga
Kalinga
Kalinga is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Tabuk and borders Mountain Province to the south, Abra to the west, Isabela to the east, Cagayan to the northeast, and Apayao to the north...
(Brahmadatta, King of Kalinga at the time of Buddha's death c. 500 – 350 BC), a kingdom on the south-east of India (modern Orissa). King Brahmaditiya was displeased with his son and sent him to Dheeva Maari (Maldives). The name of this prince was Sri Soorudasaruna.
Sri Soorudasaruna established a kingdom of the Adeetha Vansha Dynasty (Solar Dynasty) in Dheeva Maari, a short period before the reign of Emperor Asoka in India. This would place the establishment of the first kingdom in the Maldives circa the 4th century BC. The tradition then states that Emperor Asoka established his kingdom in Pataliputra in India, and that his people went preaching the religion and teachings of Buddha to a place called Bairat
Bairat
Bairat is a town in northern Jaipur district of Rajasthan, India. It is located 52 km north of Jaipur, and 66 km west of Alwar.-History:...
, to the west of Pataliputra. A group of people came to the Maldives from Bairat in order to teach the religion of Buddha. These people are said to have arrived in these islands during Asoka's reign, probably when he sent Buddhist missionaries to all the neighbouring countries, in the 3rd century BC. At the time the Buddhist missionaries arrived in the Maldives, the country was called Dheeva Mahl.
Legend of the first ruling dynasty
The myth of the origin of the ruling dynasty is the story of a prince named Koimala. In the Muslim traditions recorded in the Lōmāfānu and Rādavaḷi chronicles all the pre-Muslim royalty are represented by a king, whose successor was converted to Islam. The name Koimala Kalo is also suggestive: koi or koyi in Dhivehi means son, lad or prince (derived from Malayalam koya, son, prince, master, cf. the Dravidian root kō, king). The component malā may or may not be derived from māla as in Māla-dīv, but, if so, the name would mean 'prince of the Maldives'. The term kalō is a common word of man, used as a term of endearment. The title of former Maldivian kings was kattiri bovana mahaa radun, 'Kattiri' (ކައްތިރި) meaning KshatriyaKshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
in Dhivehi language
Dhivehi language
Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Maldives where it is the national language. It is also the first language of nearly 10,000 people in the island of Minicoy in the Union territory of Lakshadweep, India where the Mahl dialect of the Maldivian...
.
One oral tradition says that the Giraavaru people (Tivaru people) are the indigenous people of the Maldives who were in the islands before Koimala arrived. They are of Dravidian origin, and the earliest island community of the Maldives; their presence predates Buddhism and the arrival of Indo-Aryans in the archipelago. This may be the reason that the Dhivehi kinship system is partly of Dravidian origin, and bears evidence of some matriliny, like the Nayar
Nair
Nair , also known as Nayar , refers to "not a unitary group but a named category of castes", which historically embody several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom bore the Nair title. These people historically live in the present-day Indian state of Kerala...
and other matrilineal groups of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. Some of the kinship terms are clearly derived from Malayalam.
Five versions of the myth are given here and their significance in terms of culture history explained.
- 1. The following version was recorded by Bell in 1922:
Once upon a time, when the Maldives were still sparsely inhabited, a prince of royal birth named Koimala, who had married the daughter of the king of Ceylon, made a voyage with her in two vessels from Srendib [Sri Lanka] Island. Reaching the Maldives they were becalmed and rested a while at Rasgetheemu island in North Maalhosmadulu Atoll.
The Maldive Islanders, learning that the two chief visitors were of Ceylon Royal descent invited them to remain; and ultimately proclaimed Koimala their king at Rasgetheemu, the original 'King's Island'.
Subsequently Koimala and his spouse migrated thence to Male' and settled there with the consent of the aborigines of Giraavaru Island, then the most important community of Male' Atoll.
The two ships were dispatched to Lanka, and brought over other people of 'the Lion Race' (Sinhalas
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
).
To Koimala and his queen was born a male child who was called Kalaminja. He reigned as a Buddhist for twelve years, and was then converted to Islam, ruling for thirteen years more before finally departing for Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
.
This ruler's daughter married the chief minister and reigned as a nominal Sultana. She gave birth to a son also called Kalaminja, who, in turn, married a lady of the country.
