Antaimoro
The Antaimoro (also: Antemoro ) are an ethnic group ( Foko ) in Madagascar , which is mainly located on the southeast coast in the area between Manakara and Farafangana . About 500,000 people belong to the people. They themselves trace their ancestry back to Arab settlers who immigrated from the area of Mecca in the 15th or 16th centuries . These Arabs encouraged local people to convert to Islam. However, Islam was soon pushed into the background again. In the 16th century, a kingdom of the Antemoro came into being and replaced the rule of the Zafiraminia, who were also descendants of Arab seafarers.
The Antemoro have a reputation for being powerful magicians and astrologers, partly because they used to have a monopoly on writing thanks to the Sorabe script . The ombiasy (astrologer sages) of the Antemoro wandered across the island, where they offered their arts to the village communities. They also served as advisers to kings and sometimes founded new principalities themselves. It is believed that this mobility and the creation of a powerful network of spiritual advisors across the island helped the Malagasy peoples develop a common identity. The Kingdom of Antemoro was abolished in the late 19th century after a popular uprising. Today the Antemoro live scattered around the area of origin on the southeast coast. They grow rice and coffee and make salt and magic objects. The Antemoro often leave their homes for six to ten months each year to act as an ombiasy . Almost every village in Madagascar has an ombiasy and most of them are Antemoro. Only a few did their training in the home of the Antemoro without belonging to the people. The production of the Antemoro paper , a paper with flower inclusions for the recording of secret writings in sorabe script , is another important source of income. The papers are often sold to tourists and exported overseas.
Ethnicity
"Antemoro" means "people of the coast" in Malagasy. The residential area is located on the southeast coast between Manakara and Farafangana . Some of them are of Arabic origin. In 2013, the Antemoro group was estimated at 500,000 people.
history
The Antemoro are among the late arrivals in Madagascar. Settlers immigrated from the Arab region early on, but a larger wave of immigration can be detected around 1500. These immigrants met other groups such as the Zafiraminia , who also traced their origins back to Mecca and East Africa and had high status in the indigenous Malagasy communities because they had brought important techniques with them from overseas. They also shared the ancestral sacrifice ( sombili ), an extremely powerful and important ritual for the Malagasy communities. Oral and written traditions report that the Antemoro sought marital connections with the Zafiraminia, but were not accepted by them. A conflict developed between the two groups for supremacy. In the oral traditions of other Malagasy peoples, a fight between two giants is reported.
In the picture a manufactory in Ambalavao .
Around 1550 the conflict seems to have reached a turning point when the noble family of the Zafikasimambo came to power in Matitana . The head of the family married a local woman. Historical texts trace the ancestry of the head of the family, Zafikazimambobe , back to the noble Ramarohala of the Anteony tribe , who had lived there for three generations, while other sources claim that this genealogy was falsified and that the Zafikazimambo family had only recently arrived. However, these texts at least show that the conflicts dragged on over three generations until the Antemoro had successfully integrated, and how difficult it was to be accepted into the caste society. When the Zafikasimambo clan came to power, they adopted the rituals of the Zafiraminia and established their family members as the main ombiasy (wise men). They regularly left their homeland to offer their services wherever requested. The ombiasy were also often teachers of the spiritual leaders of other communities and peoples, thereby strengthening the supremacy of the Matitana ombiasy outside their clan. The Zafikasimambo used the right to sombily (ritual sacrifice) to shape and control economic activities and increasingly also political structures. In order to end the conflict with the Zafiraminia , they killed as many male clan members as possible and took the women and children to remote areas. This created the first strong Antemoro kingdom.
Under the rule of the Zafikasimambo, the freedom of the common people was severely restricted and religion became a central factor in social and political life. The conflict between Antemoro and Zafiraminia also led to increased emigration from this part of Madagascar. In contrast to the other peoples of Madagascar, who by and large strive to return to the land of their ancestors, the Antemoro had no geographical ties. The Ombiasy wandered far across the country and often settled at the courts of kings. Their arcane knowledge, skills of writing, medicine and technology, as well as other fields established their reputation as irreplaceable counselors, and they took up the profession of community astrologist throughout Madagascar, who shaped daily life. The Ombiasy of Matitana were, as Bethwell Ogot puts it, a network of institutionalized and wandering ombiasy that became key in transforming the societies of Madagascar and from an amalgam of island clans formed the outward-facing communities with greater awareness of others, which stimulated the territorial expansion of some kingdoms and the emergence of more complex constitutional forms. Oral tradition also suggests that the ancestors of some kings of the Merina , Tanala and Antanosy actually came from the Antemoro area.
