Sultan Ali VI

Who is Sultan Ali VI?

Sultan Ali VI, known in Maldivian tradition as Ali Rasgefaanu, ruled the Maldives for only a few months before he was killed defending the capital Male against an invading Portuguese force on 19 May 1558. Rather than surrender, he led the resistance in person alongside a small group of loyal noblemen; when islanders reached the shore after the attack, they found the king and two of his companions dead, having fought to the last. The islanders buried the three men at the site where they had fallen, and Ali VI has since been remembered as a martyr who chose death over submission. His killing opened fifteen years of harsh Portuguese occupation, during which the occupiers attempted to force conversion to Christianity on the Maldivian population. That dark period ended only in 1573, when Muhammad Thakurufaanu and his brothers finally drove the Portuguese out and restored Maldivian rule. Sultan Ali VI's martyrdom is still recounted in Maldivian historical memory as the somber counterpart to the later triumph of national liberation, a reminder of the cost that preceded the country's eventual freedom.

Sources: Ras.mv, "Maldivian History 1: The Martyrdom of King Ali and the Portuguese Conquest of the Maldives" · Wikipedia, "Maldivian-Portuguese conflicts"