Paper🏛 Library access
🇮🇳 Indian scholarship
How feudal was Indian feudalism?
The case for 'Indian feudalism' after the Guptas: land grants, decline of trade and dependent peasants.
Sultanate of the Maldives
Sultanate
Level 2
★ Major power
c. 1153 – 1968
Island sultanate after conversion to Islam; a British protectorate 1887-1965.
- Capital
- Malé
- Region
- Islands
- Duration
- 815 years
- Main period
- Regional Kingdoms & Ghaznavid/Ghurid Expansion
Approximate extent.
At a glance
Move along the chart to read any year; click a ruler or event to open the map there.
Rulers
- Muhammad al-Adil (Dhovemi) Sultanc. 1153 – c. 1166First Muslim ruler.
- Muhammad Thakurufaanu Sultan1573 – 1585Expelled the Portuguese.
Selected rulers; gaps in the list are not gaps in the dynasty.
Key events
| Year | Event | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 1153 | The Maldives converts to Islam | Malé |
| 1343 | Ibn Battuta serves as qadi in the Maldives | Malé |
| 1573 | Muhammad Thakurufaanu frees the Maldives The Portuguese were expelled after fifteen years. |
Malé |
| 1887 | Maldives becomes a British protectorate | Malé |
| 1965 | Maldives becomes independent | Malé |
Sites & monuments
Malé Friday Mosque
Religious monument · 1658
📄 Research papers
Paper🏛 Library access
🇮🇳 Indian scholarship
Was there feudalism in Indian history?
The best-known critique of the feudalism model; read it alongside R. S. Sharma's reply.
Paper🏛 Library access
🇮🇳 Indian scholarship
Political Processes and Structure of Polity in Early Medieval India: Problems of Perspective
Proposes 'integration' — the spread of state society into new regions — as the key to early medieval India.
Contemporaries
Powers that coexisted with the Sultanate of the Maldives for a significant part of its history. The bar shows when, within its own span.
Chahamanas (Chauhans) of Shakambhari ★
West · c. 650 CE – c. 1194
Overlap: 41 years
Chola Empire ★
South · c. 848 CE – 1279
Overlap: 126 years
Ghaznavid Empire ★
Northwest · c. 977 CE – c. 1186
Overlap: 33 years
Polonnaruwa Kingdom ★
Sri Lanka · c. 1070 – 1232
Overlap: 79 years
Malla Dynasty of Nepal ★
Himalaya · 1201 – 1769
Overlap: 568 years
Delhi Sultanate ★
North · 1206 – 1526
Overlap: 320 years
Ahom Kingdom ★
Northeast · 1228 – 1826
Overlap: 598 years
Mewar (Sisodia) ★
West · 1326 – 1949
Overlap: 623 years
Vijayanagara Empire ★
South · 1336 – 1646
Overlap: 310 years
Bahmani Sultanate ★
Deccan · 1347 – 1527
Overlap: 180 years
Kingdom of Mysore ★
South · 1399 – 1950
Overlap: 551 years
Kingdom of Kandy ★
Sri Lanka · c. 1469 – 1815
Overlap: 346 years
Portuguese Estado da Índia ★
Coastal · 1505 – 1961
Overlap: 456 years
Mughal Empire ★
North · 1526 – 1857
Overlap: 331 years
British East India Company ★
Pan-Indian · 1600 – 1858
Overlap: 258 years
Maratha Empire ★
Deccan · 1674 – 1818
Overlap: 144 years
Nawabs of Bengal ★
East · 1717 – 1765
Overlap: 48 years
Hyderabad State (Nizams) ★
Deccan · 1724 – 1948
Overlap: 224 years
Sikh Empire ★
North · 1799 – 1849
Overlap: 50 years
Kingdom of Nepal ★
Himalaya · 1816 – 2008
Overlap: 152 years
British Raj (Crown Rule) ★
Pan-Indian · 1858 – 1947
Overlap: 89 years
Kingdom of Bhutan ★
Himalaya · 1907 – present
Overlap: 61 years
Kalachuris of Tripuri
Central · c. 675 CE – 1212
Overlap: 59 years
Guhilas of Medapata
West · c. 728 CE – 1303
Overlap: 150 years
Thakuri Kingdom of Nepal
Himalaya · c. 750 CE – 1200
Overlap: 47 years
Paramara Dynasty
Central · c. 800 CE – 1305
Overlap: 152 years
Chandela Dynasty
Central · c. 831 CE – 1315
Overlap: 162 years
Chaulukyas (Solankis) of Gujarat
West · c. 940 CE – 1244
Overlap: 91 years
Western Chalukyas of Kalyani
Deccan · c. 973 CE – c. 1189
Overlap: 36 years
Hoysala Empire
South · c. 1026 – 1343
Overlap: 190 years
Soomra Dynasty
Northwest · c. 1026 – 1351
Overlap: 198 years
Sena Dynasty
East · c. 1070 – 1230
Overlap: 77 years
Eastern Ganga Dynasty
East · c. 1078 – 1434
Overlap: 281 years
Gahadavala Dynasty
Gangetic Plain · c. 1089 – c. 1197
Overlap: 44 years
Khasa Malla Kingdom
Himalaya · c. 1100 – c. 1400
Overlap: 247 years
Zamorins of Calicut
South · c. 1124 – 1766
Overlap: 613 years
Kachwahas of Amber (Jaipur)
West · c. 1128 – 1949
Overlap: 796 years
Kakatiya Dynasty
Deccan · c. 1163 – 1323
Overlap: 160 years
Ghurid Empire
Northwest · c. 1175 – 1206
Overlap: 31 years
Seuna (Yadava) Dynasty
Deccan · c. 1187 – 1317
Overlap: 130 years