The Bantu in Madagascar the Malagasy Race Affinity
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305 THE BANTU IN MADAGASCAR THE MALAGASY RACE AFFINITY. (With notes by Sir Harry Johnston.) li FOR a very long time it has been known that Madagascar ethnographically belongs to Asia. One of the first, not to say the first European, who pointed out scientifically the race- affinity between the Malagasy and the Malayan was Hout- man in his Sfraeh ende Woordebech end* Maleysche end* Madagascarsche Talen, 1613. Since then Marre, Van der Tuuk, Kern, Brandes, Smidt, Branstettert and G. Ferrand have done great work with the help of comparative language- study to settle once for all the question of the Malagasy race origin. The result of these long and thoroughgoing researches could be summed up in the following terms t— 1. The Malagasy language belongs to the occidental branch of the Malayo-polynesian group of languages (the tongues of Formosa, Celebes, the Philippines, Borneo, the Malayan Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, Madura, etc.). a. It is most closely related to the BATAK language of Sumatra. 3. The element of Sanscrit in Malagasy proves that the immigrations from the mother source—from Sumatra—took place after the epoch of the Indianising of the Malay language through the Indian invasions of the Malay Peninsula, Java, and Sumatra, which began about $00 B.C. It has therefore been generally agreed to call the Malagasy Indonesians in respect of their race-affinity. 4. It is not correct, as generally believed hitherto, that the 10 Vol. IB 306 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY different dialects on the island date from different immigra- tions, of which that of the Hovas would be the most recent. The study of comparative phonetics has proved that the Malagasy language is a perfect unity, and that it has developed as a Malayan dialect. But the Hova form of it is the most remote from the primi- tive type. (See Phonit&que Comparie, G. Ferrand, pp. 188- 189.) 5. The existence of the light-skinned Hova-type of very pure Malayan origin (about 500,000 individuals), especially in the noble caste, could only be explained by the endogamic marriage customs strongly maintained. The Arab Element It has also been known and strongly documented (Les Musulmans i Madagascar, G. Ferrand, 1891 and 190a) that Madagascar has received an important contribution to its population from Arabian sources, both pre- and post-Islamic. Although it is more a question of religious and cultural influ- ence than a mixing of the races, the Semitic type not having been able to prevail in mixing with the Indonesians in the island. The Arabic deposit in the language has been identified in chronological, astrological, salutation, and commercial ex* pressions, besides in words for cloths, dress, music, books, writing, etc. (Antananarivo Annual 1876, p. 75). Last, but not least, the Arab immigrants were the first to introduce the art of writing in the island. Many of the written manuscripts have been preserved, some of them dating back earlier than 173a. And these Arabico-malagasy MSS. have been of immense value for the study of the phonetic development of the Malagasy language, and are fully used by G. Ferrand, the able French linguist and connoisseur of these old documents. The Swahili and East African Element Partly in connection with the Arab immigration and partly quite independently thereof, there is to be observed a limited THE BANTU IN MADAGASCAR 307 influence of the Swahili and other East African Bantu people (i.e., Makua and Comorian) in the island. The modern type of Swahili is limited to the North-West coast, and is chiefly due to the traffic of sailors and merchants. But it is a general rule that both Swahili, Comorians and the descendants of the old Makua slaves do not mix with the genuine Malagasy tribes, but form small communities retaining their language and customs as far as possible. Ethnographically this move- ment is then not so interesting. An Older African Element. Far more so are the many observations from the time Europeans began to frequent the island right up to the latest period of types and individuals who have been called negroes, blacks, Kafirs, Nigritians, Bantu, etc. In 1613 the Portuguese missionary, Luis Mariano, who lived for some months on the West-coast, wrote that he saw two different races: One intelligent but less robust, speaking " BUKI," 1 a language, he thought, much like the Malayan. The other one was less intelligent but more robust, and spoke another language (?), which he thought was identical with that of African negroes, of whom they looked like being the progeny. (Qoletim. Soc. Geog. de Lxsboa 7, series No. 5.) Since then the report of the Negrito-type living besides that of the Indonesian have been multiplied to such a degree that in the 'eighties men like Quatrefages, Harny, Grandidier, etc, classified many of the largest tribes in the island as Bantu negroes. But they wrote evidently under