Isdhoo Loamaafaanu is the oldest copper-plate book to have been discovered in the Maldives to date. The book was written in AD 1194 (590 AH) in the Eveela form of the Divehi akuru, during the reign of Sri Gaganaaditya[1]
loamaafaanu are Maldivianwaqf grants in the form of copper plates on which inscriptions have been engraved. Many ancient Maldivian historical texts are found only in loamaafaanu form, with the oldest of the plates dating from the twelfth century AD. The Divehi script used on the plates was named "Eveyla Akuru" by H. C. P. Bell, who claimed that it resembled medieval Sinhala script.[2]
According to the Isdhoo Loamaafaanu and Gamu loamaafaanu, monks from monasteries of the southern atoll of Haddhunmathi were brought to Malé and beheaded. Beside lōmāfānu plates found in Haddhunmathi Atoll, one of the most important Maldivian copper plates is the Bodugalu Miskiy Loamaafanu found in Malé.
List of Loamaafaanu
Laamu Atoll
Isdhoo Loamaafaanu (1194 CE)
Gamu Loamaafaanu (1194/1195 CE)
Dhanbidhoo Loamaafaanu (1196/1197 CE)
Dhaalu Atoll
Kudahuvadhoo Loamaafaanu (1237/1238 CE)
Kaafu Atoll
Bodugalu Miskiyy Loamaafaanu (1356)
List of Islands Mentioned in the Loamaafaanu
Below is a table of islands that have been mentioned in the Loamaafaanu
^Gippert, Jost (2003). "A Glimpse Into the Buddhist Past of the Maldives I. An Early Prakrit Inscription". Vienna Journal of South Asian Studies: 82 – via JSTOR.
^Disanayake, J. B., and G. W. Wijayawardhana. “SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE MALDIVIAN LOAMAAFAANU COPPER PLATES OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka Branch 31 (1986): 62–71
Sources
Ali Najeeb, Dambidū Lōmāfānu. Council for Linguistic and Historical Research. Malé 2001.
HCP Bell, The Maldive islands. Monograph on the History, Archaeology and Epigraphy. Reprint 1940 edn. Malé 1986.
Bodufenvahuge Sidi. Divehi Akuru; Evvana Bai. Malé 1958.
