Betsimisaraka

The Betsimisaraka (those which are interdependent) train people of Madagascar, occupying the major part of the Eastern littoral of the island, since the area of Mananjary in the south until in that of Antalaha in north. As it is also the case for the Sakalava, theirs with respect to the west coast, Betsimisaraka constitute in fact a regrouping of several ethnos groups that only the historical circumstances unified inside the same denomination.

Until the beginning of the 18th century, the people which were going to constitute the core of the betsimisaraka group named themselves respectively, Tsikoa or Betanimena in the south, Varimo in the center and Anteva in north. Each one of these people had its own cultural and linguistic characteristics and maintained the conflict relations with its neighbors. These hostilities were constantly encouraged by the many treating European benches in the area to sell weapons and other objects exchanges of them especially slaves intended for the plantations of outside. In addition to the generalization of the insecurity, this European presence was also at the origin of the appearance of the group of the Malato or zana-malato (“mulattos”) from which the members came from the unions between the indigenous Europeans and women. Ratsimilaho, the founder of the kingdom betsimisaraka was one of these malato , its father being a Pirate of English origin and its mother a anteva .

Its troops having been well equipped of weapons by its many European allies, Ratsimilaho succeeds in towards 1710 being essential on the head people north after having pushed back a joint invasion of the Tsikoa and Anteva , led by powerful king Ramanano. Continuing the war then, while following a skilful policy of union with various partners, it ends up subjecting under its authority the major part of the Eastern littoral of which it gathered the people inside a great confederation called betsimisaraka (reads. “the many ones which does not separate”).

After however the disappearance of Ratsimilaho in the middle of the 18th century, its kingdom with the unit finally quite factitious found little by little its state of parcelling out between the various local leaders, among whom most powerful were the Malato which competed between them. This explains the facility of the conquest of the area by the armies of Radama starting from 1817. Since then, until the moment of French colonization, the Merina succeeded in maintaining their authority there.

Source

The Zafy-Malata off Madagascar

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