Editing Maldives (section)

==Etymology==
{{See also|Names of the Maldives}}

According to legends, the first settlers of the Maldives were people known as Dheyvis.<ref name=":12" /> The first Kingdom of the Maldives was known as {{Ill|Kingdom of Dheeva Maari|bn|দীবামাড়ি রাজ্য}}.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Long Road From Islam to Islamism: A Short History |url=https://www.dhivehisitee.com/religion/islamism-maldives/ |journal=Dhivehi Sitee |date=30 May 2014 |access-date=30 May 2014 |language=en |archive-date=29 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140829000253/http://www.dhivehisitee.com/religion/islamism-maldives/ |url-status=live |author1=Dhivehisitee }}</ref> During the 3rd century BCE visit of emissaries, it was noted that the Maldives was known as Dheeva Mahal.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |last=Mohamed |first=Naseema |title=First Settlers |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/arch_0044-8613_2005_num_70_1_3970 |url-status=live |journal=Note on the Early History of the Maldives |date=2005 |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=7–14 |doi=10.3406/arch.2005.3970 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114164417/https://www.persee.fr/doc/arch_0044-8613_2005_num_70_1_3970 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |access-date=28 November 2019 | issn=0044-8613}}</ref>

During {{circa|1100}} – 1166, the Maldives was also referred to as Diva Kudha, and the Laccadive archipelago which was a part of the Maldives was then referred to as Diva Kanbar by the scholar and polymath [[al-Biruni]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hogendorn |first=Jan |title=The Shell Money of the Slave Trade |pages=23–24}}</ref>

The name [[wikt:Maldives|''Maldives'']] may also derive from [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|माला}} {{lang|sa-Latn|mālā}} ([[garland]]) and {{lang|sa|द्वीप}} {{lang|sa-Latn|dvīpa}} (island),<ref name="Hogendorn" /> or {{lang|si|මාල දිවයින}} ''Maala Divaina'' ("Necklace Islands") in [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]].<ref name="ParanavitanaPrematilleka1978">{{Cite book |last1=P.E.P Deraniyagala in Senarat Paranavitana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OIceAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA52 |title=Senarat Paranavitana Commemoration Volume |last2=Leelananda Prematilleka |last3=Johanna Engelberta van Lohuizen-De Leeuw |publisher=Brill |year=1978 |isbn=978-90-04-05455-4 |pages=52– |access-date=1 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114164345/https://books.google.com/books?id=OIceAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA52 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Maldivian people are called ''Dhivehin''. The word ''Dheeb/Deeb'' (archaic ''Dhivehi'', related to [[Sanskrit]] {{lang|sa|द्वीप}}, {{lang|sa-latn|dvīpa}}) means "island", and ''Dhives'' (''Dhivehin'') means "islanders" (i.e., Maldivians).<ref>Wilhelm Geiger, trans. Mrs. J. C. Willis, ''Máldivian Linguistic Studies'', ''Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society'' 27 (Colombo: 1911), 149–52. {{ISBN|8120612019}}</ref> In Tamil, "Garland of Islands" can be translated as {{lang|ta-Latn|Mālaitīvu}} ({{lang|ta|மாலைத்தீவு}}).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Altername Names for Republic of Maldives |url=http://www.geonames.org/MV/other-names-for-maldives.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114164417/http://www.geonames.org/MV/other-names-for-maldives.html |archive-date=14 January 2021 |access-date=23 September 2013 |website=GeoNames}}</ref>

The venerable [[Sri Lanka]]n chronicle Mahavamsa mentions an island designated as Mahiladiva ("Island of Women", महिलादिभ) in Pali, likely arising from an erroneous translation of the Sanskrit term, signifying "garland".

Jan Hogendorn, professor of economics at [[Colby College]], theorised that the name Maldives derives from the Sanskrit {{lang|sa-Latn|mālādvīpa}} ({{lang|sa|मालाद्वीप}}), meaning "garland of islands".<ref name="Hogendorn">Hogendorn, Jan and Johnson Marion (1986). ''The Shell Money of the Slave Trade''. African Studies Series 49, [[Cambridge University Press]], [[Cambridge]] {{ISBN|0521541107}}, pp. 20–22</ref> In [[Malayalam]], "Garland of Islands" can be translated as {{lang|ml-Latn|Maladweepu}} ({{lang|ml|മാലദ്വീപ്}}).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Melton |first1=Gregory |date=16 April 2024 |title=How did Maldives get its name? |url=https://www.ncesc.com/geographic-faq/how-did-maldives-get-its-name/ |access-date=15 May 2024 |website=Geographic FAQ Hub |archive-date=16 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240416192409/https://www.ncesc.com/geographic-faq/how-did-maldives-get-its-name/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In Kannada, "Garland of Islands" can be translated as {{lang|kn-Latn|Maaledweepa}} ({{lang|kn|ಮಾಲೆದ್ವೀಪ}}).<ref>{{cite web |title=Maldives - Summary |url=https://www.studocu.com/en-au/document/university-of-sydney/introduction-to-international-relations/maldives-summary/46348887 |access-date=15 May 2024 |website=Studocu |publisher=[[University of Sydney]]}}</ref> None of these names are mentioned in any literature, however, classical Sanskrit texts dating back to the [[Vedic period]] mention the "Hundred Thousand Islands" ({{lang|sa-Latn|[[Lakshadweep]]a}}), a generic name which would include not only the Maldives, but also the [[Laccadives]], [[Aminidivi]] Islands, [[Minicoy]], and the [[Chagos Archipelago|Chagos island]] groups.<ref>Apte, Vaman Shivram (1985). ''Sanskrit–English Dictionary''. Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi.{{full citation needed|date=September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Minicoy in English dictionary |url=https://glosbe.com/en/en/Minicoy |website=Glosbe |access-date=18 May 2024 |archive-date=16 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240416192412/https://glosbe.com/en/en/Minicoy |url-status=live }}</ref>

