By the early 1100s, the Maldives sat on major Indian Ocean sea routes and was closely tied to long-distance trade. These links brought increasing contact with Muslim merchants and ideas, setting the stage for a later state-level shift in religion and political titles.
Maldivian tradition and many modern summaries date the official conversion to Islam to 1153, when the last Buddhist king, Dhovemi (also given as Donei/Dhovemi Kalaminja), accepted Islam and took the Muslim royal title of sultan. The conversion is remembered as a turning point that began an “Islamic era” in Maldivian history, replacing Buddhist state identity with a Muslim one.
In Maldivian historical memory, a visiting Sunni Muslim teacher—often named Abu al-Barakat Yusuf al-Barbari—is credited with guiding the king’s conversion. This narrative (including the well-known “Rannamaari” legend) helped explain and legitimize the new religion for later generations, even though some details are debated.
After conversion, the ruler is commonly described as adopting the name/title “Sultan Muhammad al-Adil,” marking the start of a Muslim sultanate. Over time, Maldivian rulers used Islamic legitimacy and institutions to govern across widely scattered atolls, tying local administration more closely to Islamic law and royal authority.
By the late 1100s, surviving copperplate grants (loamaafaanu) show an established Islamic political culture, including official grants connected to mosques. These records help historians trace how the new religion was embedded in public institutions and how sultans communicated authority in durable written forms.
In the mid-1340s, the traveler Ibn Battuta lived in the Maldives and served as a qadi (an Islamic judge). His account shows that Islamic law and religious roles had become part of governance and daily life, while also describing local customs that did not always match his expectations.
In 1558, the Portuguese forcibly established themselves in Malé, creating the most serious external challenge to the Muslim sultanate in this period. Their occupation disrupted local rule and became remembered as a threat to Maldivian political independence and Islamic identity.
In 1573, Muhammad Thakurufaanu and allies expelled the Portuguese, ending about 15 years of foreign control. The victory became a powerful symbol of defending Islam and restoring local sovereignty, and it is still commemorated in Maldivian national memory.
After the expulsion, Muhammad Thakurufaanu’s rise helped found the Utheemu dynasty. This period strengthened the sultanate’s authority after the crisis, reinforcing Islamic legitimacy as a core part of governance and resistance to external pressure.
In the 1600s, the Maldives remained a sultanate but came under the protection of the Dutch rulers of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). This arrangement reflected a new regional balance of power: the Maldives kept its Muslim rulers, but had to navigate European-controlled sea lanes and diplomacy.
In 1658, the Malé Friday Mosque (Hukuru Miskiy) was completed, becoming a major Islamic monument built with coral stone. Its scale and craftsmanship show how Islam had become central to public architecture and religious life centuries after the 12th-century conversion.
After Britain took Ceylon in 1796, the Maldives fell into Britain’s sphere and later became a British protectorate, formally recognized in 1887. The country kept its Islamic sultanate and internal religious identity, but foreign relations and strategic security were increasingly shaped by a European empire.
In 1932, the Maldives proclaimed its first democratic constitution while remaining a sultanate. This changed how the Muslim monarchy operated by introducing constitutional rules, showing that Islamic state traditions could persist even as governance structures modernized.
A referendum on 15 March 1968 approved changing from a monarchy to a republic, and a republic was declared on 11 November 1968. This closed the long period in which Islamization (beginning in the 12th century) was closely tied to rule by a line of sultans, even as Islam remained central to national identity.
Islamization of the Maldives and establishment of a Muslim sultanate (12th–17th centuries)