{{Infobox ethnic group , group = Antalaotra , image = File:Antalaotra man.jpg , caption = The Antalaotra, a coastal group with strong East African features, unlike typical Malagasy population. , population = , regions =

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

(Mahajanga)

Mayotte Mayotte ( ; , ; , ; , ), officially the Department of Mayotte (), is an Overseas France, overseas Overseas departments and regions of France, department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the Overseas departm ...

, languages =

Kiantalaotsy Kiantalaotsy is a northern dialect of Malagasy in Mayotte. It's a dialect of Bushi. ''Mayotte: Actes du Colloque universitaire, Mamoudzou, 23–24 avril 1991 à l'occasion du 150e anniversaire du rattachement à la France''. Page 76. Classifica ...

Northern Sakalava
Shimaore

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

, religions = Islam , related = Swahillis, Other Malagasy ethnic groups The Antalaotra are a small ethnic group from the northwest region of Madagascar.

Etymology

The name ''Antalaotra'' comes from the Malagasy language and means "people of the sea,"

History

The Antalaotra descended from Swahili traders who settled in Madagascar between the 10th and 12th centuries marrying Malagasy women or

Makoa The Makoa (or Masombika) are an ethnic group in Madagascar descended from enslaved people from mainland Africa that were traded through the major slave trading ports of northern Mozambique in an area mainly populated by the Makua people. They a ...

wives and adopting

Malagasy language Malagasy ( ; ; Sorabe: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language and dialect continuum spoken in Madagascar. The standard variety, called Official Malagasy, is one of the official languages of Madagascar, alongside French language, F ...

. The Antalaotra acted as trade facilitators between Madagascar and the East African coast. In 1506, the Portuguese tried to break their trade monopoly by launching raids killing both Arabs and Antalaotra and looting their settlements but eventually failed. The Antalaotra became vassals of the Kingdom of Boina in the

18th Century The 18th century lasted from 1 January 1701 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCI) to 31 December 1800 (MDCCC). During the 18th century, elements of Enlightenment thinking culminated in the Atlantic Revolutions. Revolutions began to ch ...

after the conquest of Andriamandisoarivo. Many Antalaotra fled to Mayotte during the Merina-Sakalava war in the

19th Century The 19th century began on 1 January 1801 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 (MCM). It was the 9th century of the 2nd millennium. It was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was Abolitionism, ...

especially when the Merina army burned their capital

Mahajanga Mahajangā (French: Majunga) is a city and an administrative district on the northwest coast of Madagascar. The city of Mahajanga (Mahajanga I) is the capital of the Boeny Region. The district (identical to the city) had a population of 258,068 ...

.Guillain, Charles. ''Documents sur l'histoire, la géographie et le commerce de la partie occidentale de Madagascar'', p. 121, 1845.

Geographic Location

The Antalaotra live mostly in

and

Culture

Antalaotra culture is more East African than the rest of Malagasy. Most of Antalaotra bear Arabic or Swahili names and they adopt rarely Malagasy names. Their language is

, a Malagasy dialect very influenced by

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

Religion

The Antalaotra were among the first to bring

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

to Madagascar.

References