function js_50193() { document.write (' '); } function js_50192() { document.write (' '); } function js_757763910521710() { document.write ('

Africa Guides

'); } function js_148101341182986() { document.write ('

Asia Guides

'); } function js_129912638753140() { document.write ('

Caribbean Guides

'); } function js_135184037202621() { document.write ('

Central America

'); } function js_353354167360770() { document.write ('

Europe Guides

'); } function js_703433191549461() { document.write ('

Middle East Guides

'); } function js_583075070585889() { document.write ('

North America

'); } function js_210227954807617() { document.write ('

Pacific Guides

'); } function js_997987699498012() { document.write ('

South America

'); } function js_828279507815205() { document.write ('

send page to a friend

'); } function js_114992690552685() { document.write ('

Most historians support the theory that the early settlers of the Maldives were shipwrecked sailors and fishermen from India and Ceylon. The Maldives was strategically located on the sea trade routes and as a result was under constant threat.

'); } function js_572193562284659() { document.write ('

Despite continued pressure, the Maldives managed to retain its independence for the next 179 years before falling to an attack launched by the Malabari pirates. It was a short-lived victory for the pirates as the Maldivians, with Muleege Hassan Maniku as their leader, regained control of the islands only four months later.

'); } function js_428041458974305() { document.write ('

It was not the best of agreements but the Maldives was facing difficult economic and political times. There had been a recent uprising between the local Male business men and Bohara merchants from India, who dominated the import and export trade on the islands. With so much to contend with, the Maldives accepted the treaty in 1887 and became a British Protectorate.

'); } function js_850032866448041() { document.write ('

The three atolls that had benefitted by the British presence felt threatened with the pending withdrawal of the British. They protested the ruling by forming a separate government; they elected their own president, set up a bank and formed a council.

'); }