Medieval Muslim travellers such as [[Ibn Battuta]] called the islands ''{{transliteration|ar|Maḥal Dībīyāt}}'' ({{lang|ar|محل ديبية}}) from the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] word ''{{transliteration|ar|maḥal}}'' ("palace"), which must be how the [[Berber people|Berber]] traveller interpreted the name of Malé, having been through Muslim North India, where [[Perso-Arabic]] words were introduced to the local vocabulary.<ref>Battuta, Ibn (1929) ''Travels in Asia and Africa 1325–1354'', translated by A. R. Gibb. London: Routledge and Keegan Paul.{{page needed|date=April 2024}}</ref> This is the name currently inscribed on the scroll in the [[Emblem of Maldives|Maldives state emblem]].<ref name="MVEmblems" /> The classical Persian/Arabic name for the Maldives is {{lang|ar-Latn|Dibajat}}.<ref>Akhbar al-Sin wa 'l-Hind (Notes on China and India), which dates from 851.{{full citation needed|date=September 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |date=July–August 2005 |volume=56 |number=4 |title=The Seas of Sinbad |pages=20–29 |author-link=Paul Lunde|first=Paul |last=Lunde|url=http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200504/the.seas.of.sindbad.htm |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Saudi Aramco World]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208223341/http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200504/the.seas.of.sindbad.htm |archive-date=8 February 2007 |access-date=24 September 2008}}</ref> The Dutch referred to the islands as the {{lang|nl|Maldivische Eilanden}} ({{IPA|nl|mɑlˈdivisə ˈʔɛilɑndə(n)|pron}}),<ref name="WWW.IBPUS.COM 69">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJ2rDwAAQBAJ&q=British+%22Maldive+Islands%22+and+later+to+%22Maldives%22&pg=PA69 |title=Pacific Islands Business Law Handbook Volume 1 Strategic Information, Regulations, Contact |date=June 2015 |publisher=Global Pro Info USA |isbn=978-1-5145-0229-7 |pages=69 |language=en |quote=IBPUS.com |access-date=16 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114164432/https://books.google.com/books?id=uJ2rDwAAQBAJ&q=British+%22Maldive+Islands%22+and+later+to+%22Maldives%22&pg=PA69 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> while the British [[Anglicisation|anglicised]] the local name for the islands first to the "Maldive Islands" and later to "Maldives".<ref name="WWW.IBPUS.COM 69" />

In a conversational book published in 1563, [[Garcia de Orta]] writes: "I must tell you that I have heard it said that the natives do not call it Maldiva but Nalediva. In the Malabar language, ''nale'' means four, and ''diva'' means island. So that in that language, the word signifies 'four islands', while we, corrupting the name, call it Maldiva."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Orta |first=Garcia |title=Colloquies on the Simple and Drugs of India |publisher=Sri Satguru Publications |year=2016 |isbn=978-81-7030-117-2 |location=India |pages=22}}</ref>

The local name for Maldives by the Maldivian people in [[Maldivian language|Dhivehi]] language is "Dhivehi Raajje", ({{langx|dv|ދިވެހިރާއްޖެ}}).<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Dhivehi Bahaai Thareekhah Khidhumaikuraa Qaumee Marukazu |date=1 August 1990 |title=Dhivehiraajje |url=http://saruna.mnu.edu.mv/jspui/handle/123456789/4398 |publisher=Dhivehi Bahaai Thareekhah Khidhumaikuraa Qaumee Marukazu |via=Saruna |website=Digital Repository of the [[Maldives National University]] |access-date=18 May 2024 |archive-date=16 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240416192639/http://saruna.mnu.edu.mv/jspui/handle/123456789/4398 |url-status=live }}</ref>