Editing Diego Garcia (section)

===Before European arrival===
[[File:DG Ariel Plantation.jpg|thumb|Coconut plantation, [[East Point, British Indian Ocean Territory|East Point]] (former main settlement)]]

No tangible evidence exists of people on Diego Garcia before the arrival of Europeans. There is speculation about visits during the [[Austronesia]]n diaspora around AD 700, as some say the old Maldivian name for the islands originated from [[Malagasy language|Malagasy]]. [[Arab people|Arabs]], who reached [[Lakshadweep]] and [[Maldives]] around AD 900, may have visited the Chagos. Southern Maldivian [[oral tradition]] tells of occasional traders and fishermen marooned on, and later rescued from, Foalhavahi ( ފޯޅަވަހި) Chagos.<ref>[[Xavier Romero-Frias]], ''The Maldive Islanders, A Study of the Popular Culture of an Ancient Ocean Kingdom.'' Barcelona 1999, {{ISBN|84-7254-801-5}}. Chapter 1 ''"A Seafaring Nation",'' page 19</ref>