An Embassy to Chang'an.
Tang Dynasty records note a Maldivian embassy presenting tribute to Emperor Gaozong in the imperial capital of Chang'an. The atolls — barely a dot on any world map — are already stitching themselves into both ends of the Silk Road of the Sea, from Rome to the Chinese court.
The Tang imperial annals record a Maldivian embassy arriving at the court of Emperor Gaozong between 658 and 662 CE. Gifts were exchanged, tribute presented, and the islands — which most of the contemporary world had never heard of — took their place among the tributary states of the largest empire on earth.
It was not an isolated gesture. The Maldives sat squarely on the maritime branch of the Silk Road, which ran from the Persian Gulf through Sri Lanka and the Malay straits to Guangzhou. Maldivian ships carried cowries, dried fish and ambergris east; they brought home silks, porcelain and iron tools.
Together with the Roman embassy of 362 CE, the Tang embassy sketches a remarkable map: for at least six centuries, these small islands maintained direct diplomatic contact with the two largest empires in the ancient world.
Continue the timeline.
- Jiu Tangshu (Old Book of Tang), records of foreign embassies
- Britannica — Tang dynasty
- Wikipedia — Maritime Silk Road
Two thousand years of history — one extraordinary place to experience it.
The atolls in this story are the islands you can stay on today: private-island resorts and overwater villas, planned by a team that works from inside the Maldives.