The history of Madagascar is distinguished clearly by the early isolation of the landmass from the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea, containing amongst others the African continent and the Indian subcontinent, and by the island's late colonization by human settlers from the Sunda islands and from East Africa. These two factors facilitated the evolution and survival of thousands of endemic plant and animal species, some of which have gone extinct or are currently threatened with extinction. Trade in the Indian Ocean at the time of first colonization of Madagascar was dominated by Indonesian ships, probably of Borobudur ship and K'un-lun po types.
Antananarivo, also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra, is the capital of Analamanga region. The city sits at 1,280 m (4,199 ft) above sea level in the center of the island, the highest national capital by elevation among the island countries. It has been the country's largest population center since at least the 18th century. The presidency, National Assembly, Senate, and Supreme Court are located there, as are 21 diplomatic missions and the headquarters of many national and international businesses and NGOs. It has more universities, nightclubs, art venues, and medical services than any city on the island. Several national and local sports teams, including the championship-winning national rugby team, the Makis, are based here.
Radama II was the son and heir of Queen Ranavalona I and ruled from 1861 to 1863 over the Kingdom of Madagascar, which controlled virtually the entire island. Radama's rule, although brief, was a pivotal period in the history of the Kingdom of Madagascar. Under the unyielding and often harsh 33-year rule of his mother, Queen Ranavalona I, Madagascar had successfully preserved its cultural and political independence from European colonial designs. Rejecting the queen's policy of isolationism and persecution of Christians, Radama II permitted religious freedom and re-opened Madagascar to European influence. Under the terms of the Lambert Charter, which Radama secretly contracted in 1855 with French entrepreneur Joseph-François Lambert while Ranavalona still ruled, the French were awarded exclusive rights to the exploitation of large tracts of valuable land and other lucrative resources and projects. This agreement, which was later revoked by Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, was key to establishing France's claim over Madagascar as a protectorate and, in 1896, as a colony.
The highly diverse and distinctive music of Madagascar has been shaped by the musical traditions of Southeast Asia, Africa, Oceania, Arabia, England, France and the United States over time as indigenous people, immigrants, and colonists have made the island their home. Traditional instruments reflect these widespread origins: the mandoliny and kabosy owe their existence to the introduction of the guitar by early Arab or European seafarers, the ubiquitous djembe originated in mainland Africa and the valiha—the bamboo tube zither considered the national instrument of Madagascar—directly evolved from an earlier form of zither carried with the first Austronesian settlers on their outrigger canoes.
The Malagasy are a group of Austronesian-speaking ethnic groups indigenous to the island country of Madagascar. Traditionally, the population have been divided into ethnic groups. Examples include "Highlander" groups such as the Merina and Betsileo of the central highlands around Antananarivo, Alaotra (Ambatondrazaka) and Fianarantsoa, and the "coastal dwellers" such as the Sakalava, Bara, Vezo, Betsimisaraka, Mahafaly, etc.
A sodina is a woodwind instrument commonly played in Malagasy music and a member of the aerophone family of instruments. Similar in structure and sound to a flute, the sodina is usually made out of bamboo, lightwood, plastic, or reed and varies in size depending upon the region it is being played in.
Articles related to Madagascar include:
Eusèbe Jaojoby, commonly known by his surname Jaojoby, is a Malagasy composer and singer of salegy, a musical style of northwestern Madagascar. Critics consider him to be one of the originators of the modern salegy style that emerged in the 1970s, and credit him with transforming the genre from an obscure regional musical tradition into one of national and international popularity. Jaojoby also contributed to the creation of two salegy subgenres, malessa and baoenjy. Jaojoby has been called the most popular singer in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands, and is widely referred to as the "King of Salegy". His success has earned him such honors as Artist of the Year in Madagascar for two consecutive years (1998–1999) and the role of Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Population Fund in 1999.
Joseph-François Lambert, the "Duke of Imerina" (1824–1873) was a French adventurer, businessman, and diplomat who fathered the Lambert Charter.
Hiragasy or hira gasy is a musical tradition in Madagascar, particularly among the Merina ethnic group of the Highland regions around the capital of Antananarivo. It is a day-long spectacle of music, dance, and kabary oratory performed by a troupe or as a competition between two troupes.
Solo Razafindrakoto known as Solorazaf is a Malagasy guitarist born in France. His roots are both situated in Madagascar. His musical style is very much influenced by these two different cultures and he then created a very personal musical style based on Malagasy traditional music.
