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The directory of informations
and links about Madagascar
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Madagascar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Madagascar ·
History ·
Politics ·
Geography ·
Ecology ·
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Foreign relations ·
Demographics
History of Madagascar
Madagascar island split from India some 80 million years ago. Archaeologists estimate that humans arrived
on Madagascar between 200 and 500 AD, when seafarers from southeast Asia (probably from Borneo or the
southern Celebes) arrived in outrigger canoes. Bantu settlers probably crossed the Mozambique Channel
to Madagascar at about the same time as or shortly afterwards.
The written history of Madagascar begins in the 7th century, when Arabs established trading posts along
the northwest coast and first transcribed the Malagasy language into Sorabe.
During the Middle Ages, the chiefs of the different settlements began to extend their power through trade
with Indian Ocean neighbours, notably East Africa, the Middle East and India. Large chiefdoms began to
dominate considerable areas of the island. Among these were the Sakalava chiefdoms of the Menabe, centred
in what is now the town of Morondava, and of Boina, centred in what is now the provincial capital of
Mahajanga (Majunga). The influence of the Sakalava extended across what is now the provinces of
Antsiranana, Mahajanga and Toliara.
European contact began in the year 1500, when Portuguese sea captain Diogo Dias sighted the island after
his ship separated from a fleet going to India. The Portuguese continued trading with the islanders and
named the island as "Sa-o Lourenzo" (St. Lawrence). In 1665, Francois Caron, the Director General of the
newly formed French East India Company, sailed to Madagascar. The Company failed to establish a colony on
Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Ile-de-France (today's Reunion and
Mauritius). In the late 17th century, the French established trading posts along the east coast.
From about 1774 to 1824, Madagascar was a favourite haunt for pirates, including Americans, one of whom
brought Malagasy rice to South Carolina. Many European sailors were shipwrecked on the coasts of the island.
The most interesting of these is Robert Drury whose journal is one of the only written depictions of life in
southern Madagascar during the 18th century.
Beginning in the 1790s, Merina rulers succeeded in establishing hegemony over most of the island, including
the coast. In 1817, the Merina ruler and the British governor of Mauritius concluded a treaty abolishing the
slave trade, which had been important in Madagascar's economy. In return, the island received British military
and financial assistance. British influence remained strong for several decades, during which the Merina court
was converted to Presbyterianism, Congregationalism and Anglicanism.
With the domination of the Indian Ocean by the British Navy and the end of the Arab slave trade, the western
Sakalava lost their power to the emerging Merina state. The Betsimisaraka of the east coast also unified,
but this union soon faltered.
French intervention and rule
France invaded Madagascar in 1883 in what became known as the first Franco-Hova War seeking to restore
property that had been confiscated from French citizens. (Hova is one of three Merina classes: andriana -
aristocracy, hova - common people, andevo - slaves. The term hova was wrongly used by the French to mean
Merina.) At the wars end, Madagascar ceded Antsiranana (Diego Suarez) on the northern coast to France and
paid 560,000 gold stripers francs to the heirs of Joseph-François Lambert. In 1890 the British accepted
the full formal imposition of a French protectorate over Madagascar that had been imposed in a milder
form in 1885, in return for eventual control over Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) and as part of an overall
definition of spheres of influence in the area.
In 1895, a French flying column landed in Mahajanga (Majunga) and marched to the capital, Antananarivo,
where the city's defenders were taken by surprise, as they were expecting an attack from the much closer
east coast. Twenty French soldiers died fighting and 6,000 died of malaria and other diseases before the
second Franco-Hova War ended.
After the conclusion of hostilities, in 1896 the French Parliament voted to annex Madagascar. The 103-year-old
Merina monarchy ended with the royal family being sent into exile in Algeria. In December 1904, the Russian
Baltic Fleet docked at Antsiranana (Diego Suarez) for coal and provisions before sailing on to its doomed
encounter with the Japanese fleet in the Battle of Tsushima. Before leaving port the Russian sailors were
required to put ashore the animals they had acquired, including monkeys, boa constrictors and one crocodile.
During World War II, Malagasy troops fought in France, Morocco, and Syria. Just before the fall of France,
Germany planned to forcibly deport all of Europe's Jews to Madagascar in what was known as the Madagascar
Plan. But action on the plan was never begun. After France fell to Germany, the Vichy government administered
Madagascar. During the Battle of Madagascar, British troops occupied the strategic island in 1942 to preclude
its seizure by the Japanese, after which the Free French took over.
In 1947, with French prestige at low ebb, a nationalist uprising was suppressed after several months of
bitter fighting with 8,000 persons killed. The French later established reformed institutions in 1956
under the Loi Cadre (Overseas Reform Act), and Madagascar moved peacefully towards independence. The
Malagasy Republic was proclaimed on October 14, 1958, as an autonomous state within the French Community.
A period of provisional government ended with the adoption of a constitution in 1959 and full independence
on June 26, 1960.
Madagascar ·
History ·
Politics ·
Geography ·
Ecology ·
Economy ·
Foreign relations ·
Demographics
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