 Sakalava people nearMorondava | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 2,079,000[1][better source needed] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Madagascar | |
| Languages | |
| Southern Sakalava,Northern Sakalava | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Catholicism, commoners), Fomba Gasy (traditional religion), Islam (royalty)[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherMalagasy groups,Bantu peoples,Austronesian peoples |
TheSakalava are anethnic group primarily found on the western edge ofMadagascar, ranging fromToliara in the south to theSambirano River in the north.[3] They constitute about 6.2 percent of the total population of Madagascar,[4] or about 2,079,000 in 2018.[5][better source needed]
The origin of the wordSakalava is not fully known. The most common explanation is that their name means "people of the long valleys", or a similar modernMalagasy translation of long ravines, which denotes the relatively flat nature of the land in western Madagascar. Another theory is that the word is possibly from theArabicsaqaliba (which is in turn derived fromLate Latin sclavus), meaning slave.[3][6]
The Sakalava are considered to be a mix ofAustronesian andBantu people.[7] Austronesian people from various southeast Asian and Oceanian groups started sailing and settling in Madagascar between 400 and 900 CE. The earliest confirmed settlements were onNosy Mangabe and in the Mananara Valley, and date back to the eighth century.Bantu-speaking farmers, moving from Central and East Africa, arrived in Madagascar in the ninth century. According to Gwyn Campbell, "the most accurate genetic data to date indicates that the founding settlement, on the northwest coast, comprised a maximum of 20 households, totalling around 500 people, either genetically mixed, or half Austronesian and half African."[8]
Portuguese traders were the first Europeans to arrive in the 15th century, followed by other European powers.[9] Later,Swahilis,Arabs,Indian, andTamil traders came to the island's northern regions.[10] Enslaved people from mainland Africa were brought to the island in increasing numbers between the 15th and the 18th centuries, particularly to the region where Sakalava people now live. This influx of diverse peoples led to the formation of variousMalagasy sub-ethnicities in the mid-2nd millennium.
The founder of Sakalava legacy was Andriamisara.[11] After 1610, his descendant Andriandahifotsy ("the White Prince") extended his authority northwards past theMangoky River, aided by weapons obtained through the slave trade.[11] His two sons, Andriamanetiarivo and Andriamandisoarivo (also known as Tsimanatona[11]) extended gains further up to the Tsongay region (nowMahajanga).
The chiefs of the different coastal settlements on the island began extending their power to control trade. The first significant Sakalava kingdoms were formed around the 1650s.[12] They dominated the western region of Madagascar during the 1700s.[11] The Sakalava chiefdoms ofMenabe, centered in what was then known as Andakabe (now the town ofMorondava), were principal among them.[11] The influence of the Sakalava extended across what are now the provinces ofAntsiranana,Mahajanga andToliara. The Sakalava kingdom reached its peak geographic spread between 1730 and 1760, under King Andrianinevenarivo.[11]
According to local tradition, the founders of the Sakalava kingdom were the Maroseraña (or Maroseranana, "those who owned many ports") princes, from Fiherenana (nowToliara).[13] They may also be descended from theZafiraminia (sons of Ramini) clans from the southwestern part of the island.[citation needed] The demand for slaves byOmani Arabs who controlled the Zanzibar slave trade and, later, European slave-traders led to Sakalava slave raiding operations and control over the major ports of the north and northwest region of Madagascar.[14][15][16] Initially, the Arabs exclusively supplied weapons to the Sakalava in exchange for slaves. These slaves were obtained from slave raids toComoros and other coastal settlements of Madagascar, as well as from merchant ships from theSwahili coast.[14][11] The Sakalava kingdom quickly subjugated the neighbouring territories of theMahafaly people, starting with the southern ones.
Merina oral histories and documents inComoros mention a series of annual expeditions by Sakalava slave raiders against their villages through the end of the 18th century. These expeditions were aided by guns obtained from the Arabs, a weapon that both Comoros and the Merina lacked.[14] The largest and one of the most favored ports for the slave trade on Madagascar was the Sakalava coastal town of Mahajanga.[15] The Sakalava had a monopoly over the slave trade in Madagascar till the end of the 18th century.[14][11] Although smaller by population, their weapons permitted them wide reach and power, allowing them to force other, more populous ethnic groups to pay tribute to them in the eighteenth century.[11]
The Merina kingRadama I bought guns in late 18th century and launched a war against the Sakalava Kingdom, which ended its hegemony and slave raids.[14] TheMerina Kingdom then reversed the historical enslavement their people had faced, becoming suppliers for the slave trade.[17] Though the Merina were never to annex the two last Sakalava strongholds of Menabe and Boina (Mahajanga), the Sakalava never again posed a threat to the central highlands, which remained under Merina control until theFrench conquest of the island, a century later, in 1896.
