|
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
|
