There
was a Maldives
Composed
on 10 October 1986
There
was a Maldives before the saint of Tabriz
Who
in history was lavishly praised.
There
was a Maldives before the time of any kateeb
Off
the coast of Sarandeeb.
There
was a Maldives with sea shells and ocean breeze
Before
the creed of the Buddha was preached.
There
was a Maldives that was known for the demons of
old
In
ancient South Indian folklore.
But
there was one thing strange with those times
And
that’s how they lived with no judges, jails or
crimes!
Author’s
Annotation:
The
"Saint of Tabriz" was the person
who converted the twelfth century Maldive King
Siri Bavanaadheettha (also known as Dovemi Kalaminja
or Dharumavantha Rasgefaanu) of the Lunar Dynasty
from Buddhism to Islam. The Tarikh calls
the "saint" Yoosuf Shamsuddine of Tabriz,
a city in Iran. Ibn Battuta, a fourteenth century
Moorish traveller of Berber descent
called him Abul Barakat el-Berberi (the Berber),
quoting an inscription in Malé’s main mosque,
which he had seen. He may have been keen to make
the saint his fellow countryman. The inscription
that Ibn Battuta saw had survived until the twentieth
century in the same mosque. Mohamed Ibrahim Lutfi,
a historian and Arabic scholar feels that the
inscription reads Abul Rikab el-Tabrizi (of Tabriz).
Lutfi feels that the usually meticulous Ibn Battuta
may be excused for his apparent error, because
misplaced diacritical marks in the Arabic-script
might have resulted in Ibn Battuta’s transcription.
I am inclined to agree with Lutfi.
Kateeb
in Arabic literally means "one who makes
a speech". In the Maldives the chief administrative
official of the State in outlying islands is called
kateeb. There were kateebs in Malé too,
but they were purely ecclesiastical functionaries
who read sermons from the pulpit in mosques. Currently
the latter are called imams.
Sarandeeb
was what Mediaeval Arab traders called Sri Lanka.
Judges
(fandiyaaru or gazi) in the Maldives, until the
1970’s, were resident only in Malé. The
judicial officers in other islands were