In the early 18th century, the Antemoro had established themselves as the main exporters of rice and slaves. By 1700 they were embroiled in a conflict between Ikongo and Tanala , which ended in the bloody Tanala invasion of the eastern coastal plains. Soon after, the leading Antemoro Andriamamohotra entered into an alliance and vassal alliance with Andrianampoinimerina , the king of the ruling Imerina , in order to guarantee peace again.
Society and culture
origin
Antemoro villages can be found mainly on the southeast coast near Vohipeno and Manakara . Society was traditionally divided into two castes: the mpanombily (also: tompomenakely ), who as nobles traced their origins back to emigrants from Mecca, and the menakely , the working and slave class, who were among the indigenous people and who belonged to the "Arabs "or had emerged from slaves brought with them by the Arabs. The mpanombily included noble families such as the Anakara , Onjatsy , Tsimaito , Antaiony , Antalaotra , Antaisambo , Antaimahazo . The clans were each assigned certain social tasks, such as the slaughter of animals.
family
Every Antemoro clan was endogamous and marriages outside the clan were taboo. Those who broke the taboo were mourned like the dead and completely excluded from society.
society
Arab and Islamic influences have a strong impact on the Antemoro culture. Traditionally, men's clothing includes a turban or a Fez- like hat and long, wide robes, as worn in other Islamic cultures. Harefo- Ried was woven into mats ( tafitsihy ) that were sewn together and worn as jackets or coats; a loincloth made of fanto ( pounded “ barkcloth ” - bark fabric ) was worn as an undergarment . Women wore sleeveless sheath dresses sewn together tafitsihy mats that were besfestigt with a belt, or were pulled over his shoulder. Adult women often also wore a braided headband or headscarf. "Lambas" made of cotton or other material were banned in order to reduce their attractiveness to outsiders. The Antemoro were valued as astrologers and they had access to many of the royal houses. Their predictions were based on the phases of the moon . Among other things, they also had an influence on the King Andrianampoinimerina of Merina , who received lessons in Sorabe, and the introduction of royal sampy (talismans) in the Kingdom of Madagascar goes back to the ombiasy .
Kings of the Antemoro ( andrianony ) were chosen from the Anakara clan by public election. The clan lived at the mouth of the Matitanana River near the city of Manakara , which takes its name from the family. After the election, the kings were given a quasi-sacred status. The fady (taboo) they created received superstitious heed for centuries after the Creator's death. The anakara were responsible for protecting the sacred idols and texts and spoke a secret language to pass on their arcane knowledge to one another. People believed that the family in contact with powerful Dschinnies ( ziny ) and other spirits stand and had to bring forth the reputation of the most powerful magicians and astrologers. They knew how amulets were made, used magic spells and practiced geomancy with precious stones. To underline their prominent position in front of other members of the Antemoro Society, the Anakara lived in villages that were delimited by sharpened wooden palisades, where no one could enter without permission. Even the kings were constrained by fady . For example, they weren't allowed to wear shirts or hats.
religion
The Antemoro maintain traditional spiritual ideas and practices that correspond to those of other peoples on the island, but sometimes include aspects of Islam. They make amulets on which Qur'anic verses are written in Sorabe script . Even before the conversion to Islam, the Malagasy religion was monotheistic . The tradition distinguished a creator god and a large number of mediating spirits. In the 15th century the creator god was almost forgotten and the spirits were assigned divine status. After the arrival of Islam, new elements were added to the religion, but over time a form of ancestor worship and a cult around their fady (taboos and rules) took hold .
Fady
The fady (taboos) emerged from traditions of ancestral cult and Islamic and Arab cultural aspects. For example, an old taboo describes dogs as unclean, while the ban on pork clearly goes back to Islamic tradition. Likewise, members of each clan were not allowed to eat with members of other clans.
