Tanala

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Lemurbaby (talk | contribs) at 15:49, 21 February 2017. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Tanala
Tanala woman and child
Regions with significant populations
Madagascar
Languages
Malagasy
Related ethnic groups
Other Malagasy groups; Austronesian peoples


The Tanala are a Malagasy ethnic group that inhabit a forested inland region of south-east Madagascar near Manakara. Their name means "people of the forest." Tanala people identify with one of two sub-groups: the southern Ikongo group, who managed to remain independent in the face of the expanding Kingdom of Imerina in the 19th century, or the northern Menabe group, who submitted to Merina rule.

The Tanala speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in southern Borneo. Among the Tanala it is traditional to keep the body of a deceased individual for a month or more; the dead are then buried in the forest in coffins carved from large logs, with sacrifices to mark the cutting of the log and indications carved into a tree to indicate the location of the burial.

Ethnic identity

Distribution of Malagasy ethnic groups

The Tanala are a Malagasy ethnic group that inhabit a forested inland region of south-east Madagascar near Manakara.[1] They inhabit the forest bounded to either side by the Nosivolo and Matitanana rivers.[2] In 2013, the Tanala numbered around 400,000 people.[3] Their name means "people of the forest."[1] Several Tanala rulers trace their lineage back to Antaimoro ombiasy (wisemen) who migrated to the area after 1550.[4] Tanala people identify with one of two sub-groups: the southern Ikongo group, who managed to remain independent in the face of the expanding Kingdom of Imerina in the 19th century, or the northern Menabe group, who submitted to Merina rule.[4] Recently, researchers have suggested that the Tanala are not truly a separate ethnic group.[4]

History

The first settlers of Tanala country were the Vazimba, the island's earliest inhabitants. In the 17th century, the Zafirambo clan migrated into the territory from the southeastern coast. These newcomers traced their origins back to a leader called Rambo, whose gender is disputed in the oral histories. Rambo's parents both belonged to noble clans with Arab origins - the Anteony on the paternal side and the Zafiraminia on the maternal side. The Zafirambo relate that Rambo left Mananjary in the late 16th or early 17th century to settle near Ambositra. Rambo's descendants gradually moved south and then crossed the eastern ridge to settle near Manambondro. In the 18th century groups of Betsileo moved into this territory, including a group of blacksmiths (the Antamby) with whom the Zafirambo formed an alliance. Over the next 50 years, the Zafirambo expelled the ruling Antemahafaly clan from the Sandrananta and Manambondro valleys and united the commoners of the area under Zafirambo authority. The kingdom achieved its maximum extent (a span of 100 kilometers between the Faraony and Matetana rivers) in the mid-18th century under King Andriamatahetany[5] Several Tanala rulers trace their lineage back to Antaimoro ombiasy (wisemen) who migrated to the area after 1550.[6]

Over much of the 18th century the Ikongo-Tanala were engaged in conflict with the Antemoro, which concluded near the end of the century in a bloody Tanala conquest of the eastern coast.[7]

Society

Tanala society was historically divided into nobles, free people and slaves. Although Tanala nobles (mpanjaka) ruled the commoners, they were assisted by an advisor (anakandriana) who was a commoner, and consulted the commoners' elders (zoky olo). The king was accountable to his people, who had the power to remove him from his position of leadership.[8] Kings and their sons enjoyed certain privileges; only a king could carry a red parasol (a mark of nobility) and sat upon a throne made of several woven mats rolled together. Only he and his sons were allowed to wear silver bracelets around their wrists and ankles and silver necklaces, and these were only worn on festival days.[9] The homes of nobles were distinguished by affixing zebu horns or crossed and carved wooden stakes in the shape of zebu horns to both ends of the roof peak.[10] Nobles frequently intermarried to establish political alliances for greater influence and the stability and security of their territory.[11]

The social structures of the two major Tanala sub-groups had minor variations. Among the Tanala-Zafirambo, society was divided into the privileged class (fotsy, "white") and the commoners (mainty, "black"). The fotsy practiced rice cultivation, whereas the mainty grew tubers.[11]

Traditionally, the Tanala adhered to trial by ordeal to determine the guilt or innocence of an accused party. This typically consisted of requiring the accused to swim from one bank of a river to the other and back; if attacked by a crocodile, the party was considered guilty. If found innocent, the accuser was forced to pay a fine of four zebu, of which two were given to the accused and the two others went to the king and his advisor.[12]

Family affiliation

In the past, after delivery of a baby the mother would wash her hands in the blood of a freshly sacrificed chicken, bathe herself in hot water, and then rest upright beside a fire to make her sweat out impurities. The period that she needed to stay beside the fire varied; noblewomen might stay beside the fire for as long as several months, but more commonly the duration was eight days. Immediately after this period beside the fire was concluded, a party was held, which the mother had to attend regardless of her condition; the event was marked by the slaughter of zebu.[13] Immediately after birth, the baby would be bathed in cold water,[14] and a sorcerer would declare certain days to be lifelong fady (taboo days); if a baby was born on a day that was fady for both the mother and father, the child would be abandoned to die.[15]

