As per the earliest written history of the Maldives, the exiled Magadha Prince Vijaya from the ancient city known as Sinhapura and his party of several hundred landed in Sri Lanka, and some in the Maldives circa 543 to 483 BC
Buddhism became the dominant religion of the people of the Maldives until the 12th century AD and is believed to have reached the Maldives at the time of Emperor Ashoka’s expansion. Architecture, sculptures and writing flourished during this period and until today several ruins of this period remains in several of the islands.
The famous Moroccan traveller Ibn Batuta, who was in the Maldives in the 14th century has written that a Moroccan by the name of Abul Barakath the Berber introduced Islam to the islands. Since 1153 Maldives have had Islam as the official religion.
Except for three instances the Maldives remained an independent nation throughout its history. The longest rule by outside forces was in the mid 16th century when Maldives was under the Portuguese Empire for about fifteen years. For a brief four months, the Dutch Empire ruled Maldives during the mid 17th century and in late 19th century the Maldives became a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965. After gaining total independence from the British in 1965, in 1968 the Maldives became a Republic and remains as a Republic.
The republic was declared on 11th of November 1968 and Ibrahim Nasir became the first President. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom who became the President in 1978 held office for 6 five year terms and finally in 2008 the constitution was changed to allow political parties, paving the way for the first democratic election which ended Gayoom’s presidency and elected Mohamed Nasheed from the Maldivian Democratic Party as the first democratically elected President. However the presidency did not last the full term as President Nasheed was forced to resign due to protests by the Police and the Military on February 7th 2012. Elections held in 2013 was won by the half brother of Gayoom, Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
