Maldives is located along the ancient marine trade routes from the West to the East. Since this was the case, it was inevitable that early explorers and traders found themselves stopping and spending ample time in the islands, leaving behind their influence and perhaps a bit of their culture.  It is known that Maldivians themselves ventured far beyond their shores, for Pliny records that Maldivian emissaries bore gifts for the Roman Emperor.

The legend of the conversion to Islam remains a popular tale and a matter of recent controversy. It is believed that a Moroccan traveller, Abu Barakaat Yusuf al-Barbary was responsible for this conversion, but another version credits Sheikh Yusuf Shamsuddin of Tabriz, a renowned scholar, for this deed.

From very early times, these islands were famous for two products, the money cowrie Cyprea moneta and Maldives fish. The cowrie was prized as a form of currency in many areas of the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent, and the Maldives was the mint of the region. Maldives fish was produced by boiling, smoking, curing and drying tuna to yield a nutritious, ebony-coloured and textured fillet with astonishing keeping qualities.

An invasion by the Portuguese resulted in their capture of the Maldives 15 years, after which they were overthrown by a mixture of early guerrilla tactics and the difficulty of logistical support for the occupying forces.

With the growth of British influence with the expansion of their Empire, Maldives became a British protectorate, in an unusual arrangement where the British ensured the defense of the islands yet were not involved in any way with the running of the country. During the Second World War, British had forward bases in the north and south of the archipelago, and in 1957 the RAF established a base in Gan in the south.  Maldives became a fully independent nation on July 26, 1965, and a Republic on November 11, 1968.