Information about Sakalava

The Sakalava is a traditional name for a group of people of Madagascar numbering approximately 700,000 in population. They occupy the Western edge of the island from Toliara in the south to Sambirano in the north. Sakalavaare are more of a diverse group of ethnicities that once comprised an ancient empire, than an ethnic group in their own right.

During the Middle Ages, when the chiefs of the different settlements on the island began to extend their power through trade with Madagascar's Indian Ocean neighbors, the Sakalava chiefdoms of the Menabe, centered in what is now the town of Morondava, were prinicipal among them. The influence of the Sakalava extended across what is now the provinces of Antsiranana, Mahajanga and Toliara. But with the domination of the Indian Ocean by the British fleet and the end of the Arab slave trade, the Sakalava would lose their power to the emerging Merina threat.

According to local tradition, the founders of the Sakalava kingdom were Maroseraña (or Maroseranana, "those who owned many ports") princes, from the Fiherenana (now Toliara). They may also be descended from the Zafiraminia (sons of Ramini) clans from the southwestern part of the island, whom many consider to be White, possibly from Arab origin. They were first in contact with European slave-traders, from whom they obtained weapons, mostly in exchange for slaves; they quickly submitted the neighbouring princes, starting with the southern ones, in the Mahafaly area. The true founder of Sakalava dominance was Andriamisara; his son Andriandahifotsy ("the White Prince") then extended his authority northwards, past the Mangoky River. His two sons, Andriamanetiarivo and Andriamandisoarivo, extended gains further up to the Tsongay region (now Mahajanga). At about that time, the empire's unity starts to split, resulting in a southern kingdom (Menabe) and a northern kingdom (Boina). Further splits resulted, despite continued extension of the Boina princes' reach into the extreme north, in Antankarana country.

The historical formation process of the Sakalava kingdom explains the great diversity among its constituents, who continue to perpetuate distinctive regional customs, both culturally and linguistically. About the latter, the only real unifying factor of the different Sakalava dialects is their common membership to the western subgroup of Madagascar languages, which distinguishes them from central and East coast languages.

The origin of the word Sakalava itself is still subject to controversy, as well as its actual meaning. The Merina oral histories mention several attacks by Sakalava raiders against their villages as early as the 17th century, and during the entire 18th century; although it is impossible to certify that these have a direct relationship with the coastal kingdom populations. It seems that in some cases including this one, the term was used generically to design all the nomadic peoples in the sparsely settled territories between the Merina country and the western coast of the island.

The Merina king RadamaI's wars with the western coast of the island would end in a fragile peace sealed through his marriage with the daughter of a king of Menabe. Though the Merina would never annex the two last Sakalava strongholds of Menabe and Boina (Majunga); the Sakalava would never again pose a threat to the central plateau until the French colonisation of the island in 1896.

Known Malagasy that come from Sakalava ethnicities are:

1. Jaojoby, singer known as the King of Salegy
2. Philbert Tsiranana, first President of Madagascar

Notes and References

• Portions of this article were translated from
• Goedefroit, Sophie (1998). À l'ouest de Madagascar - les Sakalava du Menabe. IRD Editions. ISBN 2-7099-1386-0.