The Malagasy have been in Madagascar for 1500 to 2000 years, although stone artefacts indicate an older culture possibly existing there. The Malagasy people are a mixture of Asians and Africans. Most of the immigrants were Malay-Polonesians, who crossed the Indian Ocean from Indonesia and South-East Asia. But people came from eastern Africa as well. There were 18 official ‘tribes’ or clans inhabiting the islands mixed population with African slaves, Arab, Indian and Portuguese traders, European pirates and French colonists.
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive, in a fleet under Diego Dias’s command in 1500. The Portuguese. Dutch and British, in the centuries that followed, all failed to esta
The rise of Malagasy Kingdoms and small rival states emerged when trading arms and slaves with Europeans increased. By late in the 18th century the Merina clan had begun to dominate. In 1820 the British signed a treaty recognizing Madagascar as an independent state under Merina rule and well into the 20th century the British influence stayed strong.
French settlers came into Madagascar and the French developed the capital region. A railroad was built to connect the east coast port of Tamatave (modern Toamasina) to Tananarive, which ended up replacing Diego Suarez/Antsirabe Madagascar’s main port. The Comoro islands (Anjouan, Grand Comore, Mayotte, and Moheli) were annexed to Madagascar as dependencies in 1911. VSS, a Malagasy secr
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