In the earliest work on Maldivian history written by a Maldivian, (the Kitab fi Athaari Meedoo el-Qadimiyyah by Allama Ahmed Shihabuddine of Meedhoo) Shaviyani is considered a unique characteristic of the language of the first Maldivian settlers still reminiscent in the Dhivehi language today. It is said that these first settlers, the , came from Kalibanja (possibly Kalinga) in India several centuries before the Kingdom of Malik Aashooq and settled in Isduva island (Isdhoo) of Isduvammathi (Haddhunmathi Atoll). By the time the late-Aryan settlers came to settle the Maldives in 600 B.C., the original language of the Dheyvis had been mixed with that of later settlers the Redhins and the Kunibeens to form the Dheyvis language; but the unique Shaviyani sound had survived. The letter was described as that letter pronounced between the letter "r" and "sh". In fact the letter was called Rhaviyani until much later.Allama Ahmed Shihabuddine (original work in Arabic, translated to Dhivehi by Dhoondeyri Don Maniku), Kitab fi Athaari Meedoo el-Qadimiyyeh. Male'
