transfers are operated by Maldivian Air Taxi. Helicopters and seaplanes are used to transfer guests to some of the remoter resorts. The main form of local transport is the dhoni , a traditional all-purpose vessel now usually powered by a diesel engine. Larger boats called vedis are used for longer trips to outer atolls. Safari cruises in modified, live-aboard dhonis are increasingly popular, especially with dive groups who want to reach more remote sites. Most safari trips cruise around the tourist zone, but it is possible to arrange longer trips to the outer atolls – the operator will have to obtain the necessary permits. Most islands are so small that transport is not a problem, but there are taxis, motorcycles and bicycles in the capital.

Maldives: History
Pre-20th-Century History
The first inhabitants probably arrived in the archipelago from Sri Lanka and southern India before 500 BC. Some archaeologists – including the explorer Thor Heyerdahl – believe that an ancient race of sun-worshipping people called the Redin were the first settlers; their custom of orienting important buildings towards the sun is still evident today in the layout of many Maldivian mosques. Most experts agree that these early settlers were absorbed into the Buddhist culture brought to the Maldives by settlers from Sri Lanka and India after 500 BC.

Arab traders en route to the Far East recorded visits to the Maldives from the 2nd century AD onwards. Known as the ‘Money Isles’, they provided enormous quantities of cowrie shells, an international currency of the early ages.

The conversion to Islam, in 1153 AD, is a watershed in Maldivian history. According to legend, a sea jinni (evil spirit) called Rannamaari demanded regular sacrifices of young virgin girls in Malé. Abu Al Barakat, a visiting North African Arab, took the place of a sacrificial virgin, and drove the demon away by reading from the Koran, the Islamic holy book. The Maldivian king at the time was sold on Islam, and Barakat later became the first sultan. A series of six sultanic dynasties followed – 84 sultans and sultanas in all. At one stage, when the Portuguese first arrived in the 16th century, there were actually two ruling dynasties: the Malei and the Hilali.

The Portuguese, eager for a greater share of the profitable trade routes of the Indian Ocean, were granted permission to build a fort and a factory in Malé, but it wasn’t long before they wanted more from the Maldives. In 1558, Captain Andreas Andre led a Portuguese invasion which killed Sultan Ali VI. Andre ruled Malé and much of the country for the next 15 years. Portuguese occupation came to a sticky end in 1573 when an island chief, Mohammed Thakurufaan, led an attack on the main Portuguese garrison and slew the lot.

In the 17th century, the Maldives came under the protection of the Dutch and later the British, but neither established a colonial administration. In the 1860s Borah merchants from Bombay set up warehouses and shops in Malé, and quickly acquired an almost exclusive monopoly on foreign trade. Sultan Mohammed Mueenuddin II, weary of the Borahs’ economic grip, signed an agreement with the British in 1867 which guaranteed the islands’ full independence. The Maldives subsequently became a British protectorate, which allowed the British to establish defence facilities on some outlying islands.

Modern History
The sultanate became an elected rather than a hereditary position when the islands’ first constitution was drawn up in 1932. In 1953 the sultanate was abolished and a republic proclaimed, with Amin Didi as the first president. Less than a year later Didi was overthrown; the sultanate was returned, with Mohammed Farid Didi elected as the 94th sultan of the