Publisher's Synopsis
Sultan Mohamed Shamsuddeen III was the longest-serving sultan of Maldives during the twentieth century. As the sultan, he spent much of his time in entertainment. His 'daytime' was other people's 'nighttime' and vice versa. He would be up throughout the night enjoying.
He sent his only son, Prince Hassan Izzuddeen, to Ceylon to get a modern education and groomed him as his successor. But after the prince returned from Ceylon, he too followed in his father's footsteps, preferring to spend the night in enjoyment and the daytime sleeping. Many leading figures in the country, including Prime Minister Abdul Majeed, opposed the Prince succeeding his father due to his immoral excesses. The introduction of a written constitution to Maldives was primarily an attempt to prevent the Prince from succeeding his father. Under the constitution, the sultan had to be elected by the Majlis instead of being hereditary. When the constitution came into force, Sultan Shamsuddeen and his son, Prince Hassan Izzuddeen, tried to stage a palace coup against the constitution and the government. But they failed. The Sultan was impeached and removed from his position. Then both the former Sultan Shamsuddeen and his son, Prince Hassan Izzuddeen, were arrested and tried. They were both found guilty and banished to the remote island of Fuvah Mulak. The story of Sultan Shamsuddeen's downfall was written by Esjehigé Lha Seedi, an official who worked in the Sultan's Palace. His hand-written notes were found hidden on the ceiling of his house many years after he passed away. This is a translation of his notes.