Funeral rites
All deceased, regardless of social class, are mourned without distinction. All members of the community participate in a week-long period of mourning, during which it is forbidden to wash or change clothes. On the eighth day the grief is broken and everyone bathes and dresses freshly. A widow must continue the period of mourning until the deceased's parents stop the period of mourning. A widower is locked in his home for two weeks and the in-laws send a female family member to look after him.
language
The Antemoro speak a dialect of Malagasy , a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages . They were the only ethnic group in Madagascar who had a written form of expression with the sorabe , an Arabic script . The Sorabe was replaced with Latin script by the Merina monarchy in the 19th century . The masters of this Sorabe script are called "katibo" and are considered to be particularly powerful. Astrological texts, historical records and other documents were mainly written with Sorabe . These texts were considered sacred.
economy
Many Antemoro still act as ombiasy and earn their living by serving as astrologers, magicians, or amulet makers; the men usually wander about six to ten months a year. Coffee production plays an important role in the area of origin today. The Ampanira clan traditionally produce sea salt. Paper manufacture also plays a role.
Personalities
- Andriamahazonoro and Ratsilikaina were two ombiasy who founded the first school in the Kingdom of Imerina and ran it from 1800 to 1804. They taught the future King Radama I and several other children. They taught Sorabe , making ink and paper, as well as astrology and the interpretation of signs. Andriamahazonoro was also one of the first three ambassadors to the British and to Mauritius ; he died in 1838 under Queen Ranavalona I of tangena poison, which he had to ingest in a trial as a divine judgment .
Individual evidence
- ^ Bradt Austin 2007: 23.
- ^ Diagram Group. 2013
- ^ Bradt, Austin 2007: 23.
- ↑ Ogot 1992: 853.
- ↑ Ogot 1992: 853.
- ^ Ogot 1992: 854.
- ^ Ogot 1992: 855.
- ^ Ogot 1992: 885
- ↑ Ogot 1992: 880.
- ^ Bradt Austin 2007: 23.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 130.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 130
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 139.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 136.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 160
- ^ Bradt Austin 2007: 302
- ^ Condra 2013: 456.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 160.
- ^ Gennep 1904: 131.
- ↑ Hamès 2007: 242.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 81
- ↑ Ferrand 1902: 12.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 42.
- ↑ Hamès 2007: 242
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 42
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 113.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 5
- ^ Bradt Austin 2007: 23.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 5
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 6.
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 137
- ^ Gennep 1904: 63.
- ^ Bradt Austin 2007: 23
- ^ Bradt Austin 2007: 302
- ↑ Gennep 1904: 169
- ↑ Thompson Adloff 1965: 264
- ↑ Campbell 2012: 455.
- ^ Bradt Austin 2007: 302.
- ^ Campbell 2012: 527.
- ↑ Campbell 2012: 627.
literature
- Hilary Bradt, Daniel Austin: Madagascar. The Globe Pequot Press Inc., Guilford, CT 2007: 113-115. [1] ISBN 1-84162-197-8
- Gwyn Campbell: David Griffiths and the Missionary "History of Madagascar". Brill, Leiden, Netherlands 2012. [2] ISBN 978-90-04-20980-0
- Jill Condra: Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World. ABC Clio, Los Angeles 2013. [3] ISBN 978-0-313-37637-5
- Diagram Group: Encyclopedia of African Peoples. Routledge, San Francisco 2013. [4] ISBN 978-1-135-96341-5
- Gabriel Ferrand: Les musulmans a Madagascar et aux Comores: Troisieme partie - Antankarana, sakalava, migrations arabes. Ernest Leroux, Paris 1902. [5]
- AV Gennep: Tabou Et Totémisme à Madagascar. Ernest Leroux, Paris 1904. [6] ISBN 978-5-87839-721-6
- Constant Hamès: Coran et talismans: textes et pratiques magiques en milieu musulman. Karthala, Paris 2007. [7] ISBN 978-2-84586-873-1
- Bethwell A. Ogot: Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century. UNESCO, Paris 1992. [8] ISBN 978-92-3-101711-7
- Virginia Thompson, Richard Adloff: The Malagasy Republic: Madagascar Today. Stanford University Press, San Francisco 1965 [9] ISBN 978-0-8047-0279-9