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The tompon-tany and the tompon-drano in the History of Central and Western Madagascar*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2014

Finn Fuglestad
Finn Fuglestad*
Affiliation:
Agder Distriktshøgskole, Kristiansand, Norway
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Extract

At some undefined time in the fairly recent past central and western Madagascar witnessed a conceptual 'revolution' which had far-reaching political consequences. The religious beliefs and symbols which constituted the main ingredients of this 'revolution'--and probably also the people who propagated them--were in some way connected with the Zafindraminia-Antanosy and the Anteimoro of the southeastern and eastern coast. It is quite clear that these and similar groups had been strongly influenced by Islam and that they practiced what could perhaps be described as a corrupt or diluted Islam or a syncretic 'pagan' Muslim religion. (It is significant that as their name indicates the Zafindraminia claim descent from Raminia who they hold to have been the mother of Muhammad.) One of the main ingredients of this religion was the cult of the ody or guardian amulets, objects usually made of wood which are strikingly reminiscent of the so-called “charms” or “gris-gris” sold by Muslim clerics over much of Africa. Another ingredient is represented by the institution of ombiasy. The ombiasy (the main manufacturers of ody) whom the Frenchman Etienne de Flacourt at Fort-Dauphin in the seventeenth century took to be Muslim clerics were originally the “priests” (or the “devins guérisseurs,” according to Hubert Deschamps) of the Anteimoro and the Zafindraminia-Antanosy. Subsequently this institution was disseminated throughout nearly the whole of Madagascar. Yet another ingredient was the system of divination known as sikidy, which also spread to other parts of Madagascar, including Imerina and the Sakalava country.

These beliefs, symbols, and institutions deeply influenced the people of the west coast (the present-day Sakalava country) and of central Madagascar (Imerina and Betsileo country).

Type
Research Article
Information
History in Africa , Volume 9 , 1982 , pp. 61 - 76
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 1982

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Footnotes

*

This manuscript is a distant relative of a paper presented to the African History Seminar of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 28 February 1979 and entitled: 'The Vazimba and the History of Imerina (Madagascar): A Reconsideration'. I came away from that somewhat animated meeting with the impression that I had missed the target owing to poor aiming, but that the target was still there; that I was on the track of a hitherto neglected but important aspect of Malagasy history. Since then I have taken the precaution to enlist the assistance of Stephen Ellis to help me steer clear of the many, pitfalls Malagasy history presents to a non-specialist such as myself. I am indebted to the participants in the above-mentioned meeting--especially Maurice Bloch--for their critical comments. Thanks are also due to Françoise Raison, Gerald Berg and especially Gillian Feeley-Harnik, who all read and commented on one or another of the previous versions of this manuscript. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Professor Richard Gray of SOAS for his comments and especially his encouragement. Professor Gray and Mr. Ellis also kindly corrected my English.

References

NOTES

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20. Callet, François, Tantaran'ny Andriana (Histoire des Rois), trans. Chapus, G.S. and Ratsimba, E., (4 vols.: Antananarivo, 1953–58).Google Scholar A fifth volume was published in 1978. See in particular 1:28-29, 152-57 (referred to henceforth as Tantara). For an evaluation of this work see Delivré, L'histoire.

21. Bloch, Maurice, “The Disconnection Between Power and Rank as a Process: An Outline of the Development of Kingdoms in Central Madagascar” in Friedman, J. and Rowlands, M.J. eds., The Evolution of Social Systems (London, 1972), 303-40, esp. 308–09.Google Scholar

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26. Kent, , Early Kingdoms, 212Google Scholar; Savaron, C., “Contribution á l'histoire de l'Imerina,” BAM, 11(1928), 68.Google Scholar

27. Ibid., 68-72.

28. Andriana is simply the Malagasy word for “noble” or “lord.” See for instance Flacourt, , Relation, 5–7Google Scholar; COACM, 1:327–92 (Houtman's dictionary)Google Scholar; 2:9, 45, 105; Kent, , Early Kingdoms, 293Google Scholar; Tantara, 1:439.Google Scholar

29. Ibid., 439-43.

30. Domenichini, Jean-Paul, “Histoire des palladiums d'Imerina d'après les manuscrits anciens (texte bilingue)” (roneotyped, Université de Madagascar, Tananarive, 1971), 244–45Google Scholar; Delivré, , L'histoire, 159.Google Scholar

31. This is based on a rapid excursion into the Archives Royales Merina (of which there is a near-complete set of microfilms in the Archives Nationales, Dépot des Archives d'Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence).

