The Maldive conversion to Islam is dated to 1153 by the chronicles and possibly to 1193 by some readings of the copper plates.
Mosques stand at Male and on the atolls, built in places where Buddhist temples stood; the Dhanbidhoo plate is said to record this. The mosques are supported by the king, the atoll governors and the islanders.
Who holds it
- Name
- not named in any source we reached
- Title
- The qadi and mosque trustees of Male (the later 'Kateeb' and 'Qazi')
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
Overlord
The king of Male
What it holds
- Mosque endowments
- The courts of the qadis
Allies and rivals
The king of Male
How things stand that morning
A new religious order, newly dominant.
Wealth
Endowments.
Military
No armed force is recorded for the house.
Where the sources disagree
- The present Friday mosque at Male (Hukuru Miskiy) is of 1656 and is not carried back. The dates 1153 and 1193 are the chronicles' and some plate readings', and they 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.