Antemoro people
Somalis |
The Antemoro (or Antaimoro, "people of the shore") are an
The Antemoro (Anteony clan) soon developed a reputation as powerful sorcerers and astrologers, in large part owing to their monopoly on knowledge of writing, termed
Today the Antemoro remain clustered around the southeast coastal homeland, where they grow rice and coffee, produce salt, and manufacture charms. The Antemoro often leave their homeland for six to ten months out of the year or more to work as ombiasy offering charms, spells, divinations and other arcane services. Nearly every village in Madagascar has an ombiasy, and many are either Antemoro themselves or have traveled to the Antemoro homeland to receive training. The community's historic production of Antemoro paper, a flower-embedded paper traditionally used to record secret knowledge using sorabe, is another major source of income as the paper is commonly sold to tourists and exported overseas.
Ethnic identity
"Antemoro", in the
History
Some of the more recent settlers on the island of Madagascar are found amongst the Antemoro
Around 1550 the mounting conflict seems to have reached a turning point with the Zafikasimambo noble family rising to power in Matitana following the family leader's marriage to a local woman. Historical texts tie the lineage of the family's leader, Zafikazimambobe, to Anteony noble Ramarohala, who had settled there at least three generations before. Other historical sources confirm however that the genealogy described in these texts is not factual, and that the Zafikazimambo family had only newly arrived and so had no demonstrable descent from local nobles. Rather, these texts suggest that it took over three generations for the Antemoro to successfully integrate into the society through intermarriage and other means, and also reflect an awareness among the Antemoro of the importance of local caste and lineage traditions and their need to find a place within them. Upon rising to power, the Zafikasimambo clan absorbed the ritual privileges of the former Zafiraminia clan and had established themselves as the premier ombiasy (wise men) who practiced astrology and served as scribes; they regularly left the Antemoro homeland to provide their services where needed. These ombiasy also often trained the spiritual leaders of other communities, further reinforcing the preeminence of the Matitana ombiasy as masters of arcane knowledge and those outside their clan who sought to learn or dispense it. The Zafikasimambo used their right to conduct sombily (ritual sacrifice) to shape and increasingly control political and economic activities in the area. To end the conflict with the Zafiraminia, they executed as many males of the group as possible and relegated the women and children to restricted areas. In this way they established the first strong Antemoro kingdom.[8] They are rare among Malagasy clans as newcomers who successfully established their own kingdom within a short time after landing on the island.[9]
Under Antemoro Zafikasimambo leadership, the commoners' freedom was significantly reduced and religion became a central feature of social and political life. The conflict between the Antemoro and Zafiraminia nobles and the resulting Zafikasimambo rule also established a tradition of emigration from this part of the island. Unlike the majority of Malagasy who generally seek to return to their ancestral land, the Antemoro initially felt no such call to remain linked to a geographic area. As a result, the ombiasy of the Antemoro traveled widely, some moving from place to place and others settling permanently at royal courts and elsewhere. Their arcane knowledge of writing, medicine, technology and other areas both established their reputation as indispensable advisers to nobles and commoners alike, and instilled the island-wide feature of the community astrologer who shapes daily life. The ombiasy of Matitana were According to historian Bethwell Ogot, the network of stationary and itinerant Antemoro ombiasy were key in transforming the societies of Madagascar from an amalgam of insular clans to outward looking communities with greater awareness of others, leading to territorial expansion and larger, more complex kingdoms.
By the early 18th century, the Antemoro had established themselves as major rice and slave exporters.[12] Throughout the 1700s, the Antemoro were embroiled in a conflict with the Ikongo-Tanala that culminated in a bloody Tanala invasion of the eastern coastal plain. Shortly afterward, a major Antemoro leader named Andriamamohotra established an alliance and vassal relationship with the king then ruling Imerina, Andrianampoinimerina, to reestablish peace.[13]
Society
Antemoro villages are primarily clustered in the southeastern coastal area near
Antemoro kings (andrianony
Family affiliation
Each Antemoro clan was endogamous and marriage outside the clan was deeply taboo.[21] Those who transgressed were mourned as if dead and were entirely cut off from the community.[22]
Religious affiliation
The Antemoro adhere to the traditional spiritual beliefs and practices common throughout the island, although different Antemoro clans and families incorporate aspects of Islam to varying degrees.