From them the subsequent rulers of the Maldives were descended.
- 2. According to this version, which Maloney heard in Male', Koimala's parents came from India, not Sri Lanka: The Indian king was angry with his son, and sent him off with his wife in two boats; they had 700 soldiers. They came to Rasgetheemu in Raa Atoll, and when he became king there, people called that island Rasgetheemu "King's Island". Then the king and queen came to Male', and Koimala was born from that Indian couple.
- 3. The following variant Maloney heard in Noon Atoll: "... When Koimala and his wife came, there were already people here. Because she was a princess of royal lineage, people asked her husband to rule. Koimala sent ships to Sri Lanka and brought back more people. It is said that a beautiful woman named Malakamana from the Maldives was one of the early people who settled Sri Lanka."
- 4. A myth Maloney heard in Manadhoo, Noon Atoll, is, in condensed form, as follows:
One day, while a hunter king of Sri Lanka was hunting, he caught a man-beast in his net. The man-beast couldn't walk, so the king taught him to do it. The man-beast then married the king's daughter, but he made political trouble in Sri Lanka, so was forced to leave. He and the princess arrived in Rasgetheemu and they lived there for some time, where the locals there asked them to rule them.
- 5. Another version Maloney heard in Hulhumeedhoo, Addu Atoll, in the far south of the country, is as follows:
There was a king of India who was a hunter. Once, while out hunting with a net, he saw a creature which is like a human, but which walked on all fours, and which disturbed the people. This creature would also take hunters' nets and steal their prey, so the king couldn't get any catch. The king considered how he might capture this creature. He made big weights for his net, which no ordinary human could lift, and which would prevent the creature from taking the hunting net. One day, the king, with the help of many men, put the net over the creature, which could not get out because of the large stone weights. The king took the creature to the palace and looked after him well, and because he knew no language, the king taught him language, which took a long time. The creature started helping the king by showing him treasures in the forest, and the king came to respect him.
The king had a daughter who fell in love with this creature (in an alternate version, the king forced his daughter to marry the creature). The king, being angry, put the couple on a ship and sent them off into exile. Their ship came to Laam (Hadummati) Atoll (towards the south), where the exiled pair saw a crow which cried. They thought the crow was not a good omen, and it was therefore undesirable to land there, so they went on to Male'. They settled in what is now Sultan Park (site of the former palace) and started a kingdom.
After fifteen years, a jinni began to come from the ocean every once a month and disturbed the people... (from here follows the story of the saint who came and dispelled the jinni and caused all the people to become converted to Islam from Buddhism and Hinduism).
Gujaratis
Maloney says Gujarat, with its indented coastline and its proximity to the old navigation routes of the Mesopotamian and Indus civilisations, has apparently maintained a tradition of navigation over the past 4000 years. Certainly the earliest Buddhist literature indicates active seafaring from its ports. It was from Gujarat that North Indian civilisation impinged upon the Maldives and Sri Lanka. From Gujarat, North Indian civilisation also expanded to Java and other parts of South-east Asia. The export of this civilisation to all coasts of South Asia and South-east Asia began about 500 B.C., but during the Mauryan period and the diffusion of Buddhism, sea traffic in the Bay of Bengal supplemented and, to some extent, surpassed that originating along the coasts of Western India. The long story of the cultural and economic expansion of North Indian civilisation by sea cannot be told here.Three Jataka tales cited above seem to refer to the Maldives, particularly the comment that exiles from Bharukaccha went to a thousand islands [Laccadive and Maldive islands] where they found standing room, and that these were near an island named for coconuts [Kerala]. This suggests that not only did seafarers emanating from Bharukaccha and Suppara visit the Maldives, but Gujaratis actually settled there in pre-Buddhist times. The other Jataka tales suggest that ships from Gujarat going to South-east Asia stopped in the Maldives, and that merchants in search of treasures sailed in several seas called - maala (or maara).
The Maldives might well have been settled parallel with the arrival of Indo-Aryan speakers in Sri Lanka, as suggested in the above interpretations of the Sri Lanka myths and the Koimala story.
