Sultan Muhammad Shamsuddeen Iskander III, , (
Dhivehi: ސުލްޠާން މުޙައްމަދު ޝަމްސުއްދީން; 20 October 1879 – 12 March 1935), son of
Ibrahim Nooraddeen and Kakaage Don Goma, was the
Sultan of the Maldives first from 7 May 1893 and then again from 1902.
When he was 14 years, after the death of his father Sultan Ibrahim Nooraddeen, he was nominated as the Sultan only after the people expressed their dissatisfaction with the appointment of his eight-year-old half-brother as Sultan
Muhammad Imaaduddeen V against ''the Law of Succession in the Maldive Islands''. Shamsuddeen's succession to the throne was in part favoured by the fact that he was great-nephew to Muhammad Didi Ranna Baderi Kilegefanu, the prime minister to three successive Sultans, who strongly protested to the Ceylon Governor in
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
on behalf of his discarded great-nephew.
From
Malé
Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of , Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city i ...
, Shamsuddeen wrote to his great-uncle, to return and resume the post of prime minister. At this time
Haajee Imaaduddeen, nephew of the late sultan Nooraddeen, who would take over the throne after 2 months, ran the country. Ibrahim Didi and some other members of the Council of Ministers ('little knowing what evil a decade was to bring forth') encouraged Haajee Imaaduddeen to seize the throne from the young sultan as they despised Muhammad Didi's complete control over his grandnephew Sultan Shamsuddeen. However, the enthronement was based on the specious plea stating a unanimous dissatisfaction by the people regarding the existing sultanate with a 'mere lad as Sultan, not able to do or undo anything himself'. By this decree, Haajee Imaaduddeen was raised to the throne and named Sultan
Muhammad Imaaduddeen VI, with Ibrahim Didi as his prime minister.
Shamsuddeen returned to power in 1902 after the peaceful Malé Revolution which took place while Sultan Muhammad Imaaduddeen VI temporarily quit his kingdom with the object of marrying the high-born Egyptian Sharifa Hanim, the daughter of Abd-ur Rakhman Khami Bhey, the Consul of
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. Muhammad Shamsuddeen III's full coronation ceremony (''the Ceremony of the Assumption of the State Sword of the Kingdom of the Maldive Islands'') was not held until 27 July 1905. The ceremony was attended by Sir John Keene on behalf of
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910.
The second child ...
, the Katheeb of
Kelaa of
Thiladhummathi Atoll on behalf of the inhabitants of the northern atolls of the kingdom and the Katheeb of
Isdhū of
Haddhunmathi Atoll on behalf of the inhabitants of the southern atolls of the kingdom.
He was arrested on 2 October 1934 and was banished to
Fuvahmulah
Fuvahmulah (Dhivehi language, Dhivehi: ފުވައްމުލައް) is an island (atoll) in the Maldives. It is under Maldives' administrative division of Gnaviyani Atoll, Gnaviyani (or Nyaviyani) Atoll. The island is the second southernmost admini ...
with crown prince Henveyru Ganduvaru Manippulhu. The crown prince died there but later the Sultan was brought to Malé Atoll Villigili. The sultan died in Malé at the residence of Moonimaa'ge.
He is credited with bringing the first
Constitution of Maldives on 22 December 1932.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhammad Shamsuddeen Iii
19th-century sultans of the Maldives
Honorary companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
1879 births
1935 deaths
20th-century sultans of the Maldives
Sons of sultans
Monarchs who abdicated