to a certain large
sandbank (finolhu) at the southern end of their atoll to clean tuna fish after
a good catch. Owing to the large amount of tuna fish offal and blood, the
waters around that sandbank looked like a big pool of blood (maa ley gandeh).
"Maa" (from the Sanskrit"Maha"), meaning big, and "Lē" meaning blood. Traditionally
the first inhabitants of the Maldives, which include the Giravaru people,
didn't have kings. They lived in a simple society and were ruled by local
headmen. But one day a prince from the Subcontinent called Koimala arrived to
Malé Atoll sailing from the North on a big ship. The people of Giraavaru
spotted his vessel from afar and welcomed him. They allowed Prince Koimala to
settle on that large sandbank in the midst of the waters tainted with fish
blood. Trees were planted on the sandbank and it is said that the first tree
that grew on it was the papaya tree. However this could refer to any tree that
bears edible fruit as the archaic Dhivehi word (and Mahal word even today) for
fruit was the same as that for the papaya (
falhoa). As time went by the
local islanders accepted the rule of this Northern Prince. A palace was built
and the island was formally named Maa-le (Malé), while the nearest island was
named Hulhu-le.
The names of the main four wards or divisions of Malé Island are said to
have been given by the aboriginal Giraavaru fishermen: Maafannu from
"maa" (big) and "fannu" (a place where a village path meets
the sea), Henveiru from "en-beyru" (out where fishermen got their
bait), Galolhu from "galu-olhu" (stone groove) and, Macchangolhi from
"mathi-angolhi" (windward path-fork).
The modern-day city was founded as a trading post by the Portuguese in the
16th century.
Administratively, it is a city-class constituency and is
governed by the Malé City Council. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from
where the ancient Maldive Royal dynasties ruled
