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Utheemu (Haa Alif Atoll)
Encyclopedia
Utheemu is one of the inhabited islands of Haa Alif Atoll
administrative division and geographically part of Thiladhummathi Atoll in the north of the Maldives
. The birthplace of Sultan Mohamed Thakurufaanu, who with his brothers and his companions fought an eight-year long war to drive out the Portuguese invaders who occupied the Maldives from 1558 to 1573. Utheemu Ganduvaru is the wooden palace in which Sultan Mohamed Thakurufaanu lived and grew up. It is well preserved and evokes more than any other existing building in the Maldives, the lifestyle of the rich, centuries ago.
The kings of the Utheemu Dynasty
, Sultans Muhammed Imaduddin I (1632 to 1648 AD), Ibrahim Iskandar I (1648 to 1687 AD), Kuda Muhammad (1687 to 1691 AD) and Mohammed Moheyeddin (1691 to 1692 AD) all descended from this island. Regents from Utheem also ruled the Maldives from 1573 to 1632 AD, but the legal (though unrecognised) kings of the islands during this period were the exile Christian Kings of the Maldives residing in Goa
, India
.
From 1602-1607, a French sailor, François Pyrard de Laval
spent time on the Maldives, and gave a detailed account of the customs of the islanders during the Utheemu dynasty. His three-volume work was published in 1619 and is considered a valuable historical archive.
Haa Alif Atoll
Haa Alif Atoll - officially referred as Thiladhunmathi Uthuruburi is the northernmost administrative division of the Maldives....
administrative division and geographically part of Thiladhummathi Atoll in the north of the Maldives
Maldives
The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...
. The birthplace of Sultan Mohamed Thakurufaanu, who with his brothers and his companions fought an eight-year long war to drive out the Portuguese invaders who occupied the Maldives from 1558 to 1573. Utheemu Ganduvaru is the wooden palace in which Sultan Mohamed Thakurufaanu lived and grew up. It is well preserved and evokes more than any other existing building in the Maldives, the lifestyle of the rich, centuries ago.
Utheemu dynasty
The Utheemu dynasty was created in 1573 when Muhammad Thakurufaanu Al Auzam became sultan of the Maldives. The dynasty was named after the northern Maldives island of Utheemu, birthplace of Thakurufaan. Thakurufaan is considered is a national hero, as he and his two brothers led a successful...
, Sultans Muhammed Imaduddin I (1632 to 1648 AD), Ibrahim Iskandar I (1648 to 1687 AD), Kuda Muhammad (1687 to 1691 AD) and Mohammed Moheyeddin (1691 to 1692 AD) all descended from this island. Regents from Utheem also ruled the Maldives from 1573 to 1632 AD, but the legal (though unrecognised) kings of the islands during this period were the exile Christian Kings of the Maldives residing in Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
From 1602-1607, a French sailor, François Pyrard de Laval
François Pyrard de Laval
François Pyrard de Laval was a French navigator who is remembered for a personal written account of his adventures in the Maldives Islands from 1602 to 1607, which was part of a ten-year sojourn in South Asia, et al...
spent time on the Maldives, and gave a detailed account of the customs of the islanders during the Utheemu dynasty. His three-volume work was published in 1619 and is considered a valuable historical archive.