History of Maldives

The archipelago was inhabited as early as the 5th century bce by Buddhist peoples, probably from Sri Lanka and southern India. According to tradition, Islam was adopted in 1153 ce. Ibn Baṭṭūṭah, a notable North African traveler, resided there during the mid-1340s and described conditions at that time, remarking disapprovingly on the freedom of the women—a feature that has been noticeable throughout Maldivian history.

The Portuguese forcibly established themselves in Male from 1558 until their expulsion in 1573. In the 17th century the islands were a sultanate under the protection of the Dutch rulers of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and, after the British took possession of Ceylon in 1796, the islands became a British protectorate, a status formalized in 1887. In 1932, before which time most of the administrative powers rested with sultans or sultanas, the first democratic constitution was proclaimed, the country remaining a sultanate. A republic was proclaimed in 1953, but later that year the country reverted to a sultanate.

In 1965 the Maldive Islands attained full political independence from the British, and in 1968 a new republic was inaugurated and the sultanate abolished. The last British troops left on March 29, 1976, the date thereafter celebrated in the Maldives as Independence Day. Ibrahim Nasr, the country’s first president, was succeeded in 1978 by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, who was reelected to his sixth consecutive term in 2003. The Maldives became a member of the Commonwealth in 1982 (although it withdrew its membership from 2016 to 2020 amid a political spat).

In December 2004 the Maldives was damaged by a large tsunami caused by a massive earthquake in the Indian Ocean off Indonesia. Scores of people were killed, and much property was damaged.

In the first years of the 21st century, Gayoom’s government embarked on a long-term plan to modernize and democratize the Maldives, particularly its economy and political system. The plan also identified the country’s legal system as inadequate. Beginning in 2003, wide-ranging reforms were instituted to improve human rights and the system of governance. A multiparty political system was created. In 2008 a new constitution was adopted that established greater governmental checks and balances, strengthened the powers of the legislature and judiciary, and allowed women to run for president. The country’s first multicandidate presidential election was held in October of that year, and former political prisoner Mohamed Nasheed was elected president, thus ending Gayoom’s 30 years in office.

One of Nasheed’s priorities was addressing climate change, as the low-lying islands were perceived to be under serious threat from rising sea levels. His administration was hampered, however, by continuing loyalty to Gayoom among members of the legislature and judiciary. Controversy erupted in January 2012 over Nasheed’s arrest of a senior criminal court judge. After weeks of protests by citizens opposed to the arrest, Nasheed resigned in early February and was replaced by his vice president, Mohamed Waheed Hassan. Nasheed claimed his resignation had been forced by the police and military. In July charges were filed against him for what was deemed to have been his illegal arrest of the criminal court judge in January. In August an official commission of inquiry backed by the Commonwealth found that Nasheed’s resignation had been voluntary and that there had been no coup.

Nasheed’s legal situation remained unsettled amid continued political unrest over the circumstances of his resignation. A general election was held in September 2013, in which Nasheed received a plurality of votes, outpolling the second highest candidate by a wide margin, but did not win an outright majority. A second election, in November, was won by Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom, Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s half brother, who beat Nasheed by a narrow margin. Nasheed was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2015. He was granted permission to seek medical treatment in the U.K. in 2016, and from there he fled to Sri Lanka. He returned to the country in late 2018, however, days after the Supreme Court overturned his sentence.

The presidency of Yameen oversaw significant infrastructure projects in the country but lacked the charisma of Gayoom’s presidency. The projects were funded in large part by China, much to the chagrin of the country’s long-term ally India. Meanwhile, Yameen stifled criticism and jailed political opponents. In February 2018, after the Supreme Court overturned the sentences of many of Yameen’s political opponents, he jailed two of the court’s justices and declared a state of emergency for 45 days. Many observers expected an election set for September that year would be used to consolidate Yameen’s autocracy.

The opposition unified to oust Yameen, however, and put forward a single candidate: Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, a senior parliamentarian close to Nasheed. When the election was held, Solih received a surprising landslide victory with nearly 90 percent voter turnout. Yameen congratulated Solih and initially conceded the election. Weeks later Yameen reneged and asked the Supreme Court to investigate election rigging and voter fraud, but the court did not find evidence of wrongdoing and upheld the election results.

Solih was sworn into office on November 17, completing the transfer of power. He was strengthened further in April 2019 when his party swept legislative elections, winning three-fourths of the seats. The following month Nasheed was elected speaker of the People’s Majlis by unanimous vote. The new government launched probes into corruption and human rights abuses under the previous administration. The result of one investigation led to the conviction of Yameen in November on charges of money-laundering (although the conviction was overturned two years later).

Solih also worked to reinvigorate the country’s ties with India. In June 2019 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Maldives on his first trip abroad after his re-election, signaling India’s interest in warming ties. Within the first two years of Solih’s term, India had committed more than $2 billion in aid to the Maldives, including a pledge of $500 million toward a large-scale infrastructure project linking Male with its neighbouring islands.

The government continued to face challenges in dealing with corruption and addressing other systemic problems in the country, such as religious extremism and political violence. In May 2021 the detonation of an improvised explosive device outside Nasheed’s home left him critically injured, but he returned to the People’s Majlis in October after months of medical treatment abroad.