Sampy

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Each sampy was made of different materials.

A sampy is an amulet or idol with religious and often also political meaning that is widespread among many ethnic groups in Madagascar. Amulets took an important place in popular belief. Ody, for example, were personal amulets, which were assigned protective function and power effects for the wearer. These "simple" amulets were worn by people of all castes. In contrast, only amulets were called sampy , which should have an effect on the whole society. Outwardly, however, they hardly differed from the Ody . The Sampy were often personified and given their own apartments with servants who were at their command.

In the 16th century, King Ralambo of the Merina brought together twelve of the most important and powerful Sampy from the surrounding tribal areas and institutionalized a special relationship between Sampy and ruler: while in the past the Sampy was primarily a tool in the power of the leader, the amulets became the divine protector of the rulers and the well-being of the state. This included that the succession of rule was not interrupted and that the respective rulers showed the Sampy the necessary respect. Ralambo strengthened his position and his legitimation by collecting the twelve most important Sampy (12 as a sacred number).

The Tantara ny Andriana eto Madagasikara tells a story about the introduction of the idols in Imerina . According to legend, one day a woman called "Kalobe" came to Imerina. She was carrying a small object that was wrapped in banana leaves and grass. She had come from a village near Isondra in the Betsileo area. Her village had been destroyed by fire and she only ran at night to present the king with the object she referred to as the Kelimalaza ("the little famous one"). In doing so, she gave the impression that it was nothing less than the country's greatest treasure. Ralambo picked up the sampy and built a house for the idol in a nearby village. He then selected a group of adepts who, under the guidance of Kalobe, would learn the secrets of Kelimalaza . Tradition has it that Kalobe was "made to disappear" after students had learned enough. She should be prevented from running away with the precious idol.

An ody made of horn, wood, pearls and shells

Soon after, the legend goes on, a group of Sakalava (or Vazimba ) prepared an attack on Alasora , then called Ambohipeno . Ralambo announced that it would be enough to throw a rotten egg at the warriors, Kelimalaza would take care of the rest. The egg was thrown, hit a warrior in the forehead, and killed him on the spot. His body fell on and killed the next warrior, who in turn touched the next and so on until all were killed. This demonstrated the power of Kelimalaza as protector of the kingdom to the people of Merina . Kelimalaza was also invoked during a siege of Ambohimanambola . Thereupon a strong hailstorm broke out, which wiped out the enemies.

The place of honor Ralambo the Kelimalaza conceded encouraged other their Sampy to bring s to Ralambo. These had long been introduced by the Antaimoro . After Kelimalaza came Ramahavaly , who was believed to have power over snakes and defense against attacks, then Manjakatsiroa , who was supposed to protect the kingdom and became the favorite of Ralambo; then Rafantaka , who was said to be protected from injury and death; and others that came from the Antaimoro. an exception was Mosasa , who came from the Tanala forest people in the east. As a result, the popularity of Sampy s in the service of less influential people increased: Almost every village chief and many families got their own Sampy and claimed their power and protection.

However, there was also a countermovement. The local Sampy were destroyed or downgraded to Ody status at the end of the reign of Andrianjaka , Ralambo's son, leaving only twelve powerful Sampy , the so-called Sampin'andriana (the royal Sampy ) in the possession of the king. The Sampin'andriana were looked after by the "holders of the Sampy", who were often asked for advice by the kings and who had become influential factors of power by the end of the 19th century. The Sampy were worshiped until Queen Ranavalona II destroyed them in a fire in 1869 on the occasion of her public conversion to Christianity.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David Graeber: Lost people: magic and the legacy of slavery in Madagascar . Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN 2007, ISBN 978-0-253-21915-2 , pp. 35-38 (accessed March 2, 2011).
  2. ↑ a b c Camille de La Vaissière, Antoine Abinal: Vingt ans à Madagascar: colonization, traditions historiques, moeurs et croyances ( fr ). V. Lecoffre, Paris 1885, pp. 63-71 (accessed February 19, 2011).
  3. ^ A b Françoise Raison-Jourde: Les souverains de Madagascar ( fr ). Karthala Editions, Antananarivo 1983, ISBN 978-2-86537-059-7 , pp. 141-142 (accessed February 18, 2011).
  4. ↑ Joseph John Freeman, David Johns: A narrative of the persecution of the Christians in Madagascar: with details of the escape of six Christian refugees now in England . J. Snow, Berlin 1840 (accessed February 5, 2011).
  5. ^ Samuel Oliver: Madagascar: An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Island and its Former Dependencies, Volume 1 . Macmillan and Co., New York 1886, p. 118, (Retrieved February 3, 2011).