Penelope M-C

By penelopemc
  • 2000 BCE

    ANTIQUITY

    ANTIQUITY
    During antiquity, the Maldives ethnicities, languages and religions were very diverse. In the Maldives during antiquity the ethnicities were South Indian, Sinhalese, and Arabian. The language was Elu but evolved and became Maldivian. And the religion they practiced was *Animism (beliefs that spirits lived in nature) and *Polytheism (the belief in or worship of more than one god).
  • 1153

    PEOPLE FROM *SRI LANKA AND *SOUTH INDIA BRING *ISLAM

    PEOPLE FROM *SRI LANKA AND *SOUTH INDIA BRING *ISLAM
    People from *Sri Lanka (an island located to the *southern coast of India) and *South India came to the Maldives in 1153 CE had brought *Islam, making Islam the most practiced religion in the Maldives. In 1153 CE, the King of the Maldieves converted to Islam when the people from *Sri Lanka and *Southern India came. When this happened everyone wanted to be like him and mostly everyone converted to Islam due to his influence.

  • *ARAB TRADERS INFLUENCING LANGUAGE

    *ARAB TRADERS INFLUENCING LANGUAGE
    Around 1700 CE the *Arab traders came and had visited the islands, due to their arrival, the language was affected and now *Ababian is now one of the most used languages in the islands. Arabian mostly is used for religious purposes and when praying it’s the language used. Many of the Arabian traders had *settled in the Maldives influencing the language being spoken.

  • BRITISH COLONIZE THE MALDIVES

    BRITISH COLONIZE THE MALDIVES
    In 1796, the British colonized one of the islands also known as *Ceylon, the *British made it one of the main languages in the Maldives. After the British took over, the islands became a British territory in 1887. In 1965 they gained full independence from the British and the *British troops had left on March 29, 1976. This date is important to the Maldivians because this is when they celebrate their freedom. It’s their day of independence.

  • TODAY

    TODAY
    Today, the Maldives isn't very different from how it was in antiquity. Today in the Maldives, the ethnic identity is *South Indian, *Sinhalese, and *Arab. The language spoken in the Maldives is *Dhivehi, which everyone there speaks(also known as an *Indo-Aryan language ) and *English, used for education and tourism (90%). Arabic is used for praying. And the religions practiced are *Muslim (followers of the religion of Islam) 99.9% of people in the Maldives are *Muslim.