Read the following text and fill in each gap with a suitable word based on the information of the text :

People have been living on the islands of the Maldives for nearly 3000 years. They set sail from different parts of the world-Asia, Arabia, Europe and America to come to these islands. The earliest settlers of the Maldives were probably from southern India and Sri Lanka who came to these islands in the fourth and fifth centuries BC. In the 12th century AD, sailors from East Africa and Arab countries came to the Maldives. As a result, the Maldivians who were originally Buddhists were converted to Sunni Islam in the mid-12th century. In 1344 Ibn Batuta, a famous Arab historian and scholar travelled around the Maldives.

The Maldives has been inhabited for almost three thousand years. The first (a) ______ were believed to have arrived from southern India and Sri Lanka several (b) _____ before Christ. Later, in the 12th century, sailors from East (c) ______ and Arab lands reached the islands. During that period, the local people adopted Sunni (d) ______ as their religion. In the 14th century, the renowned Arab scholar Ibn Batuta (e) ______ across the islands and wrote about his experiences.