Maldives has been known by many different names during its long history of more than two thousand years.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
In ancient timesMalé was also calledMahal[citation needed], considered to be the origin ofMahal Dvipa orMaléldvip[citation needed]. 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 ofMahal..[citation needed] A study of the names shows that in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, the originalMahal Dvipa became Arabicised by Middle Eastern travellers, toMahaldib, and later became Anglicised by theBritish Empire to emerge in its present form ofMaldives. However, throughout history the Maldivians have used the nameDhivehi Raajje to refer to their country, meaning 'the country of theDhivehi people'.[1]
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 asManiolae, in his treatiseOn the Races of the Indians and the Brahmans, adding that the magnet stone which attracts iron was produced in these islands.[citation needed]
One of the first known references to Maldives is given in theMahavamsa (5th century), the ancient chronicle of the people of Sri Lanka. In these records Maldives is referred to asMahinda-dvipa.[citation needed]
In ancient South IndianPallava dynasty inscriptions of the 7th century AD, Maldives was calledDvipa Laksham 'a hundred thousand islands'.[citation needed]
Hiuen-Tsang, aBuddhist 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 islandsNa-lo-ki-lo-chou 'coconut islands'.[citation needed]
A Chinese document from theTang 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 asMo-lai in this document.[citation needed]
In a 10th-centuryTamil record of theChola dynasty, Maldives is given the nameMunnir Palantivu Pannirayiram 'twelve thousand islands and the ocean where three waters meet'.[citation needed]
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 nameDibajat.Al-Biruni in the 11th century andMuhammad al-Idrisi in the 12th century AD also referred to Maldives by the name ofDibajat.[citation needed]
Abu Zayd, who lived in Iraq in the years AD 850 to 934, writes of Maldives asDyvah Kouzah 'cowrie islands'.[citation needed]
In theTamil commentaryTolkattiyam of the 13th century AD, Maldives is calledPalpalamtivu 'many old islands'.[citation needed]
The Chinese writer Wang Ta-Yuan, writing in 1349, gave Maldives the namePei Liu. In AD 1414,Zheng He, the famous Chinese commander, came to Maldives, bringing with him a scribe by the name ofMa Huan to record their travels. In Ma Huan's records, Maldives is calledLu Shan Tieh-kan (陆山) 'the countries of the island mountains'. In AD 1436, the Chinese writer Fei Hsin called the islandsLu Shan Yang 'atolls of the Maldives'.[citation needed]
Ibn Battuta, who visited Maldives in 1343 and stayed for 18 months, and returned in AD 1346, called the islands by the nameDhibat al-Mahal.[citation needed]
When the firstPortuguese arrived in the East in the early 16th century, Maldives was referred to by them asIlha Dywe.[citation needed]
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Maldives was calledMaldiva Islands in manyEnglish records, but by the beginning of the 20th century,Maldives orMaldive Islands had become the commonly used name.[citation needed]