Mariners from the north-western coasts of the peninsula, from the time they commenced sailing to southern India, must have on occasion been blown over to the Maldives—unmanned canoes and rafts from Kerala even now get wafted there from time to time - and the dangers of shipwreck vividly described in several of the Jātakas might have arisen from contact with some of the thousands of reefs in the Maldives, which sailors have long dreaded. It may be, therefore, that shipwrecked Gujaratis, as well as exiles, were early settlers on the islands of the Laccadive-Maldives archipelago.
Geographic distribution
All Dhivehis are native to the historic region of the Maldive Islands comprising what is now the Republic of Maldives and the island of MinicoyMinicoy
Minicoy, locally known as Maliku is a census town in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep and was formerly a part of Maldive Islands.-Etymology:...
in Union territory of Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The secession of Minicoy from Maldivian rule and affiliating with the Indian government gradually led to the emergence of a non-maldivian population of Dhivehis. Thus, along with the Maldivian Dhivehis an Indian group of Dhivehis too emerged.
Maldivian Dhivehis
According to figures 100% of the Maldivian population are Dhivehis excluding the foreigners in the country. Being the heartland of Dhivehi people, more than 97% of all Dhivehis are Maldivians. For all the Dhivehi communities across the world (including the people of Minicoy) their origin lies in the Maldives. Among the Maldivian Dhivehis are the two major from the three subgroups of Dhivehis: The main group of Dhivehis and the southern group of Dhivehis (Suvadivians) respectively.Southern group of Dhivehis - Suvadivians
As a result of some political activities which occurred in the South during the early 1960s, the term Suvadivian has been adopted by many authors to refer to the southern group of Maldivians among the subgroups of Dhivehis. From 1959 to 1963 it was a short-lived breakaway government named United Suvadive RepublicUnited Suvadive Republic
The United Suvadive Republic or Suvadive Islands was a short-lived breakaway nation in the remote Southern Atolls of the Maldive Islands, namely Addu Atoll, Huvadhu Atoll and Fuvahmulah that geographically make up the Suvadive archipelago.The name of this nation was originally an ancient name for...
which was formed by the Southerners. It was from this that the name originated. The names Suvadive and Suvadivian suggest that the origin of the names lye in the ancient name for the three southernmost atolls of Huvadhu, Fuvahmulah and Addu which was Suvadiva.
The Suvadivians, living in the three southernmost atolls of the equatorial zone (Huvadhu, Fuvahmulah and Addu atolls) number approximately 60,000 and constitute about 20% of the total population. According to researchers, this group of Dhivehis are subject to have the closest proximity to the original Dhivehi people in terms of linguistics as well as in ethnic grounds. The reason behind this suggested by researchers and proven from historical records is that there were less interference from the outside world to this group. Unlike the other group of Dhivehis, this group was not affected by the Portuguese rule in the Maldives as it does not exceed the Suvadiva channel. Also there were no interference from traders and travellers as in case of the others.
Each of the 3 atolls of the Suvadiva region speak their own distinctive forms of Dhivehi (Huvadhu bas, Mulaku bas and Addu bas), which are much different from the rest and as suggested by researchers, having a closer affinity to what may have been the original. Thus, the native features of the original Dhivehis are preserved in this group greater than any other group of Dhivehis.
Main group of Dhivehis
Unlike the Suvadivian minority, this group of Dhivehis were subject to foreign intercourse. There were numerous occasions of reported interference from outsiders such as traders, travellers, etc... Also, the Portuguese rule and many other factors pushed this group into a state that imported materials got mixed into their linguistics as well as ethnic background.Indian Dhivehis
Indian Dhivehis are the Dhivehis of Indian nationality: The people of Minicoy - migrant communities from Minicoy across India and elsewhere. Except the people from Minicoy there are no communities of Dhivehis with Indian citizenship. The Indian Dhivehis make up the third subgroup of Dhivehis. This group of Dhivehis are officially referred as Mahls. The people locally identify themselves as Malikun.People of Minicoy (Malikun) - Mahls
Mahls are the third subgroup of Dhivehis centred in the island of Minicoy making up the only community of Indian Dhivehis. This group has its own dialect (called Maliku bas or Mahl) which retains some features of an older Dhivehi, and shows Malayalam influences as well. Still, the dialect is mutually intelligible with the standard Dhivehi being more related to the slighter variants of northern Maldives from the first group.In case of linguistics and ethnic grounds, this group of Dhivehis are identical to the main group of Dhivehis in Maldives. However, the secession of Minicoy from Maldivian rule and gradually becoming part of India, thus becoming the only non-maldivian group of Dhivehis make anthropologists to label the Dhivehis in Minicoy as one among the subgroups. The isolation of this group from the rest of the Dhivehis and the acculturation process which the Minicoyans may undergo as a result of this as well as the change in nationality is one of the reasons for separation of this group from the main group of Maldivians. The origin of this group like any other group of Dhivehis lye in the Maldives. The story of the Tivarun, the linguistics of the people in Minicoy and many other factors prove this side of the story.
