Maldives 100 Rufiyaa Polymer Banknote 2015
Obverse: Underprint of old Dhivehi alphabet (Dhives Akuru); denomination as registration device; group of locals in traditional attire; seated woman wearing traditional dress (Libaas), working on the neckline threading (Hiru) of a similar dress.
Reverse (Vertical): Early Dhivehi scripture (Dambidū Lōmāfānu).
Colour of note: Red - Red, being the primary colour on our national flag, is always associated with nationality and is in itself a symbol of our individuality as a country.
The notes carry the signature of governor Dr Azeema Adam making it the first time in Maldives' history a woman had signed currency notes.
Face value: 100 Maldivian rufiyaa.
Theme: Nationalism and the native language.
Size: 150 x 70 mm.
Composition: Polymer.
Printer: De La Rue, London (England) - DLR.
Maldives New Family of Polymer Banknotes
Maldives Monetary Authority 2015 Issue (2016)
Maldives new currency series, called ”Ran dhiha faheh” (the golden five decades). “Ran dhiha faheh” currency series includes MVR 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and the brand new MVR 1000. The series also introduced MVR 5 as coins instead of the current cash note. The series was designed by local designer Abdulla Nashath.
Maldives central bank said “Ran dhiha faheh” series is printed on polymer paper and are state-of-the-art, impossible to counterfeit. Maldives Monetary authority (MMA) also said each note has been given a distinct topic and a representative colour for ease of use. The series as a whole attempts to encapsulate all the innate factors that define our country, and our ancestral identity, MMA said.
Dhives Akuru
Divehi Akuru or Dhives Akuru (island letters) is a script formerly used to write the Maldivian language. This script was called "Dives Akuru" by H. C. P. Bell who studied Maldive epigraphy when he retired from the British government service in Colombo and wrote an extensive monography on the archaeology, history and epigraphy of the Maldive islands.
The Divehi Akuru developed from the Grantha script. The early form of this script was Dīvī Grantha which was named Evēla Akuru (ancient letters) by HCP Bell in order to distinguish it from the more recent variants of the same script. The ancient form (Evela) can be seen in the loamaafaanu (copper plates) of the 12th and 13th centuries and in inscriptions on coral stone (hirigaa) dating back from the Maldive Buddhist period. Like the native script of Sri Lanka and those of most of India, and unlike Thaana, Dhives akuru is descended ultimately from the Brahmi script and thus was written from left to right.
Divehi Akuru was still used in some atolls in the South Maldives as the main script until around 70 years ago. Since then, use is purely scholarly, or by hobbyists. It can still be found on gravestones, and some monuments, including the stone base of the pillars supporting the main structure of The ancient Friday Mosque in Malé. HCP Bell obtained an astrology book written in Divehi Akuru in Addu Atoll, in the south of Maldives, during one of his trips. This book is now kept in the National Archives of Sri Lanka in Colombo.
Bodufenvalhuge Sidi, an eminent Maldivian scholar, wrote a book called "Divehi Akuru" in 1959 prompted by then Prime Minister Ibrahim Nasir, in order to clarify HCP Bell's errors. However, Maldivian cultural associations have not paid much attention to Bodufenvalhuge Sidi's work and keep perpetuating those errors.
Dambidū Lōmāfānu
Lōmāfānu are ancient royal edicts written on copper plates. Lōmāfānu edicts were etched on long copper plates held together by a ring of the same metal. The lōmāfānu were written in the curly Evēla form of the Divehi akuru or old Maldive alphabet and they are very important documents in the History of the Maldives. The oldest lōmāfānu that have hitherto been found and preserved are from Malé, the royal capital, and from the islands of Isdū and Dambidū in Haddummati Atoll, where there were large Buddhist monasteries. These copperplates were issued at the end of the twelfth century AD. Thanks to the lōmāfānu it is also known that the monasteries in Haddummati Atoll were of great importance in the ancient Buddhist Kingdom of the Maldives.
In the Dambidū lōmāfānu the king of Maldives (Radun) addresses his edict to all islands between Kelā (in Tiladummati Atoll), one of the northernmost islands of the group, and Addu (Atoll) in the southern end. This (lōmāfānu), makes it clear that the general conversion from Buddhism to Islam was ordered by the king. The Dambidū lōmāfānu tells us also that Satihirutalu (the Chatravali crowning a stupa) were broken to disfigure the numerous stupas. It tells us also that statues of Vairocana, the transcendent Buddha of the middle world region, were destroyed; and the destruction was not limited to sculptures.