Giraavaru (Kaafu Atoll)

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Giraavaru
Island Summary
Belongs to	Kaafu Atoll
Location
Length
Width

For other islands, see Giraavaru

Giraavaru is one of the uninhabited islands of Male' Atoll (the administrative Kaafu Atoll). It is located on the southwestern fringe of the lagoon of North Malé Atoll.

The Giravaru people were one of the island communities predating Buddhism and the arrival of a Northern Kingly dynasty in the Maldives. They are mentioned in the legend about the establishment of the capital and kingly rule in Male', where the Giravaru people granted permission to the visiting king Koimala Kalo prior to the foundation of his kingdom on Malé. Although the Giravaru was much larger and civilized at the time, most of the island has eroded due to changing weather (Gira means eroding and varu could have come from faru meaning reef). Until the twentieth century the Giravaru people displayed recognisable physical, linguistic and cultural differences to the nearby islands. They were strictly monogamous and prohibited divorce. Their folklore was preserved in song and dance. Their music was audibly different from that of the other islanders. The most distinct items were the necklaces of tiny blue beads which no other Maldivian wore.

The Giravaru people were always headed by a woman and through out Maldivian history, for Giravaru Island, the Sultan's civil authority was deputised always to a woman (foolhuma-dhaitha). The Sultans of the Maldives seemed to recognise the autonomy of the Giraavaru people and did not apply quite the same laws on them as they did on the rest of their realm. The Giravaru people never seemed to fully recognise the sovereignty of the Sultans. Ordinary Maldivians were required to address the Malé nobility in a different level of speech. The Giravaru people did not observe this custom and addressed the Malé nobility as they would address themselves. It was believed that the Giravaru people were mortally scared of frogs.

Things changed since 1932 when a written constitution was adopted. The customary rights of the indigenous Giraavaru people were not recognised in that document. Any rights they seemed to have enjoyed under the absolute rule of the Sultans were extinguished by default.

In 1968 they were forced to abandon their Island under an Islamic regulation that did not recognise communities with less than 40 adult males who could form a quorum at the Friday prayers. The Giravaru people were ferried across the atoll lagoon to Hulhule Island. When the airport there was extended they were shifted across to Malé and housed in a few blocks in newly reclaimed areas in the Maafanu district.

The distinct Giravaru culture soon disappeared as soon as the young people were assimilated into the Malé culture through inter-marriage. "Pure" Giravaru are now thought to be extinct.

[edit] Anthropological Facts

It is unlikely that the Giraavaru islanders were the only early settlers in the Maldives. From the anthropological point of view there were, and still are, other distinctive groups of people in the Maldives, having their particular customs, manners and even speaking markedly different language forms. However, the Giraavaru islanders have attracted much more attention owing to their proximity to the capital.

Male' islanders and the royal court were fascinated by the distinctiveness of the Giraavaru islanders for centuries and thus they became locally an iconic people group.