Caste system in the Maldives
However the French explorer François Pyrard de Laval, who spent five years in the Maldives following a shipwreck in 1602, wrote an account of the islands in the early 17th century and made reference of the existence of caste-like groupings (status-groups) in Maldivian culture.
A basic summary of the early castes or caste-like groupings is seen from the writings of Carl Wilhelm Rosset (1887), the materials of J. Gardiner's trip, and a number of works by H.C.P.
[2] Among the South Asian countries, caste system is mentioned to be in existence in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bhutan.
The distinction between the nobility (beyfulhunwa) and the common people in society was given more emphasis in the Maldives than it was in the Vedic caste system.
It maintains a quite complex system of honorific degrees that unifies common speech with this intricate social stratification.
Additionally, the mat used to cover the straw mattress was designed with patterns and quality that are determined by the caste of the owner.
Rosset mentions in his journal during his visit in 1885 that the lower caste formed 60 percent of the Maldives population.
[7] The craftsmen like the weavers, goldsmiths, locksmiths, blacksmiths, mat-weavers, potters, turners, and the carpenters and others, are all situated in different islands.
[7] Men of the jeweler caste and trade live in the islands of Rinbudhoo, Hulhudheli and Nilande Atoll.
[7] Three parts make up the traditional Maldivian name, as examples Maakana Kudatuttu Didi or Dhoondeyri Ali Manikfan.
[8] Traditional birth ranks and cognomen included Manippulu, Goma, Kalaa, Kambaa, Rahaa, Manikfan, Didi, Seedi, Sitti, Maniku, Manike, Thakurufan, Thakuru, Kalo, Soru, Manje, and others.
[8] The kateeb, who was (and is now) the principal temporal and spiritual authority, served as the sultan or sultana's representative on each particular populated island or settlement.
[8] In Malé, the avarhuverin of Henveyru, Maafannu, Macchangoli, and Galollu had the temporal responsibilities of the regional kateebs as well as the atoluverin's tasks.
[8] Maafahaiy, Meyna, Ranahamaanthi, Gadahamaanthi, Hirihamaanthi, Fenna, Wathabandeyri, Kaannaa, Daannaa, and Fandiaiy were some of the kangathi titles.
In normal use, this would have been prefixed with a cognomen designating status by birth; this practice was presumably carried over from the pre-Islamic civilizations' caste systems.
[8] The recipient and his or her family were raised to the ranks of the aristocracy by the kilege title, which transcended any status attained by birth.
[8] Members of the royal family had their names prefixed with Manippulu if they were princes, and Goma if they were princesses, or more frequently with nickname like Tuttu, Don, Titti, or Dorhy.
[8] The royal (patrilinear) line of the governing family did not hold any public office until in recent times of monarchy.
[8] Slaves made up a large portion of the Maldivian population by the 14th century, when one of the oldest accounts of the islands, recorded by the renowned Arab traveler Ibn Batuta, first emerged.
[1] The anthropometric characteristics of the descendants of African slaves may still be seen among the native people, especially in the capital city Malé and in the northern provinces of Maldives.
[1] Despite having certain anthropometric traits that indicated they were descended from Africans, slaves gradually assimilated into the community, mostly with the lowest castes.
[1] Slavery was well-known in the Maldives, first and foremost in the nation's capital Male and on the islands where sizable populations of the nobility resided.
According to reports, Sultan Hasan Ill authorized the purchase of a large number of slaves in the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah during the middle of the 15th century.
This Sultan's unwillingness to allow a slave to be punished for killing a Maldivian is the reason he is referenced once again in the historical narrative Ta'rikh.
[1] Working primarily as Raaverins, or keepers of coconut plantations, the slaves were eventually absorbed by several social groups or castes, most notably the Raaveri.
[1] Names with suffix Kalo and Fulhu would be of lower class and would not have been welcomed in the presence of the monarch and nobility unless they were either servants or officials.
[7] The complex social elite structure and the existence of the hereditary nobility are distinctive aspects of Maldivian society that also represent the remnants of a former caste system.
[8] Names with suffix Didi or Manikufanu in the southern provinces were of nobility [1] The voyage of Francois Pyrard The voyage of Francois Pyrard of Laval to the East Indies, the Maldives, the Moluccas and Brazil, v.1 Traces of castes and other social strata in the Maldives: a case study of social stratification in a diachronic perspective.