Mahls are the only community of native Dhivehis (excluding migrant communities) outside the Republic of Maldives. They make up about 3% of the total population of all Dhivehis.
Most Mahls live in their native land of Maliku (Minicoy)
Minicoy
Minicoy, locally known as Maliku is a census town in the Indian union territory of Lakshadweep and was formerly a part of Maldive Islands.-Etymology:...
. Mahls are 15.67% of the total population of Lakshadweep emerging as a separate ethnic group among the rest of the population. All Mahl communities in India emerged from Minicoy.
There are Mahl communities (migrant communities from Minicoy) in other parts of India too. A number of Mahls have settled in the districts of Kozhikode
Kozhikode district
Kozhikode District , formerly Calicut, is a district of Kerala state, situated on the southwest coast of India. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 38.25% urbanised...
, Malappuram
Malappuram
Malappuram is a municipality in the South Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 33.61 km2. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Malappuram district. As per the 2011 census Malappuram urban agglomeration is the fourth largest UA in kerala with a total population of...
, Ernakulam
Ernakulam
Ernakulam refers to the downtown area or the western part of the mainland of Kochi city in Kerala, India. The city is the most urban part of Kochi and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Ernakulam is called the commercial capital of the state of Kerala and is a main nerve of business in...
and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum)
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
in the southern state of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. The ancestors of present Mahl communities in Kerala migrated from Minicoy and settled there in the 17th century, when the islands of Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep
Lakshadweep , formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands, is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 km off the coast of the South West Indian state of Kerala...
came under the rule of Ali Raja
Ali Raja
The Ali Raja was the title of the Muslim raja of Cannanore from the 16th to early 19th Century. The king's palace, which he purchased from the Dutch in 1663, was named Arakkal Palace after the ruling dynasty.-Origins:...
hs/Arakkal Bheevi of Kannur
Kannur
Kannur , also known as Cannanore, is a city in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the District of Kannur and 518km north of state capital Trivandrum. During British rule in India, Kannur was known by its old name Cannanore, which is still in...
.
Since 1957, this group of Dhivehis in Minicoy are totally off-limits for their Maldivian counterparts. The direct transport between Minicoy and the Maldives was forbidden by the Indian government. Thus, this Indian group of Dhivehis are steadily undergoing a process of acculturation owing to lack of contact with the remaining Divehi people and pressure to use other languages such as Malayalam, English and Hindi. This proves to have a big influence upon the culture, linguistics and other day to day affairs of this group of Dhivehis.
Emigrant communities
A significant number of Dhivehi emigrant communities can be found in several countries. The emigrant communities could only be located from the Maldivian side of the story as it is only the Maldivians who are all of the same ethnicity unlike India where the presence of thousands of cultures and ethnicities make the records more stringent on this matter. All Indians are not Dhivehis unlike in the Maldives and Dhivehis are only no more than 0.0015% of the total population of India compared to 100% in the Maldives. Thus, it is only from the Maldivian embassies across the world that this information could be gathered.Sri Lanka
There are approximately 10,000 people of Dhivehi ethnicity living in Sri Lanka, as of 2006.Genetics and Research Studies
In 1899, Professor John Stanley Gardiner visited Maldives, during which time; he collected anthropometrical data of a number of Maldivians from many islands. Analysis of this data by Dr. Wynfrid Duckworth, suggested that there were three major sources of immigration into the country. These are:- The peninsula of Hindustan with Ceylon,
- The coast of Arabia and possibly of Africa,
- The western shores of the Malay Peninsula, and the islands of the Malaya Archipelago.