The dynastyZafimbolamena Belihisafra.[18][better source needed]
After the reign of Andriantonkafo the kingdom was split into two entities:
Andramahatindriarivo was succeeded by
In 1841 the islands ofNosy Be andNosy Komba became a French Protectorate.
The Sakalava consist of multiple smaller ethnic groups that once lived under the same empire and are unified under the same name. They have great diversity among its constituents, who continue to perpetuate distinct regional customs, both culturally and linguistically. The Sakalava are divided in two distinct groups:
The Sakalava people are widely distributed over about 128,000 square kilometers (ranging from the coast fromOnilahy River in the southwest, toNosy Be in the north). These people also raise thezebu cattle herds similar to those found in Africa, which are less common in other regions and interior of the island.[12]
About 60% of the Sakalava followsFomba Gasy, a traditional religion centered around royal ancestor worship aided by the nobledady lineage who preserved the remains of the deceased rulers.[21][22] Thedady priests conduct a ceremony calledTromba, where they divine the spirits of the dead ancestors and communicate their words back to the Sakalava people.[11][23] The Sakalava will frequently visit memorial sites of royal ancestors to clean and maintain them. It's believed that the act of maintaining these sites keeps the memory of their ancestors alive, and also communicates to the ancestral spirits that the memory of them hasn't been lost. The spirits will get a devotedtoñy, which is a tree or stone assigned to them in their honor.[24]
Tromba has been a historic feature of the Sakalava people, and has centered around ceremonies and processions for the spirits of their deceased royalty.[26] The procession is more than a religious event: it has historically been a form of community celebration and identity affirmation. Tromba is also found among other ethnic groups in other parts of Madagascar, but it has had a long association with and support from the Sakalava royal dynasties, which mutually perpetuated the practice and associated importance.[26]
Tromba is also practiced in other cultures outside of Madagascar.Andriantsoly, after he was exiled toComoros, spread the practice ofTromba to the people ofMayotte.Andriantsoly (also called Andriamanavakarivo after his death) ledTromba in Mayotte, and his burial site was used as the main place for the practice.Tromba also spread farther toTanzania when people from Comoros immigrated toZanzibar, and it still plays a main role in the Comorian community there.[27]
Sunni Islam arrived among the Sakalava from Arab traders.[28] It was adopted by the rulers of the Sakalava people in the eighteenth century in order to gain the military support of the Omani andZanzibar Sultanates as the influence of the Merina and European traders increased.[11] A significant percentage of the Sakalava converted to Islam during the reign of Andriantsoly, while continuing traditional religious practices such as spirit worship.[28]
Christianity is followed by about 35% of Sakalava, and arrived with European traders.[21][better source needed] In early 19th century, the Sakalava sought military support from European colonial powers in order to contain the reach of the Merina kingdom. The French, led by Captain Passot, arrived in Sakalava ports withJesuit and other Catholic Christian missionaries. The island town of Nosy Be became their mission post, and by early 20th century numerous Catholic churches had been built in the Sakalava regions.[29] Protestant missionaries have attempted to convert the Sakalava, but the animosity of Muslim Sakalava royalty towards the Protestant Merina nobility and the refusal of Sakalava to abandon their traditional practices (particularly royal spirit worship andTromba) has ensured a low rate of conversion.[30]
The Sakalava society became socially stratified, like many other ethnic groups, with the start of the slave trade. The Sakalava stratification system was hierarchical, based on the presumed purity of each stratum. In the Sakalava Kingdom, the strata included theAmpanzaka, or the royal caste, and theMakoa, or the descendants of African slaves.[31][32][33]
The king is deemed as a sacred individual in Sakalava kingdoms. The king has to learn to harness a force calledhasina in order to keep their position as ruler.Hasina is believed to be a very helpful force, but can be harmful if handled wrong; it's also used to maintain soil fertility. After a king passes, their spirit will become an ancestor and can possess mediums known as thesaha duringTromba.[34]
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The Sakalava have beenpastoralists with large zebu cattle herds, traditionally allowed to graze freely over the grasslands in their northwest region. Unlike theMerina andBetsileo people of the interior who became highly productive rice farmers, the coastal and valley regions of the Sakalava have historically had limited agriculture. However, in contemporary Madagascar, migrants have expanded farms and agriculture into the northwestern provinces.[35]
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