The Buddhist monasteries and stupas of Laamu (Haddhunmathi) atoll, especially on Isdhoo, Dhanbidhoo, Gan and Mundoo, whose destruction, the beheading of their monks and the building of mosques in their place the Dhanbidhoo plate is said to record (English Wikipedia, Laamu Atoll).
By 1200 little survives except the ruins; the English Wikipedia says H. C. P. Bell's excavations in 1923 damaged what remained.
Who holds it
- Name
- not named in any source we reached
- Title
- The remaining monks and the Buddhist families of Laamu
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
The king of Male (the suppressing power)
What it holds
- The ruins and the memory of the monasteries
Allies and rivals
The king of Male (the suppressing power)
How things stand that morning
Broken; a remnant of Buddhist families remains.
Military
No armed force is recorded for the house.
Places of note
- Isdhoo: Find-spot of a copper plate.
- Dhanbidhoo: Find-spot of the Dhanbidhoo plate (coordinates approximate).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The shrine or community is real, but what it held and who ran it in 1200 is inferred from general or later accounts; no page we read dates anything about it to 1200.
On the map: Drawn as a small disc round the shrine; the real estates were scattered villages.
Primary sources for Maldives
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Book of Roger (the Pleasure of Him who Longs to Cross the Horizons), Muhammad al-Idrisi (completed 1154 at Palermo). The nearest Arabic geography in time to 1200 for the Indian Ocean. Read online
- A Description of the Foreign Peoples (Records of Foreign Nations), Zhao Rukuo (Zhao Rugua) (1225 at Quanzhou). The best single text for the island world around 1200, written by the superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou from merchants' reports a generation after the date. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.