Malagasy

The Malagasy group arose over centuries when Austronesian settlers from southern Borneo, who mostly settled the interior, mixed with Bantu migrants from Southeast Africa, who founded communities on the coasts. They speak Malagasy, an Austronesian language.

By the Middle Ages over a dozen ethnic identities had formed, each under local chieftains. The Sakalava, Merina and Betsimisaraka were later united into kingdoms that grew rich on trade with Europeans and Arabs; pirates were active on the coast from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Around 1800 Andrianampoinimerina reunited the highland kingdom of Imerina, and his son Radama I extended its rule over much of the island.