(Duckworth 1912: 8-30).
In 1997, a Maldivian NGO, Society for Health Education, conducted a study on the mutations of thalassaemia found in Maldives. The results of this study showed one mutation that probably originated in the Middle East, another which could have been derived from Portuguese or Algerians, and another which probably originated from Asian Indians and Malays. The observations are consistent with the historical records of Maldives, showing that early travellers from India, Indonesia, North Africa, the Red Sea and Persian Gulf areas, settled in the Maldives. (Firdous et al. 1998:148,149). Thalassaemia is the commonest genetically transmitted blood disease found in Maldives, and the results of this study suggest that many of the people now living in Maldives had ancestors who came from the above mentioned countries.
Anthropological studies as well as ethnographic and linguistic researches suggest that in terms of ancestry the Dhivehis share similar genes principally with the Sinhalas of Sri Lanka as well as northern Indian populations, such as Marathis, Konkanis and Gujaratis with traces of Arab, Malay
Malays
Malays may refer to:* Ethnic Malays, the ethnic group located primarily in the Malay peninsula, and parts of Sumatra and Borneo.* Malay race, a racial category encompassing peoples of South East Asia and sometimes the Pacific Islands....
, South Indian
South Indian culture
South Indian culture refers to the culture of the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. South Indian culture though with its visible differences forms an important part of the Indian culture. The South Indian Culture is essentially the celebration of the eternal...
and North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
n genes in the population.
Culture
Dhivehi culture is heavily influenced by the cultures of Malabaris (South Indian), Sinhalese, and Perso-Arabs.Language and literature
Dhivehis have strong feelings towards the Dhivehi languageDhivehi language
Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Maldives where it is the national language. It is also the first language of nearly 10,000 people in the island of Minicoy in the Union territory of Lakshadweep, India where the Mahl dialect of the Maldivian...
. It has historically been, and to large extent still is, central to the Dhivehi identity. Unlike the other languages of South India, it is a Indo-European language, while other South Indian languages are Dravidian languages. However the language shows some influences of neighbouring Dravidian languages on it, and have a number of loanwords from Dravidian vocabulary.
Religion
All Dhivehis are Muslims with 100% of the whole population adhering to the Sunni school of thought. In the Maldives which is the heartland of Dhivehis and home for more than 97% of the Dhivehi people, the national religion is Islam. Islam is the country's state religion as well as the backbone of the society with daily life in the country being regulated according to the tenets of Islam and government regulations too being based on the regulations of Islamic lawSharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
(Shari'a). The law of the country prohibits the practice of any other religion by the country's citizens. In general all Dhivehis from the island of Minicoy too are Sunni Muslims. There may be a few Dhivehis who do not follow Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, though the public expression of such beliefs is virtually non-existent in Dhivehi societies.
Even though most of the Dhivehis are very religious, ancient beliefs survived until recently: for example, the islanders feared jinnis (evil spirits) which were believed to come from the sea, land and sky. These were blamed for everything that cannot be explained by religion or science. Today, this kind of beliefs are on the verge of vanishing completely from Dhivehi communities and can only be observed rarely.
Visual art and architecture
Most traditional Dhivehi art is influenced by Perso-Arabic tradition in some form and usually centres on Islam, since most of the Dhivehis are Muslims.Martial arts
Martial arts among Dhivehis are known as hevikamuge kulhivaruthak, while gulhamathi hifung is traditional wrestling among Dhivehis.Festivals
Most of the Dhivehi festivals are related to Islam, however there are some festivals which belongs to old Dhivehi traditions, like kite flying festival. Naming a newborn child, Mauloodhu (a prayer accompanied with festive meal), Eid festival and circumcision of male child are few events that take place where the taste of rich cultural 'cocktail' can be experienced.A traditional meal called Keyn is prepared for the above Mauloodhus consisting of a number of courses. A single Keyn would serve 10 – 12 people and includes rice, curries, salads, grilled fish, coconut cream, coconut syrup, bananas, puddings and other delights.
