Ancient history and settlement

Comparative studies of Maldivian oral, linguistic and cultural traditions and customs indicate
that the first settlers were Dravidian people[26] from Tamil Nadu in the Sangam period (300 BC
AD 300), most probably fishermen from the southwest coasts of what is now the south of the
Indian Subcontinent and the western shores of Sri Lanka. One such community is the Giraavaru
people descended from ancient Tamils. They are mentioned in ancient legends and local folklore
about the establishment of the capital and kingly rule in Mal.
A strong underlying layer of Dravidian population and culture survives in Maldivian society,
with a clear Dravidian-Malayalam substratum in the language, which also appears in place
names, kinship terms, poetry, dance, and religious beliefs. Malabari seafaring culture led to
Malayali settling of the Laccadives, and the Maldives were evidently viewed as an extension of
that archipelago. Some argue (from the presence of Jat, Gujjar Titles and Gotra names) that
Sindhis also accounted for an early layer of migration. Seafaring from Debal began during the
Indus valley civilisation. The Jatakas and Puranas show abundant evidence of this maritime
trade; the use of similar traditional boat building techniques in Northwestern South Asia and the
Maldives, and the presence of silver punch mark coins from both regions, gives additional
weight to this. There are minor signs of Southeast Asian settlers, probably some adrift from the
main group of Austronesian reed boat migrants that settled Madagascar.[2]
The earliest written history of the Maldives is marked by the arrival of Sinhalese people, who
were descended from the exiled Magadha Prince Vijaya from the ancient city known as
Sinhapura. He and his party of several hundred landed in Sri Lanka, and some in the Maldives
circa 543 to 483 BC. According to the Mahavansa, one of the ships that sailed with Prince
Vijaya, who went to Sri Lanka around 500 BC, went adrift and arrived at an island called
Mahiladvipika, which is the Maldives. It is also said that at that time, the people from
Mahiladvipika used to travel to Sri Lanka. Their settlement in Sri Lanka and the Maldives marks
a significant change in demographics and the development of the Indo-Aryan language Dhivehi,
which is most similar in grammar, phonology, and structure to Sinhala, and especially to the
more ancient Elu Prakrit, which has less Pali.
Alternatively, it is believed that Vijaya and his clan came from western India a claim supported
by linguistic and cultural features, and specific descriptions in the epics themselves, e.g. that
Vijaya visited Bharukaccha (Bharuch in Gujarat) in his ship on the voyage down south.[2]
Philostorgius, a Greek historian of Late Antiquity, wrote of a hostage among the Romans, from
the island called Diva, which is presumed to be the Maldives, who was baptised Theophilus.
Theophilus was sent in the 350s to convert the Himyarites to Christianity, and went to his
homeland from Arabia; he returned to Arabia, visited Axum, and settled in Antioch.[27]