Maduvvari

The Sultanate of the Maldive Islands was an Islamic monarchy that controlled the Maldives for over eight centuries (1153–1968), with one interruption from 1953–1954.

Maldives was a Buddhist kingdom until its last monarch, King Dhovemi, converted to Islam in the year 1153; thereafter he also adopted the Muslim title and name of Sultan Muhammad al-Adil. Six dynasties would rule over the Maldives until the sultanate become elective in 1932.

From the 16th century, the sultanate increasingly came under European influence, starting with a 15-year period of Portuguese rule. After the expulsion of the Portuguese, the Maldives became subject to Dutch hegemony before finally becoming a British protected state in 1796. Following an abortive attempt at forming a republic in 1953, the emergence of a short-lived breakaway state, and the establishment of independence from the United Kingdom, the sultanate was abolished following a successful referendum in 1968, and the Maldives became a republic.