Keyn is set out in a very large wooden dish called a Malaafaiy. The outside of this dish is placed within the dish and small individual plates are filled with curries, salads, and other items and set around the rice. This would be covered with the lid and wrapped in a white cloth and tied at the top. At the meal times this would be carried into the Mauloodh Haruge (dining hall specially made for this event) and placed on straw mats for service. Individual plates and other food items in individual dishes are placed as well. Beverages are individually set in glasses. Water is served in a ceramic jug. Food is consumed using the fingers of the right hand. At the end of the meal hand is washed using a copper jug into a copper basin. December 10 is marked as Kandu Rōdi duvas and April 14 as Gamu Rōdi duvas.
| Festive day | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Islamic New Year | 10 January | --- | --- |
| Ashura Day of Ashura The Day of Ashura is on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar and marks the climax of the Remembrance of Muharram.It is commemorated by Shia Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10... |
19 January | 7 January | --- |
| Mawlid an-Nabi | 20 March | 9 March | 26 February |
| Lailat al Miraj | 31 July | 20 July | ? |
| Lailat al-Baraat Mid-Sha'ban Mid-Sha'ban is thereceding night is known as Laylatul Bara’ah or Laylatun Nisfe min Sha’ban in the Arab world, and as Shab-e-barat in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran and Afghanistan... |
18 August | 7 August | ? |
| Ramadan Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours and is intended to teach Muslims about patience, spirituality, humility and... |
1 September | 22 August | 11 August |
| Lailat al Qadr | 28 September | 17 September | ? |
| Eid ul-Fitr Eid ul-Fitr Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Fitr, Id-ul-Fitr, or Id al-Fitr , often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting . Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity," while Fiṭr means "breaking the fast"... |
1 October | 21 September | 10 September |
| Eid ul-Adha Eid ul-Adha Eid al-Adha or "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a sheep— to sacrifice... |
8 December | 27 November | 17 November |
| Islamic New Year | 29 December | 18 December | 7 December |
| Ashura Day of Ashura The Day of Ashura is on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar and marks the climax of the Remembrance of Muharram.It is commemorated by Shia Muslims as a day of mourning for the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, the grandson of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Karbala on 10... |
--- | 27 December | 17 December |
Dress
Traditionally Dhivehi men wear a mundu with a shirt, it is very similar to that of MalayaliMalayali
Malayali is the term used to refer to the native speakers of Malayalam, originating from the Indian state of Kerala...
people.
Cuisine
Rice, the major staple food in most Dhivehi households, is usually cooked and served with Garudiya (Tuna Fish soup). Here are some of the specialty cuisines.Bocholhi
Made of rice flour, coconut – semi-firm (grated) and coconut palm syrup by mixing all the ingredients until freed from lump and cooked over a moderate heat until the mixture is thickened.
Godhan Furhu Boa Folhi
Made of flour, coconut – semi-hard (blended to a smooth paste), eggs, coconut cream, jasmine water, coconut palm syrup, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder and oil by mixing all the ingredients apart from the oil together. Cooked over a moderate heat and once the top of the pancake dries up, turned over and cooked.
Han’dulu Aurus
Made of rice (soaked overnight), washed and blended to a smooth paste), coconut palm syrup, Jasmine water and jasmine flowers by placing all the ingredients apart from the flowers in a thick-bottomed pan and cooked over a moderate heat by stirring constantly to avoid the mixture getting stuck to the bottom. Wrapped entirely with banana leaf and placed jasmine flowers over the sweets. This sweet will keep for two to three months without spoiling.
'
Han’dulu Furhu Kubus
Made of Patna Rice (soaked overnight, washed and blended to a smooth paste), coconut – semi-firm (grated), coconut palm syrup, caster sugar, banana leaf by cooking over a moderate heat the grated coconut, palm sugar and caster sugar until the mixture has thickened. Removed from heat and allowed cooling and added in the blended rice and kneaded thoroughly and combined all the ingredients well. Divided the mixture into eight portions and placed each portion on a banana leaf and wrapped entirely to seal and wrapped a second banana leaf around it and secured well.
Dug a suitable hole in the ground in which all the wrapped dough pieces could be placed neatly. Placed coconut fibres and coconut shells and burned them in the dug hole and removed the charcoals.
Placed banana leaves within the hole and placed the wrapped dough in the heated hole and placed neatly one against another.
