Maldives National Defence Force

hat time and appointed a “Dhoshimeynaa Wazir” (a Minister) as the head of the security force. The origin of the current security force can be traced from the initiatives of Sultan Ibrahim Nooraddeen Iskandhar who reigned from 1888 to 1892. The Sultan was impressed by a group of young men practicing marching in step while they were at the Sultans Palace to learn a traditional form of martial arts. The group of men thereafter began to accompany the Sultan on his ceremonial processions. During Sultan Ibrahim Nooraddeen Iskandhar’s brief reign, he enlisted selected youths and taught them Hevikan (a Maldivian form of martial arts) and made them participate in royal ceremonies. On 21 April 1892, a new security force was established by a royal decree. The Sultan became the Commander-in-Chief of the security force. This new force was authorised to carry arms and the Palace afforded special privileges to them. Evolution of the Security Force

Since the establishment of a security force, it has served as a combined force except for two brief periods. A police force was formed on 29 March 1933, during the reign of Sultan Mohamed Shamsuddeen III, but it was soon disbanded. The police force was re-established on 13 March 1972, as a branch of the security force, which was then known as National Guards, functioning under the Ministry of Public Safety. On 10 January 1979, after years of evolution and progress, the Ministry of Public Safety and the National Guards were re-named as the Ministry of Defence and National Security and the National Security Service (NSS) respectively. The police remained as an integral part of it until it was declared a civil body under Ministry of Home Affairs and renamed as the Maldives Police Service on 1 September 2004. The National Security Service (NSS) remained a multi-functional force, directly under the command, direction and supervision of the Minister of Defence and National Security. Maldives National Defence Force

With the separation of police as a civil body, the mission and duties of the NSS had to be revised. This revision envisaged a totally different turn for the organization. Hence, to carryout the newly derived mission and tasks, the core of its structure had to be modified and redesigned. All these new implementations created more of an infantry organization and was renamed the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), on its 114th anniversary, on 21 April 2006.