[Peptobismol]

Apart from habitation from piracy, the other important reason why Maldives was conquered is its strategic location. There are two routes to China from the East. One is Calicut, Nagapattinam/Kaveripumpattinam/Mahabalipuram, Kedah, Mallacca, round to South China Sea. The other way is Maldives, Galle, Aceh, Mallacca, and South China sea.

As any economic power would want it, countries need commerce and that comes with ships stopping at their ports. Taxes, customs, sale of goods, entreport, etc was good business. If ships from Somalia, Egypt, and South Africa took the Galle route, a lot of business is lost. Hence, the conquer of Maldives.

Another major reason for depending on this business is the play of the monsoons. During the North East monsoon, the Nagappatinam-Kedah route was unserviceable. During the South West monsoon, the Calicut route was unserviceable. So, to keep the major economy growing, the Cholas insisted on occupying both coasts for unimpeded trade. This example was later followed by the Pandyas, Vijayanagar, and British.

Lakshwadeep needs to be viewed as distinctly different from Maldives. They were called "theevugal oru laksham."

As has been pointed out, there is a very strong Tamil influence in the Maldives.

Rgds, Aravind Sitaraman