Culture
East African Bantu, Arab and Islamic influences strongly mark Antemoro culture. Traditionally, Antemoro men's clothing included a turban or fez style hat and long, loose robes similar to those worn in many other parts of the Muslim world.[24] Harefo reeds were woven to form mats (tafitsihy) that were sewn together to form jackets and tunics (with long sleeves for older men); a loincloth made of fanto (beaten barkcloth) was worn beneath the ensemble. Women wore sleeveless sheath dresses made from two or three reed mats sewn together and belted at the waist or drawn over one shoulder. Adolescent and adult women often also wore a mat bandeau or halter top.[25] It was historically forbidden for women to wear lambas made of cotton or any other material than woven raffia mats, as it was believed this could render them more attractive to men outside their clan, with whom they were forbidden to marry.[22]
The Antemoro were reputed across the island for being the only ethnic group to have developed a written form of the Malagasy language, sorabe, which used Arabic script; this form of writing was largely replaced elsewhere by the Latin alphabet under the
Fady
Taboos (fady) among the Antemoro derive from ancestral traditions as well as from aspects of Islamic and Arab culture. An Antemoro taboo against dogs as unclean, although shared by Islam, actually predates the arrival of the religion on the island.[28] The prohibition against eating pork, however, originated with the introduction of Islam. Traditionally, members of a given Antemoro clan could only eat with others of the same clan.[29]
Funeral rites
The death of any member of the community is mourned in the same way, regardless of social class. All community members participate in a week-long period of mourning for the deceased, during which time they are forbidden to wash or change clothing. On the eighth day, the mourning period is broken and everyone bathes and dresses in fresh attire. A female widow must continue the mourning period until the parents of the deceased declare it completed. A male widower remains shut away in his home for a period of one or two weeks, during which time the parents of the deceased send a female family member to care for him and keep him company.[30]
Language
The Antemoro speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in southern Borneo. The language is traditionally written using the sorabe script, and those who master this form of writing are called katibo and are considered to possess unusual power. Sorabe writings traditionally ranged from instructional texts for teaching astrology, to historical records and other forms of documentation, and materials written using the sorabe script were considered to be sacred.[24]
Among various Antemoro clans, the religious specialists (especially the Anakara) preserve and speak a secret language called Kalamo. Kalamo is an Arabic language that utilizes Malagasy morphology and syntax that the locals call kalamon' Antesitesy.[31]
Economy
Many Antemoro work as ombiasy and earn their livelihood selling their services as astrologers, sorcerers, or crafters of powerful amulets; it is common for men to travel for six to ten months out of the year.[32] Coffee production is widespread in the Antemoro homeland and generates income for many families. Those who own little or no land often emigrate to work as agricultural laborers in the north and west.[33] The Antemoro Ampanira clan was historically a main producer and trader of sea salt.[34] The Antemoro are well known for their handmade paper, which is often decorated using pressed fresh flowers and leaves. Antemoro paper is a major product marketed to tourists.[24]
Notable Antemoro
The first formal school in the
Notes
- ^ Tracing Arab-Islamic inheritance in Madagascar: study of the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA in the Antemoro
- ^ Kasanga Fernand, Fifindra-monina, Antananarivo, Imprimerie luthérienne
- ^ ‘Mecca’s Counting’: from Mathematic Game to Political Myth (Antemoro Country, South-East Madagascar)
- ^ a b c d e Bradt & Austin 2007, p. 23.
- ^ Diagram Group 2013.
- ^ Solofo Randrianja and Stephen Ellis, Madagascar: A Short History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), p. 57
- ^ Randrianja and Ellis, Madagascar, p. 62
- ^ a b Ogot 1992, p. 853.
- ^ Ogot 1992, p. 856.
- ^ Ogot 1992, p. 854.
- ^ Ogot 1992, p. 855.
- ^ Ogot 1992, p. 885.
- ^ Ogot 1992, p. 880.
- ^ a b Gennep 1904, p. 130.
- ^ Gennep 1904, p. 139.
- ^ a b Hamès 2007, p. 242.
- ^ Gennep 1904, p. 81.
- ^ Ferrand 1902, p. 12.
- ^ a b Gennep 1904, p. 42.
- ^ Gennep 1904, p. 113.
- ^ Gennep 1904, p. 136.
- ^ a b Gennep 1904, p. 160.
- ^ a b Gennep 1904, p. 5.
- ^ a b c Bradt & Austin 2007, p. 302.
- ^ Condra 2013, p. 456.
- ^ Bradt & Austin 2007, p. 17.
- ^ Gennep 1904, p. 131.
- ^ Gennep 1904, p. 6.
- ^ Gennep 1904, p. 137.
- ^ Gennep 1904, p. 63.
- .
- ^ Gennep 1904, p. 169.
- ^ Thompson & Adloff 1965, p. 264.
- ^ Campbell 2012, p. 455.
- ^ Campbell 2012, p. 527.
- ^ Campbell 2012, p. 627.
Bibliography
- Bradt, Hilary; Austin, Daniel (2007). Madagascar (9th ed.). Guilford, CT: The Globe Pequot Press Inc. pp. 113–115. ISBN 978-1-84162-197-5.
- Campbell, Gwyn (2012). David Griffiths and the Missionary "History of Madagascar". Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-20980-0.
- Condra, Jill (2013). Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World. Los Angeles: ABC Clio. ISBN 978-0-313-37637-5.
- Diagram Group (2013). Encyclopedia of African Peoples. San Francisco, CA: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-96341-5.
- Ferrand, Gabriel (1902). Les musulmans a Madagascar et aux Comores: Troisieme partie - Antankarana, sakalava, migrations arabes (in French). Paris: Ernest Leroux. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
- Gennep, A.V. (1904). Tabou Et Totémisme à Madagascar (in French). Paris: Ernest Leroux. ISBN 978-5-87839-721-6.
- Hamès, Constant (2007). Coran et talismans: textes et pratiques magiques en milieu musulman. Paris: Karthala. ISBN 978-2-84586-873-1.
- Ogot, Bethwell A. (1992). Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Paris: UNESCO. ISBN 978-92-3-101711-7.
- Thompson, Virginia; Adloff, Richard (1965). The Malagasy Republic: Madagascar Today. San Francisco, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-0279-9.