Gaumii salaam: Encyclopedia II - Gaumii salaam - History

Gaumii salaam - History

Until 1948, a melody without lyrics called the 'Salaamathi' was performed by a royal band on state occasions at the 'Etherekoilu', the residence of the Sultan. Soon after it was decided that the Salaamathi needed lyrics accompanied by a new melody. The lyrics were written by a young poet and later chief justice, Mohamed Jameel Didi.

Jameel Didi wrote the words for the new Salaamathi bearing in mind the influence of Urdu poetry during the time, closely imitating its style and also furnishing his work with words borrowed from Arabic. Afterwards, Jameel Didi began looking for a tune to accompany his poem when he heard the noon chime (Auld Lang Syne) of his uncle's clock. The tune was adopted to the lyrics and the new Salaamathi was complete.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s Maldivians became more aware of the importance of a National Anthem and in 1972, shortly before the Maldives was visited by Queen of England Elizabeth II, the government hastily commissioned maestro P.W. Amaaradeva for a new melody for the anthem. The original lyrics were retained, with a few changes to embellish the fact that Maldives has been a republic since 1968. This version of the anthem has survived without any modifications till date.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki