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The region around what is now known as Maldives, had many different ethnicities, languages and religions when it was being settled. The main ethnicities that settled there were believed to be the Tamil and Sinhalese people who came from southern *INDIA and *SRI LANKA. The main language during antiquity was the *INDIC language. The main religious practices were *ANIMISM (belief that everything in nature has a spirit or soul to give them guidance) and *POLYTHEISM (belief in many gods). -
Around the 500 B.C.E. Many of the first settlers were believed to be from Sri Lanka and southern India. Most of them were believed to follow the religion *BUDDHISM (a religion that believes suffering can stop once people stop obsessing about themselves and begin to think/care for others). They were *BUDDHIST who were trying to spread the teachings and writings of the Buddha. These ethnicities began to merge more throughout history to then become the *MALDIVIAN ethnic group. -
The *Islamic Sultanate wanted to govern the land of the Maldives in 1153 AD, they spoke the *ARABIC language which was then brought to the country to help develop their main language which is now known as the *DHIVEHI language. This also brought the *ISLAM religion to the maldives which is still widely used today. The Maldives were governed by the Islamic *SULTANATE (a state or country governed by a *SULTAN) for many years beginning in 1153 AD. -
When the *BRITISH took possession of an island in the Maldives in 1796, they brought with them a language and religion with them that is still used in the Maldives today. The British came to the island *CELYON(an island part of the Maldives) they took over to then become the islands *PROTECTORATE(a state that is controlled or protected by another). The Maldives won independence from the British in 1965.The Maldives learned to speak *ENGLISH and now have *CHRISTIANITY that is practiced there. -
The Maldives today has many *UNIQUE ETHNICITIES, languages and religions. Some of the ethnicities that are in the Maldives today are *DRAVIDIAN(an ethnic group living in South Asia), *SINHALESE, *ARAB, African. In the Maldives today people speak the *DHIVEHI language as their main language and is similar to the language *SINHALA. However, Arabic, Hindi, and English are also very common. The main Religion in the Maldives is *ISLAM but they also have *BUDDHISM, *HINDUISM, and *CHRISTIANITY.