Philibert Rabezoza, better known by the name Rakoto Frah, was a flautist and composer of traditional music of the central highlands of Madagascar. Born in 1923 near the capital city of Antananarivo to a poor rural family, Rakoto Frah surmounted the challenges posed by his underprivileged origins to become the most acclaimed 20th century performer of the sodina flute, one of the oldest traditional instruments on the island. Through frequent international concerts and music festival performances, he promoted the music of the highlands of Madagascar and became one of the most famous Malagasy artists, both within Madagascar and on the world music scene.
Paul Bert Rahasimanana, better known as Rossy, is a Malagasy singer and songwriter, generally considered the most popular Malagasy artist of the 1990s. Beginning his musical career as an accordionist and singer within a traditional hira gasy musical troupe, Rossy innovated a fusion of hira gasy instrumentation and vocal style with contemporary rock, funk and folk sounds to create a uniquely Malagasy genre of contemporary popular music. Rossy actively promoted former president Didier Ratsiraka through concert performances throughout his presidency and served within the Ministry of Culture to promote artists' rights and copyright law. When Ratsiraka fell into disfavor following the contentious 2001 Malagasy presidential elections, Rossy went into self-imposed exile in France. He returned to the island to give concerts beginning in 2008 and enjoyed enormous popularity despite six years of absence, setting an unbroken record of 35,000 tickets sold for a performance given that year. His compositions and style are frequently associated with the Ratsiraka socialist period and commonly evoke a sense of nostalgia among Malagasy fans.
Erick Manana is an acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter from Madagascar. He often performs in a duo or as a solo artist, singing in accompaniment to his acoustic guitar in the ba-gasy genre that gained prominence in the central highlands of Madagascar in the 1930s. He began to learn to play guitar and sing in the ba-gasy style from his grandfather at the age of five. In 1979 he left Madagascar to settle in France and currently lives in Bordeaux. His professional career as a musician began in 1982 as a member of Lolo sy ny Tariny. He recorded his first solo album in 1996. He was a member of the group Feo-Gasy alongside the celebrated sodina player Rakoto Frah, and together the group toured Europe several times, promoting the traditional music of the central highlands of Madagascar. He has worked on a variety of collaborative projects, recording singles and performing with established artists such as Regis Gizavo and Solorazaf, and young breakthrough stars like Aina Quash. Most recently, Manana formed a group with valiha player Justin Vali and other prominent Malagasy artists in the Malagasy All Stars.
Samoëla Rasolofoniaina, better known as Samoëla, is a Malagasy vocalist and composer of contemporary folk fusion and roots music that draws upon musical traditions throughout the island of Madagascar. He typically sings and plays acoustic guitar, accompanied by an ensemble including bass guitar, Western and traditional percussion, and backup singers. He is distinguished by his use of hainteny traditional poetry and its metaphorical language, as well as youth slang and culturally subversive direct language to critique and address sensitive social and political topics.
Mahaleo is a folk-pop band from Madagascar that is widely viewed as the most popular Malagasy group of all time. The band was founded by Dama with six of his classmates after first performing together during the rotaka student protests at their high school on 13 May 1972. Mahaleo's lyrics draw upon the indirect language of traditional hainteny and ohabolana to expose contemporary political and social issues and invite listeners to identify their own solutions.
Feo-Gasy is a band from Madagascar that perform a traditional ba-gasy music of the Merina people of the rural central highlands around the capital city of Antananarivo. The band was founded in 1994 by superstar guitarist Erick Manana and featured until his 2001 death the iconic sodina player Rakoto Frah, the only Malagasy musician ever to be featured on the local currency. The group was originally composed of the acoustic guitarist and singer Erick Manana, the sodina player and singer Rakoto Frah, singer and guitarist Jean-Colbert Ranaivoarison ("Rakôly"), vocalists Famantsoa Rajaonarison ("Fafa") and François-Daniel Rabeanirainy ("Beny"), and valiha player Bariliva Rasoavatsara, who died in December 2012.
The literature of Madagascar encompasses the oral and written literary arts of the Malagasy people.
Lova Nantenaina is a Malagasy film director.
Albert Rakoto Ratsimamanga was a Malagasy physician, biochemist and diplomat. Born into a disgraced royal family; Ratsimamanga trained as a doctor of exotic medicine in French Madagascar and France, where he pioneered modern nutraceuticals. Ratsimamanga returned to Madagascar and, with his wife, Suzanne Urverg-Ratsimamanga, in 1957, established the Malagasy Institute of Applied Research which specialised in herbal medicine.
