Editing Maldives (section)

===Buddhist period===
{{main|History of the Maldives#Buddhist period|Buddhism in the Maldives}}{{More sources|date=April 2025}}[[File:Loamaafaanu.jpg|thumb|[[Isdhoo (Laamu Atoll)|Isdhoo]] Lōmāfānu is the oldest [[Lōmāfānu|copper-plate]] book to have been discovered in the Maldives to date. The book was written in 1194&nbsp;CE (590&nbsp;AH) in the Evēla form of the [[Dhivehi Writing Systems|Divehi akuru]], during the reign of [[Dhinei of the Maldives|Siri Fennaadheettha Mahaa Radun (Dhinei Kalaminja)]].]]

Despite being just mentioned briefly in most history books, the 1,400&nbsp;year-long Buddhist period has a foundational importance in the history of the Maldives. It was during this period that the culture of the Maldives both developed and flourished, a culture that survives today. The Maldivian [[Dhivehi language|language]], early Maldive scripts, architecture, ruling institutions, customs, and manners of the Maldivians originated at the time when the Maldives were a Buddhist kingdom.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maloney |first=Clarence |title=People of the Maldive Islands |publisher=Orient Longman}}</ref>

Buddhism probably spread to the Maldives in the 3rd&nbsp;century&nbsp;BCE at the time of Emperor [[Ashoka]]'s expansion and became the dominant religion of the people of the Maldives until the 12th&nbsp;century. Archeological evidence from an ancient Buddhist monastery in [[Kaashidhoo (Kaafu Atoll)|Kaashidhoo]] has been dated between 205 and 560 AD, based on the radiocarbon dating of shell deposits unearthed from the foundations of [[stupa]]s and other structures in the monastery.<ref name="mikkelsen2000">{{cite journal |last=Mikkelsen |first=Egil |date=2000 |title=Archaeological Excavations of a Monastery at Kaashidhoo. Cowrie shells and their Buddhist context in the Maldives. |url=https://maritimeasiaheritage.cseas.kyoto-u.ac.jp/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Mikkelsen-Egil.-2000.-Archaeological-Excavations-of-a-Monastery-at-Kaasidhoo.pdf |isbn=99915-1-013-3|journal=National Centre for Linguistic and Historical Research |publisher=University of Oslo, Norway |access-date=2025-01-25}}</ref> The ancient Maldivian Kings promoted [[Buddhism]], and the first Maldive writings and artistic achievements, in the form of highly developed sculpture and architecture, originate from that period. Nearly all archaeological remains in the Maldives are from Buddhist [[stupa]]s and monasteries, and all artefacts found to date display characteristic Buddhist iconography.{{cn|date=December 2024}}