DHIVEHI BAS: 

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE PRIDE OF MALDIVES.

                 American poet and lecturer Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote that, ‘Language is the archives of history.’ It is indeed true since all nations have their history known and shaped from what is written about them. Maldives, despite its size and length, is unique in this perspective since it has enjoyed a unique language called Dhivehi for centuries.

                Dhivehi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Maldivians alone though a dialect of it is also spoken by the islanders of neighboring Maliku (Minicoy). Most people believe that Dhivehi is a descendent of the ancient Sinhalese but in 1969 a Srilankan Philologist DeSilva proposed the idea that Dhivehi had actually descended from Maharashtri – an old Medieval Indian language. Dhivehi has been influenced by many languages such as Hindu, Malayalam, French, British and most notably Arabic yet it retains its sense of originality and authenticity, which is hard to find anywhere else in the world.

                Since Maldives is a nation comprised of widespread distributed islands, different dialects and variations had developed over decades. The mainstream of Dhivehi used by the majority is called ‘Male’ Bas’ but other dialects are found in Haddhumaathi, Huvadhoo, Fua Mulaku, and Addu atolls. There are slight variations in other islands as well but these four main dialects found in the country. Each of these atolls has their own sense of uniqueness in culture as well as Language which makes Maldives impressively diverse and beautiful. Peeking into the dialects, it is safe to say that ‘Huvadhoo Bas’ dialect spoken by the inhabitants of Huvadhoo, retains a more older form of Dhivehi and some Sinhala words than any other region. This is mainly because of the geographical isolation of Northern Atolls from the capital and other areas. However ‘Addu Bas,’ spoken by the inhabitants of Addu is the most different from all the dialects yet most educated islanders from these two atolls and Fua Mulaku, who speaks a dialect known as ‘Molokai Bas,’ use ‘Addu Bas’ as their main form of communication. This shows the level of sophistication and moderation of ‘Addu Bas’ alone. Nevertheless these dialects are used mostly in spoken language rather than writing as ‘Male’ Bas’ remains to be the dominating dialect in the language. It would certainly be an incredible experience for any visitor travelling all over Maldives to hear the sounds of so many variations in a country as small as ours.

                Although the spoken language of Dhivehi has been around since its first inhabitant the history of writing, according to historical sources, in the Maldivian islands is not more than 1400 years old. In Dhivehi letters of the alphabet are called ‘Akuru;’ there are three main scripts used in Maldives over different periods of time. The earliest form of script used by the Maldivian Buddhist Kingdom was called ‘Dhivehi Akuru,’ and was later renamed as ‘Eveyla Akuru,’ by H.C.P Bell (a British archeologist) in 1922. The script was used by the Maldivians up to a century after their conversion to Islam. This script is also seen in the oldest inscription found in Maldives at an archeological site in Landhoo Island of South Milandhummathi Atoll. It is a coral stone that dates back to the 6^th century AD. According to local historian Naseema Mohamed these are the early forms of ‘Eveyla Akuru’ where hence the later form are found on the Loamaafaanu copper plates (official records) of the 12^th and 13^th centuries.

                After the conversion ‘Eveyla Akuru’ underwent changes and emerged as a new form now known as ‘Dhives Akuru.’ It was sued as the main script until 70 years ago. These letters are found beautifully engraved in ancient gravestones, old monuments such as the pillars and walls of Hukuru Misky (Friday Mosque). At the beginning of 18^th century, however, ‘Dhives Akuru,’ was abandoned in favor of a new script called ‘Thaana.’ This is the first Maldivian script written from left to right. The need to change this script was due to the religious awareness engulfing Maldivians at that time and the desire to use Arabic while writing Dhivehi. Some people in the Northern Atolls, believe that ‘Thaana’ was introduced to Male’ by the Maldivian national hero Mohammed Thakurufaanu.

                ‘Thaana’ it self has evolved over decades and it no longer contains as much Arabic as before but has found letters to compensate for it. In 1976 President Nasir attempted to make a modern script known as ‘Dhivehi Latin,’ to pave a smooth way for modernization but this was matched with hardship for the ordinary Maldivians and ‘Thaana’ was reinstated by President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom in 1978.

                Despite its rich history Dhivehi Language faces new challenges and problems today. Over the years it has stagnated, failing to develop rapidly to meet the new and fast demands of the modern world. As a result its confrontation with an alternative language rich in its properties and history such as English has reduced Dhivehi to sideways in its own nation.