Caste system in the Maldives

The caste system in the Maldives is the social stratification system found among the ethnic groups of the islands.

The history of the stratification of the Maldivian social structure is not fully documented. However the French explorer François Pyrard de Laval, who spent five years in the Maldives following a shipwreck in 1602, wrote an account of the islands in the early 17th century and made reference of the existence of caste-like groupings (status-groups) in Maldivian culture. A basic summary of the early castes or caste-like groupings is seen from the writings of Carl Wilhelm Rosset (1887), the materials of J. Gardiner's trip, and a number of works by H.C.P. Bell.^[1] In his book The Reha, Ibn Batuta says that both the high and low castes of the Maldives all go barefoot as evidence of caste existence.^[2] Among the South Asian countries, caste system is mentioned to be in existence in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bhutan.^[3]

In the past, the Maldives had a caste system, with the raveri, or palm-sap tappers, belonging to the lowest caste. However, caste differences were never as common in the Maldives as they were in the other nations. The distinction between the nobility (beyfulhunwa) and the common people in society was given more emphasis in the Maldives than it was in the Vedic caste system. There are no longer any customary differences, and there are also no marital restrictions in the Maldive sociocultural pattern.^[4]

Maldivian society serves as an example of a social structure that has lately shed a lot of stratification related characteristics while still perhaps holding onto certain remnants of the former caste society.^[1] Intriguingly, the social groupings that make up the highest social class in modern society — the aristocracy, as well as low caste groups like the Raaveri—are where the most pronounced vestiges are found.^[1]

Perhaps the most impressive proof of the social hierarchy's importance can be found in the Maldivian language. It maintains a quite complex system of honorific degrees that unifies common speech with this intricate social stratification. Various forms have a variety of versions, which are chosen based on the social position of the dialogue's participants.^[1]