misleading information. Tin Waxhnba. When the European study of the African element in Madagascar began, one tribe, and one name in particular, made itself prominent in every respect, viz., that of The Wasimba. Already Robert Drury, in his famous Journal, mentioned the Wazimba and their pretension to be the aborigines of the 1 BuJdit the oldSwshm name to Hadagaawr,—H.H.J. 308 JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY island (Rob. Drwry's Journal, p. 313). He says that they had a peculiar language of their own, besides the ordinary Malagasy. In the interior, explorers, missionaries, and travellers everywhere came across stones (monoliths) and graves belong- ing to the so-called " Wato-mbazimba and Fasa-mbazimba («„ Wazimba-stones and Wazimbfrgraves), which were all regarded with awe and reverence. The traditions about these Wazimba are very scarce and incoherent. But it is main- tained that a people of rather small stature and ugly appear- ance lived in the country before the arrival of the now indi- genous race. They partly mixed with the new-comers, and partly fled westward. Apparently they became in time an extinct race. But their spirits are thought to hover about their old dwellings and graves, and the so-called " Wazimba-worship " consists in evoking these spirits and bringing them sacrifices. A con- siderable controversy has for years been carried on about these Wazimba. In Waitz's Anthropology the Wazimba of Madagascar were made out to be cousins of the Masimba of East Africa (Vol. II, p. 358). Waitz was supported by the Revd. Dahle in the Antan- anarivo Annual, 1883. But the chief argument to support the hypothesis being based only on the name, men like Grandidier, Malzac, Gautier, etc., contested the theory on ethnological grounds. One good result of the Wazimba controversy was, how- ever, that attention was directed to certain philological strata in the Malagasy language which indicated a connection with the continent. So Mr. Dahle pointed out in the Antananarivo Annual, 1883, that names for domestic animals were unmis- takably of African origin. And later, during the discussion of the Swahili words in Mr. Richardson's Malagasy-English dictionary, he gave the following canon for distinguishing the so-called "original African element " in Malagasy : " Wherever a Malagasy word of common occurrence and referring to objects of common life is found, not only in Swahili, but also in other African language, it is almost certain that it has not been introduced into Malagasy through THE BANTU IN MADAGASCAR 309 Swahili, but belongs to the original African element in the language " (Ant. Arm^ 1885, p. 102). Besides words mentioned above of Swahili origin marked in Richardson's dictionary, several lists of pretended African words have been collected, but none of special interest. The chief work of later years treating the African element in Malagasy is L'Origine Africaine its Malgaches, by G. Fer- rand, originally a contribution to the Journal Asiatique. His conclusions could be summed up as follows:— 1. The root-word Zimba (Wa-ximba, Ba-zimba, Aba- zimba) is unquestionably of Bantu (African) origin, and is found as a tribal name in parts of East and Central Africa. 3. It is necessary to distinguish between the ancient and modern Swahili influence on the West coast and the element of original Bantu words which may be found in Malagasy speech all over the island. This last Bantu ingredient was not derived from travelling sailors and merchants, but came from a population which had root in the soil before the com- mencement of Indonesian immigration. 3. This now extinct population may possibly have be- longed to a pygmy Negro race (loc. cii., p. 150). If so it would explain the fact that all over the island the folklore and traditions point to a pre-historic pygmy population. These stories may be traced from the south to the north of Mada- gascar. The names of the pygmy race are given as: Ante- satrua, Untsua, Ampilampi, Umpire, Kimusi, Anakimusi, Kalanuru, etc^ etc. It is worth noticing that the Kimusi are specially mixed up with the Wazimba tradition. Monsieur Commerson was the first European who gave a detailed description of the Kimusi, or pygmy people, living in the mountain fastness near Fort-Dauphin. His report was published by Modave (Voyage a Madagascar el aux Jndes, Paris, 1791), and created some curiosity, but was not taken seriously. The whole matter was regarded as fictitious right up to the latest time. Monsieur Ferrand having taken note of these traditions, however, tried to find some traces elsewhere, and recorded the name of the pygmy tribe as " Antambahuaka." 3IO JOURNAL OF THE AFRICAN SOCIETY He thinks the word is composed of Anta-vahwaka, " the people Vahwaka." He further derives Vahwaka from Wak- waka, synonoym of Baka, Bakebake, consisting of the Kwa- kwa or root-wood for pygmy Negro races belonging to the occidental branch, as contrasted with TWA, the root stem for pygmies belonging to the oriental branch.