32. Deschamps, , Histoire, 121–22Google Scholar; original version of the Tantara quoted in Julien, G.J.H., Institutions politiques et sociales de Madagascar, (Paris, 1908), 1:193, 201Google Scholar, and in Ramiandrasoa, , “Tradition Orale,” 93Google Scholar; see also Domenichini, , “Histoire,” 107, 243, 534–35.Google Scholar

33. Based on Berg, , “Historical Traditions,” 129.Google Scholar

34. See for instance, Tantara, 3:348-63, 376–404Google Scholar; Ellis, William, History of Madagascar (2 vols.: London, 1838) 2:516–20Google Scholar; Grandidier, , Ethnographie de Madagascar, 4:20Google Scholar; Julien, , Institutions, 1:193.Google Scholar

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36. Bloch, Maurice, Placing the Dead: Tombs, Ancestral Villages, and Kinship Organization in Madagascar (London, 1971), 49–50.Google Scholar

37. Tantara, 3:348–711.Google Scholar See also Julien, , Institutions, 1:175–77.Google Scholar

38. Tantara, 1:572.Google Scholar

39. Ibid., 3:569-74; Ramiandrasoa, , “Tradition Orale,” 78.Google Scholar

40. On the ody-sampy complex generally see Domenichini, “Histoire,” and Renel, “Amulettes.”

41. Tantara, 1:330Google Scholar; Renel, , “Amulettes,” 219–20.Google Scholar

42. Tantara, 1:28, 157, 340Google Scholar; Domenichini, , “Histoire,” lxix, 3, 94-95, 243Google Scholar; Renel, , “Amulettes,” 56–59.Google Scholar

43. Tantara, 1:435.Google Scholar

44. Berg has already hinted much the same in his “Historical Traditions,” 214.

45. Grandidier, , Ethnographie, 3:299, 303Google Scholar; Delivré, L'histoire, 126; Fontoynont, C., “De quelques solos célèbres en Imerina et cultes religieux de certains rois,” BAM, 12(1913), 115–37Google Scholar; Mason-Lavik, K., “La croyance en Dieu telle qu'on la trouve dans la religion malgache primitive,” BAM, 28 (1947/1948), 81–88.Google Scholar

46. Tantara, 1:13, 482–94.Google Scholar

47. Razafintsalama, Adolphe, “Les Tsimahafotsy d'Ambohimanga. Organisation familiale et sociale en Imerina-Madagascar” (roneotyped, Tananarive, 1973), 42.Google Scholar

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49. See for instance Berg, , “Historical Traditions,” 64–70Google Scholar; Renel, C., “Les Amulettes,” 43.Google Scholar

50. Quoted in Berg, , “The Myth of Racial Strife and Merina King Lists: The Transformation of Texts,” HA, 4(1977), 25.Google Scholar

51. See for instance Dahle, Lars, Madagascar og dets beboere (2 vols.: Christiania, 1877), 2:151.Google Scholar

52. Berg, , “Historical Traditions,” 112-17, 126–32.Google Scholar

53. Wright, Henry and Kus, Susan, “An Archaeological Reconnaissance of Ancient Imerina” in Kent, R.K., ed., Madagascar, 1-31, esp. 17–18.Google Scholar

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55. Mayeur, (rédigé par Barthélemy de Froberville), “Voyage dans le sud et dans l'intérieur des terres et particulièrement au pays d'Hancove. Janvier 1777,” BAM, 2(1913), 139–73.Google Scholar

56. Flacourt, , Relation, 14.Google Scholar

57. Lombard, Royauté.

58. Ibid., 6-7. See also Birkeli, , Marques de boeufs, 36.Google Scholar

59. See especially his forthcoming contribution to vol. 5 of the UNESCO History of Africa, “Madagascar, Comoros and Mascarenes, 1500-1800.”Google Scholar

60. Deschamps, , Histoire, 97.Google Scholar

61. Lombard, , Royauté, 98.Google Scholar

62. Ibid., 97, 118.

63. Ibid., 118.

64. As Gillian Feeley-Harnik has pointed out, “Sakalava history is the history of the royal dynasty.” See her “Divine Kingship and the Meaning of History Among the Sakalava of Madagascar,” Man, 13(1978), 403.Google Scholar

65. Lombard, , Royauté, 7–11.Google Scholar

66. As is well known, the position and economic power of the Maroserana was in part based on cattle. Ibid., 6, 66-73; Kent, , Early Kingdoms, 243–47.Google Scholar

67. Birkeli, , Vazimba, 41.Google Scholar