The king lives at Male on a small island at the centre of the archipelago, with a palace, a mosque and a harbour.
He rules by governors on the atolls, takes the cowrie and coir trade as a royal monopoly and, on the Dhanbidhoo plate, has put down the Buddhist monuments of Laamu and beheaded its monks. The island is outside every great power's reach; the Chola of the eleventh century is the last invader the chronicles remember.
Who he is
- Name
- not pinned for 1200 (the English Wikipedia Laamu Atoll page names a Sri Gadana Aditya Maharadun on the plates of about 1193)
- Title
- King (Maha Radun) of the Maldives
- Since
- not known
- Born
- not known
- Family
- Theemuge dynasty (1117 to 1388).
- Confidence
- low
The royal lists are late (the Raadhavalhi of 1757 and the Taarikh); the Theemuge dynasty page in the English Wikipedia gives only the first (Sri Maha Baranaditya, 1117-1141) and the last (Uthman, 1388) regnal dates. The plates of Isdhoo, Gamu and Dhanbidhoo, dated 1193 to 1197 by different readings, are the contemporary documents.
What it holds
- Male, the royal island, with the palace and the mosque
- The royal monopoly of cowrie shells and coir for export
- Governors on every atoll, appointed from Male
How it was acquired
By the Theemuge house's seizure of the throne in 1117 or 1118 (Koimala's tradition).
Allies and rivals
Trade ties with Bengal, Ceylon, Malabar and the Arab ports; no known war.
How things stand that morning
A Muslim king on a recently Buddhist island; the suppression of the monasteries is a few years old. His name, age and heirs are not known.
Wealth
Cowries, coir, fish, tortoiseshell and port dues.
Military
No army is known; the reef passes defend the islands.
Threats
- A sea raid from India or Lanka
- The Buddhist families of Laamu
- A succession dispute
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- through 1200No dated event is known for the year.Depends on: The reading of the plates. Stopped by: A different reading.
Places of note
- Male: The royal island.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board has no Maldive places, so no board id is attached.
- The plate dates differ between pages (1193 on Laamu Atoll; 1194, 1194/5, 1196/7 elsewhere).
Evidence: Late lists and three plates.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: Shown as the royal island.
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.