Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
History
In the grand scheme of history, Madagascar is a baby. Although the country has existed in
its current form for nearly 100 million years, humans only set foot on the island about 2000
years ago.
Madagascar's first settlers came from Southeast Asia and were soon joined by migrants
from neighbouring Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. This melting pot of Indian Ocean pop-
ulations evolved in distinct kingdoms, which were only brought together as a unified people
in the 18th century, and after much resistance.
This newfound unity proved too weak to sustain the repeated onslaught of European im-
perialists, however. The French eventually claimed Madagascar as their own in 1896, a title
they retained until 1960. The independence movement had started during the 1930s, and
after a brief interruption during WWII, regained momentum in the 1950s.
It took another decade or so to shake off colonialism's long shadow, and in 1975 President
Didier Ratsiraka took Madagascar on a radically different path to socialism. The experiment
came to an unhappy end in 1993, following elections brought about by two years of violent
protests.
Since then, Madagascar has bumped from one violently ousted leader to the next. In1996,
Albert Zafy was impeached for abuse of power and Ratsiraka made a brief comeback; he
was eventually forced into exile in France after contesting the victory of Marc Ravaloman-
ana in the 2001-02 presidential elections. In 2009, it was Ravalomanana's turn to be given
the boot, after popular uprisings brought Andry Rajoelina to power.
Malagasies now, understandably, hope for peaceful, fair and free elections to choose their
next president.
Arrivals from Asia & Europe
Best History Books
»
A History of Madagascar
, by Mervyn Brown
»
Madagascar: A Short History
, by Solofo Randrianja and Stephen Ellis
Considering that human beings evolved on the African continent just across the Mozambi-
que Channel, their arrival in Madagascar was comparatively late (around AD 400) and by a
rather circuitous route. Anthropological and ethnographical clues indicate that Indo-Malay-
an seafarers may have colonised the island after migrating in a single voyage, stopping en
route at various points in the Indian Ocean. Their coastal craft possibly worked their way
along the shores of India, Arabia and East Africa, trading as they went, before finally arriv-
ing in Madagascar. Linguistic clues also support this theory, as elements of Sanskrit have
been identified in the Malagasy language.
