Dhanbidhoo Explained

Dhanbidhoo
Native Name Lang:dv
Settlement Type:Inhabited island
Pushpin Map:Maldives
Pushpin Relief:y
Pushpin Mapsize:250
Pushpin Label Position:left
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Maldives
Coordinates:2.0944°N 73.5458°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Maldives
Subdivision Type1:Geographic atoll
Subdivision Type2:Administrative atoll
Subdivision Name2:Laamu Atoll
Subdivision Type3:Distance to Malé
Subdivision Name3:230.13km (143miles)
Seat Type:Capital
Parts Type:Geographic atolls
Parts Style:list
Leader Title:Council
Leader Title3:Mayor
Leader Title4:Island Chief
Unit Pref:Metric
Length Km:2.020
Width Km:0.350
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Total:647 (including foreigners)
Population As Of:2014
Population Density Km2:auto
Utc Offset:+05:00
Postal Code Type:Assigned Letter
Postal2 Code Type:Assigned Letter
Area Code Type:Area code(s)
Blank Name Sec2:Number of Islands
Blank1 Name Sec2:Inhabited
Blank2 Name Sec2:Uninhabited
Blank3 Name Sec2:Total

Dhanbidhoo or Dambidū (according to the Admiralty Charts) (Dhivehi: ދަނބިދޫ) is one of the inhabited islands of Haddummati Atoll, administrative code Laamu.

History

This island has large ruins from the historical Maldivian Buddhist era.[2]

Dambidū Lōmāfānu

Lōmāfānu are ancient royal edicts written on copper plates. Lōmāfānu edicts were etched on long copper plates held together by a ring of the same metal. The lōmāfānu were written in the curly Evēla form of the Divehi akuru or old Maldive alphabet and they are very important documents in the History of the Maldives.The oldest lōmāfānu that have hitherto been found and preserved are from Malé, the royal capital, and from the islands of Isdū and Dambidū in Haddummati Atoll, where there were large Buddhist monasteries. These copperplates were issued at the end of the twelfth century AD. Thanks to the lōmāfānu it is also known that the monasteries in Haddummati Atoll were of great importance in the ancient Buddhist Kingdom of the Maldives.[3]

In the Dambidū lōmāfānu the king of Maldives (Radun) addresses his edict to all islands between Kelā (in Tiladummati Atoll), one of the northernmost islands of the group, and Addu (Atoll) in the southern end. This (lōmāfānu), makes it clear that the general conversion from Buddhism to Islam was ordered by the king. The Dambidū lōmāfānu tells us also that Satihirutalu (the Chatravali crowning a stupa) were broken to disfigure the numerous stupas. It tells us also that statues of Vairocana, the transcendent Buddha of the middle world region, were destroyed; and the destruction was not limited to sculptures.[4]

Geography

The island is 230.130NaN0 south of the country's capital, Malé.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Table PP5: Resident Population by sex, nationality and locality (administrative islands), 2014. 35. Population and Households Census 2014. National Bureau of Statistics. 8 August 2018.
  2. [HCP Bell]
  3. [Xavier Romero-Frias]
  4. Ali Najeeb, Dambidū Lōmāfānu. Council for Linguistic and Historical Research. Male' 2001
  5. Web site: Coordinate Distance Calculator. Boulter.com. 8 August 2018.