Page "Malé" Paragraph 5

But one day a prince from the Subcontinent called Koimala arrived to Malé Atoll sailing from the North on a big ship.

The people of Giraavaru spotted his vessel from afar and welcomed him.

They allowed Prince Koimala to settle on that large sandbank in the midst of the waters tainted with fish blood.

Trees were planted on the sandbank and it is said that the first tree that grew on it was the papaya tree.

However this could refer to any tree that bears edible fruit as the archaic Dhivehi word ( and Mahal word even today ) for fruit was the same as that for the papaya ( falhoa ).

As time went by the local islanders accepted the rule of this Northern Prince.

A palace was built and the island was formally named Maa-le ( Malé ), while the nearest island was named Hulhu-le.