Class affiliation

When a nobleman fell sick, it was forbidden for anyone to enter the sick prince's home, and any medicines had to be slipped into the house by a messenger.[16]

Culture

It is traditional to close the door to the house during mealtimes to prevent outsiders from seeing the family eat.[17]

Traditionally, all Tanala men and women regardless of social class wore clothing made from woven or beaten mats made from harefo reeds (Eleocharis plantagines). Mat clothing (tafitsihy) for women consisted of several rectangular pieces stitched together into a tube that was worn drawn up at the shoulder or belted at the waist, while men wore a beaten bark loincloth and a mat jacket or tunic with longer sleeves for older men.[18]

In Tanala country, each village near a river would enclose a portion of the bank with stakes to protect women and children from crocodiles when fetching water.[19]

Fady

Circumcision is an important ritual among the Tanala, as in many other Malagasy ethnic groups. A range of fady are associated with the practice, particularly for nobles. A noble Tanala mother became subject to a new range of fady after the circumcision of her son. She was thereafter forbidden to take her son for a walk, eat on her own bed or in secret, or consume dried meat of any kind or the meat of a zebu that had been slaughtered (as opposed to having died of natural causes). If she broke any of these taboos, or if the child urinated or defecated during the circumcision ceremony, the child would lose his noble status (an older fady previously required that the child be put to death in such cases).[20]

Among certain Tanala communities, the Indri lemur (babakoto) is considered sacred and is protected by a range of fady. For instance, they cannot be killed or eaten, and if captured they must be set free; if they are found dead or inadvertently killed, they must be buried like a person.[9] Pigs are also considered fady and Tanala people cannot have any contact with them, a taboo most likely originating in Islamic influences.[21]

The mountain of Ambondrombe was also fady for the Tanala and none were allowed to travel there.[22]

Funeral rites

Among the Tanala it is traditional to keep the body of a deceased individual for a month or more; the dead are then buried in the forest in coffins carved from large logs, with sacrifices to mark the cutting of the log and indications carved into a tree to indicate the location of the burial.[4] In certain Tanala communities, bodies are buried in a tomb, while among others, they are placed inside huts in a designated part of the forest, which is thereafter considered sacred and forbidden to visit.[23]

Language

The Tanala speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in southern Borneo.

Economy

Their major crops are coffee and rice.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Bradt & Austin 2007, p. 28.
  2. ^ Thompson & Adloff 1965, p. 278.
  3. ^ Diagram Group 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e Bradt & Austin 2007, p. 29.
  5. ^ Raison-Jourde 1983, pp. 299–300.
  6. ^ Ogot 1992, p. 855.
  7. ^ Ogot 1992, p. 880.
  8. ^ Raison-Jourde 1983, p. 40.
  9. ^ a b Gennep 1904, p. 90.
  10. ^ Gennep 1904, p. 91.
  11. ^ a b Raison-Jourde 1983, p. 25.
  12. ^ Gennep 1904, p. 19.
  13. ^ Gennep 1904, pp. 167–8.
  14. ^ Gennep 1904, p. 175.
  15. ^ Gennep 1904, p. 178.
  16. ^ Gennep 1904, pp. 86–7.
  17. ^ Gennep 1904, p. 157.
  18. ^ Condra 2013, p. 456.
  19. ^ Campbell 2012, p. 473.
  20. ^ Gennep 1904, p. 151.
  21. ^ Thompson & Adloff 1965, p. 380.
  22. ^ Gennep 1904, pp. 220–1.
  23. ^ Gennep 1904, pp. 68–9.

Bibliography

  • Beaujard, Philippe (1983). Princes et paysans - Les Tanala de l'Ikongo: Un espace social du Sud-Est de Madagascar (in French). Paris: Editions L'Harmattan. ISBN 9782296293038. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Bradt, Hilary; Austin, Daniel (2007). Madagascar (9th ed.). Guilford, CT: The Globe Pequot Press Inc. pp. 113–115. ISBN 1-84162-197-8. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Campbell, Gwyn (2012). David Griffiths and the Missionary "History of Madagascar". Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. ISBN 9789004209800. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Condra, Jill (2013). Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World. Los Angeles: ABC Clio. ISBN 978-0-313-37637-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Diagram Group (2013). Encyclopedia of African Peoples. San Francisco, CA: Routledge. ISBN 9781135963415. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Gennep, A.V. (1904). Tabou Et Totémisme à Madagascar (in French). Paris: Ernest Leroux. ISBN 978-5-87839-721-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Ogot, Bethwell A. (1992). Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Paris: UNESCO. ISBN 9789231017117. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Raison-Jourde, Françoise (1983). Les souverains de Madagascar (in French). Paris: Karthala Editions. ISBN 978-2-86537-059-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Thompson, Virginia; Adloff, Richard (1965). The Malagasy Republic: Madagascar Today. San Francisco, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0279-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tanala&oldid=766688385"