Bengoala

Bengoala lies in the mountainous north-central country of the Tsimihety, a people whose name means those who never cut their hair. Their traditions trace an origin on Madagascar's east coast. In the eighteenth century, people and cattle moved inland to the Mandritsara plain to escape the slave wars of the coast, and they soon accepted the rule of the Volafotsy, a clan associated with the Maroserana of the north.

Tsimihety society stressed family and kinship rather than a strong central hierarchy. Local decisions rested largely on informal consensus, and people viewed assertive leaders and commands with suspicion. Rice was the staple crop, and cattle remained central to both agriculture and wealth. A taboo forbade work on cultivated land on Tuesdays, and family ties, extended exogamy and migration spread Tsimihety communities across neighbouring groups.