The first settlers in the Maldive islands were Dravidian people from the
nearest shores, which are in the modern Indian Subcontinent and coastal Ceylon.
Comparative studies of Maldivian linguistic, oral, and other cultural
traditions, in addition to folklore, point to a strong Dravidian influence on
Maldivian society, centered in Malé, from ancient times. The people of Giraavaru,
an island located in Malé Atoll (now a tourist resort, after the forced
diaspora of its inhabitants) claim to descend from the first settlers of the
Maldives, ancient Tamils.
It is said that Giraavaru fishermen used to go regularly
