Sultan Abu Bakr II, Siri Asalees Loka Mahaaradun, was a 16th-century Sultan of the Maldives of the Hilaalee dynasty. He emerged as a leading figure during the political and military crisis that followed the deposition of Sultan Hassan IX and the intervention of the Portuguese in Maldivian affairs.
Abu Bakr’s reign was extremely brief according to one important chronological reconstruction, although other historical traditions give him a substantially longer reign. What is clear across the sources is that he became a leader of the resistance against the Portuguese-backed claim of the former Sultan Hassan IX, known after his conversion to Christianity as Dom Manoel, and that Abu Bakr ultimately died in battle.
Early life
Abu Bakr II was the son of Al-Amir Ibrahim Faarhana Kilege and Sanfa’a Dio. The available genealogical sources state that he was educated privately. Little else is known about his childhood or early years, and no reliable birth date has been established.
He belonged to the political elite of the Hilaalee dynasty and eventually rose to a senior position at the Maldivian court.
Prime Minister under Hassan IX
Before becoming Sultan, Abu Bakr served as a senior minister and Prime Minister under Sultan Hassan IX, who later became known by the Portuguese name Dom Manoel.
Hassan IX came to the throne in 1551 after the assassination of his brother, Sultan Muhammad III. During his short reign, Hassan renounced Islam and converted to Christianity. He subsequently left the Maldives and went to India, where he came under Portuguese protection. His conversion created a major political crisis within the Maldives.
The Portuguese subsequently attempted to use Hassan’s claim to intervene directly in Maldivian affairs. According to the Tārīkh tradition, Hassan sent a Portuguese vessel to Malé with instructions to bring the Maldivian ministers and chiefs to Cochin. The Maldivians refused, seized the vessel, and killed those aboard. A further Portuguese expedition also met resistance. The Maldives Heritage Survey identifies these events as the beginning of a series of Portuguese expeditions intended to assert control over the Maldives.
Abu Bakr emerged as one of the principal figures in this resistance.
Rise to the Sultanate
The historical chronology surrounding Abu Bakr’s accession is disputed.
The traditional chronology reproduced in several modern lists places an interregnum from 1552 to 1554, during which the Maldives was governed by a Council of Ministers, followed by Abu Bakr’s reign from 1554 to 1557.
However, the historical tradition based on Hasan Taj al-Din’s Tārīkh and used by the Maldives Heritage Survey gives a different chronology, placing Abu Bakr’s reign approximately in 1552–1556. The same source tradition connects his accession directly with the struggle against the Portuguese following Hassan IX’s departure.
A third reconstruction, by genealogist Christopher Buyers of Royal Ark, gives an even shorter reign. It states that Abu Bakr was proclaimed ruler before 2 September 1555, in opposition to Dom Manoel, and apparently controlled only those parts of the Maldives that were not under Portuguese control. It states that he was killed in battle after two months and fifteen days, before 16 November 1555.
Because these accounts conflict, the exact dates of Abu Bakr II’s reign should be regarded as disputed.
The Portuguese conflict
Abu Bakr’s rule took place against the background of an increasingly direct Portuguese attempt to establish influence over the Maldives.
The Portuguese were supporting the claims of Hassan IX, who remained in Portuguese-controlled territory after leaving the Maldives. For the Maldivians opposing Portuguese intervention, this was not simply a dynastic dispute: it had become a struggle over the political and religious independence of the sultanate.
According to the Maldivian historical tradition, Abu Bakr and Ali, who would later become Sultan Ali Rasgefaanu, were already involved in the resistance before either man became Sultan. They fought the Portuguese forces sent to the Maldives, defeating them and taking their weapons and possessions.
Abu Bakr subsequently became Sultan and continued the resistance.
Thus, his accession should not be understood as the beginning of a peaceful reign. He emerged from an ongoing conflict in which the sovereignty of the Maldives itself was being contested.
A ruler during a divided Maldives
One particularly important detail by some historians is that Abu Bakr apparently did not exercise control over the entire Maldives. Instead, he ruled those parts of the islands that remained outside Portuguese control, while Dom Manoel’s claim was supported by Portugal.
This makes Abu Bakr’s position better understood as that of the leader of the anti-Portuguese Maldivian side of a contested struggle for sovereignty, rather than a Sultan governing an entirely unified and peaceful kingdom.
The political crisis created by Hassan IX’s conversion had therefore developed into both a dynastic conflict and a foreign intervention.
Death
Abu Bakr ultimately died in battle during the conflict with the Portuguese.
Historians place his death before 16 November 1555, after a reign of only two months and fifteen days.
The Maldives Heritage Survey, drawing upon Hasan Taj al-Din’s history, instead places his reign at approximately 1552–1556 and states that he was murdered after four years.
Although the chronology differs, both traditions agree on the essential point: Abu Bakr’s rule ended violently during the period of Portuguese intervention.
After Abu Bakr’s death, Sultan Ali Rasgefaanu continued the resistance against the Portuguese.
Sultan Ali would himself be killed during the subsequent Portuguese campaign, and the Portuguese eventually established control over Malé in 1558.
The resistance against Portuguese rule would continue in later years, eventually culminating in the successful uprising led by Muhammad Thakurufaanu of Utheemu, who expelled the Portuguese from the Maldives in 1573.
Legacy
Abu Bakr II is considerably less prominent in popular accounts of Maldivian history than Ali Rasgefaanu and Muhammad Thakurufaanu. Nevertheless, his place in the history of the Portuguese conflict is significant.
He had served as a senior minister under Hassan IX before becoming one of the principal figures opposing the Portuguese intervention that followed Hassan’s conversion. He then became Sultan during the struggle and ultimately died in battle.
His story therefore forms an important link between the Hassan IX crisis and the later Maldivian resistance to Portuguese rule.
Rather than being merely a short-lived Sultan between Hassan IX and Ali Rasgefaanu, Abu Bakr II can be viewed as one of the early leaders of the resistance that emerged when the Portuguese attempted to impose their influence upon the Maldives.
Sultanate of the Maldives
Sultan: Sultan Abu Bakr II, Siri Asalees Loka Mahaaradun
Dynasty: Hilaalee Dynasty
Duration: 1554-1557 (disputed)
Predecessor
Sultan Hassan IX (King Dom Manoel)
Hilaalee Dynasty
Council of Ministers
Successor
Sultan Ali IV
Hilaalee Dynasty
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Vocabulary
Siri: Glorious
Asalees Loka: Blessed to the World
Mahaaradhun: Great King
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