 In ancient times Malé was also called "Mahal", considered to be the origin of "Mahal Dvipa" or "Maléldvip".Throughout known history, Malé or Mahal was always the most important island, the island where the king resided.It is therefore a logical assumption that the name given to the islands, "Mahal Dvipa", contained a reference to the chief island of "Mahal".. A study of the names shows that in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries, the original "Mahal Dvipa" became Arabicised by Middle Eastern travellers, to "Mahaldib", and later became Anglicised by the British Empire to emerge in its present form of "Maldives".