Covered the dough parcels placed in the hole with another large piece of banana leaf and covered the leaf with two inch white sand. Placed the charcoals and coconut fibres and coconut shells over it and burned the coconut fibres and shells for half an hour.
Left the cooked kubus parcels overnight in the hole. In the morning scraped off the burnt ashes and charcoals aside and the sand covering the banana leaf and slowly lifted the wrapped kubus parcels.
Hukkaru
Made of coconut palm syrup by boiling the syrup over a moderate heat and cooked by stirring continuously until it starts to thicken. Removed from heat and whisked until frothy and cooled.
Huni Folhi
Made of Patna Rice flour, coconut – semi-hard (grated), coconut palm syrup by cooking all the ingredients over a moderate heat in a thick-bottomed pan stirring continuously.
When the mixture starts to come loose from the side of the pan removed from heat and taken a tablespoonful of the cooked mixture, spread on a cork wood leaf. Smoked and dried the leaves spread with the sweet over the fire place.
Karukuri Banbukeyo
Made of fried bread fruit (crushed coarsely), coconut palm syrup, jasmine water by bringing the syrup and the jasmine water to boil and cooked it over a moderate heat until it comes to ribbon stage. Added in the crushed breadfruit into the sugar and coated well. Removed from heat, allowed cooling and kept in an airtight container.
Karukuri Ala
Made of fried taro (crushed coarsely), coconut palm syrup and jasmine water by boiling the syrup and the jasmine water and cooked it over a moderate heat until it comes to ribbon stage. Added in the crushed taro in to the sugar and coated well. Removed from heat, allowed cooling and kept in an airtight container.
Kulhi Bis Fathafolhi
Made of Patna Rice flour, coconut (grated), Rihaakuru, Rihaakuru Bondi (blended), eggs, onion (sliced thinly), curry leaves (chopped), cherry pepper, juice of two limes, ginger, salt to season and oil by crushing the onion, curry leaves, cherry pepper, ginger with salt. Added and mixed the rice flour and coconut to make sandy texture. Formed a bay in the center of the rice mixture and add in the eggs and Rihaakuru and Rihaakuru Bondi. Mixed/kneaded the dough and divided the dough into 15 gram balls. Spread each ball to about ¼ inch thickness. Cut using a round cutter of 3 – inch diameter and pre-heated oil.
Meeraa
Made of coconut sap (collected at noon) by boiling the sap over a moderate heat and cooked by stirring continuously until it comes to ribbon stage. Removed from heat, greased a large tray and taken a spoonful of the cooked thickened syrup and placed it over the greased sheet in strings.
Thela Kubus
Made of Patna Rice flour, coconut palm syrup, eggs and coconut oil by whisking the egg and the syrup and added in the rice flour and beaten further. Poured a table spoonful of the mixture into the oil and deep-fried until golden.
Thelli Keyo
Made of plantain (peeled and cut length-wise) and oil by frying the bananas until crisped. Drained on absorbent kitchen paper and kept airtight container.
Veli Hakuru
Made of coconut palm syrup by boiling the syrup over a moderate heat and cooked by stirring continuously until it starts to crystallize. Removed from heat, allowed cooling and put into jars and seal well.
Other Cuisines Regularly Cooked
- Falhoa Aurus
- Naaroh Faludha
- Fuppi Baiy
- Gerhi Banbukeyo
- Gerhi Kattala
- Kaliyaa Kuri Kattala
- Varukuri Baiy
Dhivehi names
A generation ago, most Dhivehi people were not commonly known by their birth names. Instead they were called by an alternative name such as Dohuttu, Lahuttu, Tutteedi, Kudamaniku, or Don Goma. The rationale behind this practice was that if the evil spirits did not know one’s real name, one would be free from their spells. However ancient Dhivehi naming system is similar to that of Gujaratis and Marathas. Even now some people follow that system. For example, the first name of historian Mohamed Ibrahim Lutfy is "Mohamed;" "Ibrahim" is his father's name, and "Lutfy" is the family name.Frequent Dhivehi family names include Bee, Beefan, Boo, Didi, Fan, Fulhu, Kader, Kalaminja, Kalinga, Kavah, Kavya, Koi, Koya, Manik, Manika, Manike, Manikfan, Naha, Raha, Rana, Tarkan, Thakhan, Thakur, Thakurfan, Veer.