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The Sultanate of Maldive Islands was an Islamic monarchy that controlled the Maldives for 815 years (1153–1968), with one interruption from 1953–1954.
Maldives was a Buddhist kingdom until its last monarch, King Dhovemi, converted to Islam in the year 1153; thereafter he also adopted the Muslim title and name Sultan Muhammad al-Adil. Six dynasties would rule over the Maldives until the Sultanate become elective in 1932. (Full article...)