abstract
| - Before conversion, the religion of Maldives was Vajrayana Buddhism which was heavily influenced by Hinduism. There are archaeological remains from the 8th or 9th portraying Hindu deities, like Shiva, Lakshmi and sage Agastya. The Maldivian Folklore contains legends about sage Vashishta. Vashishta is known locally as Oditan Kalēge, a mighty sorcerer. Oditan Kalēge's wife is a beautiful woman called Dōgi Aihā who possesses a fiery temperament and who is as powerful sorceress as her husband. Her name is derived from the Sanskrit word Yogini. It is not really known why the last Buddhist king of Maldives embraced Islam. The importance of the Arabs as traders in the Indian Ocean by the twelfth century A.D. may partly explain why the last Buddhist king of Maldives took this decision. The king thereupon adopted the Muslim title and name (in Arabic) of Sultan (besides the old Divehi title of Maha radun or Ras Kilege) Muhammad al Adil, initiating a series of six islamic dynasties consisting of eighty-four sultans and sultanas that lasted until 1932 when the sultanate became elective. According to Moroccan traveller Ibn Batuta, the person responsible for this conversion was a Sunni Muslim visitor named Abu al Barakat hailing from Morocco. However, more reliable Maldivian tradition says that he was a Persian saint from Tabriz called Yusuf Shamsuddin. He is also referred to as Tabrizugefaanu. His venerated tomb now stands on the grounds of the Friday Mosque, or Hukuru miski, in the capital of Malé. Built in 1656, this is the oldest mosque in Maldives. [1]
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