18 Mr Gardiner, The Natives of the Maldives. 



The Natives of the Maldives 1 . By J. Stanley Gardiner, M. A., 

 Fellow of Gonville and Cams College, and Balfour Student of the 

 University of Cambridge. 



[Read 12 November 1900.] 



The Maldives are a group of islands in the Indian Ocean to 

 the south-west of the Indian Peninsula. They extend from lat. 

 8° N. to lat. 1° S. and from long. 72° E. to long. 74° E., and include 

 about 300 inhabited islands. To the north lies the Laccadive 

 Group, distant about 150 miles, and intermediate to the two 

 groups is the atoll of Minikoi. 



For administrative purposes the Maldives are divided into 

 thirteen provinces, which are called atolu, each with a governor, 

 the atoluveri. These provinces are often conterminous with the 

 atolls, whence arose this term. Ethnologically the group divides 

 itself into four divisions. First the northern atolls are separated 

 from the central atolls by the Kardiva Channel. This is 35 miles 

 broad, and, as the cross-currents during the monsoons are usually 

 of great force, it forms a natural geographical boundary. The 

 northern atolls, being further distant from the equator, are subject 

 to more violent storms than the southern ones ; their reefs too 

 are less perfect, never indeed forming quiet lagoons in the centre. 

 The coast pirates, Mopillahs and others, constantly ravaged them. 

 As a consequence of these conditions they have bred a hardier 

 race of people than the rest. The people annually visited the 

 west coast of India and Ceylon, often concluding treaties on their 

 own account with the rajahs of the coast against the pirates. 

 Many married Indian wives, and the people approximate closely 

 to the Mahommedans of the south-west of the Peninsula. 



The central division includes ten atolls, from North Male to 

 Haddumati, situated within comparatively short distances of one 

 another. The people were under the direct rule of the sultan, and, 

 whatsoever affected Male, the capital, influenced all. Formerly 

 trade was carried on with Arabia and Malaysia, both in Maldivan 

 and foreign bottoms. Many Arabs settled in the group, and the 



1 I am indebted to the Government Grant Committee of the Royal Society and 

 the British Association for financial assistance in carrying out this work. I am 

 also under great obligations to Mr C. Forster Cooper, my companion, for his ready 

 assistance at all times. 



