[2] In some islands, like Gadhdhoo, there was opposition to the secession, and by means of threats and arson, the groups of people opposing the Suvadive state were forced to agree.

These mats are woven using the strands of the bark of Hibiscus tiliaceus (the same tree which is used for making tapa cloth in Polynesia and a kind of local grass called 'hau', which may be dyed in yellow or black.

Nils-Finn Munch Petersen and Annegrethe Ottovar, two Danish anthropologists visited this island in the 1970s and made extensive research about its mat production and the patterns used on them.

While a great price is fetched from the tourists, the women who wove them in Gadhdhoo Island received just a small fraction of the amount.

Young girls refused to go through the difficult and long period of apprenticeship because of the low revenue that could be expected in the future(unfortunately the many traditional activities are at risk of disappearing for good).