Maldives, India, China: history shapes the present

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The Maldives, especially when seen through the eyes of its Indian Ocean neighbours, and past and prospective allies, is a study in contradictions. An archipelago of nearly 1,200 islands, it is a specimen of small states that paradoxically managed to maintain relative independence from European colonisation throughout the colonial period, in contrast to large South Asian territories. A constitutionally Muslim nation, today, Maldivian culture is rooted in Buddhism, which once informed the nation’s script, language, architecture, culture, and manners. This was prior to the adoption of Islam in 1153 AD. Owing to its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, the...