بتسيميسراكا (شعب)
 Betsimisaraka women | |
| إجمالي التعداد | |
|---|---|
| over 1,500,000 (2011) | |
| المناطق ذات التجمعات المعتبرة | |
| East coast of Madagascar | |
| اللغات | |
| (Malagasy Northern Betsimisaraka) | |
| الجماعات العرقية ذات الصلة | |
| Tsimihety |
بتسيميسراكا (Betsimisaraka ؛ "the many inseparables") are the second largest ethnic group in Madagascar after the Merina and make up approximately fifteen percent of the Malagasy people. They occupy a large stretch of the eastern coastal region of Madagascar, from Mananjary in the south to Antalaha in the north. The Betsimisaraka have a long history of extensive interaction with European seafarers and traders that produced a significant subset with mixed European-Malagasy origins, termed the zana-malata. European influence is evident in the local valse (waltz) and basesa musical genres, which are typically performed on the accordion. Tromba (spirit possession) ceremonies feature strongly in Betsimisaraka culture.
Through the late 17th century, the various clans of the eastern coastal region were governed by chieftains who typically ruled over one or two villages. A zana-malata named Ratsimilaho emerged to unite these clans under his rule in 1710. His reign lasted 50 years and established a sense of common identity and stability throughout the kingdom, but his successors gradually weakened this union, leaving it vulnerable to the growing influence and presence of European and particularly French settlers, slave traders, missionaries and merchants. The fractured Betsimisaraka kingdom was easily colonised in 1817 by Radama I, king of Imerina who ruled from its capital at Antananarivo in the Central Highlands. The subjugation of the Betsimisaraka in the 19th century left the population relatively impoverished; under colonisation by the French (1896-1960), a focused effort was made to increase access to education and paid employment working on French plantations. Production of former plantation crops like vanilla, ylang-ylang, coconut oil, and coffee remain the principal economic activity of the region beyond subsistence farming and fishing, although mining is also a source of income.
Culturally, the Betsimisaraka can be divided into northern and southern sub-groups. Many elements of culture are common across both groups, including respect for ancestors, spirit possession, the ritual sacrifice of zebu, and a patriarchal social structure. The groups are distinguished by linguistic sub-dialects and various fady (taboos), as well as certain funeral practices and other customs. The Betsimisaraka practice famadihana (reburial) and sambatra (circumcision) and believe in sorcery and a wide range of supernatural forces. Many taboos and folktales revolve around lemurs and crocodiles, both of which are common throughout Betsimisaraka territory.
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الهوية العرقية
The Betsimisaraka constitute approximately 15 percent of the population of Madagascar and numbered over 1,500,000 in 2011.[1] A sub-set of the population, the zana-malata, has partly European origins resulting from generations of intermarriage between the local Malagasy population and European pirates, sailors and traders who docked or settled along the eastern coast.[2] Like the Sakalava to the west, the Betsimisaraka are composed of numerous ethnic sub-groups that formed a confederation in the early 18th century. Like all Malagasy people, the Betsimisaraka are of mixed Bantu African and Asian Austronesian descent. However,the Betsimisaraka are one of the Malagasy tribes to have predominant East African Bantu ancestry, with the average member being around 70% East African.The Betsimisaraka occupy a long, narrow band of territory that stretches along the east coast of Madagascar from Mananjary in the south to Antalaha in the north, including the island's main port at Toamasina and the major towns of Fénérive Est and Maroansetra.[3] They are often subdivided into northern Betsimisaraka (Antavaratra) and southern Betsimisaraka (Antatsimo), separated by the Betanimena Betsimisaraka sub-clan (called the Tsikoa before around 1710).[2]
التاريخ
الاقتصاد
The Betsimisaraka economy remains largely agricultural, with many cultivating vanilla and rice.[4] Manioc, sweet potatoes, beans, taro, peanuts and a variety of greens are also commonly cultivated; other staple crops include sugar cane, coffee, bananas, pineapples, avocado, breadfruit, mangoes, oranges and lychees.[5] Cattle are not widely raised; more commonly, the Betsimisaraka may catch and sell river crabs, shrimp and fish, small hedgehogs, various local insects[5] or wild boar and birds in the forest. They also produce and sell homemade sugarcane beer (betsa) and rum (toaka).[6] The production of spices for culinary use and for distillation into perfumes remains a major economic activity, with a perfume distillery located in Fenoarivo Atsinanana.[7] Gold, garnet and other precious stones are also mined and exported from the Betsimisaraka region.[8]
الهامش
- ^ Shoup 2001, p. 181.
- ^ أ ب Ogot 1992, p. 882.
- ^ Bradt & Austin 2007.
- ^ Bradt & Austin 2007, p. 26.
- ^ أ ب Nielssen 2011, p. 24.
- ^ Nielssen 2011, p. 25.
- ^ Bradt & Austin 2007, p. 319.
- ^ Nielssen 2011, p. 26.
ببليوگرافيا
- Bradt, Hilary; Austin, Daniel (2007). Madagascar (9th ed.). Guilford, CT: The Globe Pequot Press Inc. ISBN 978-1-84162-197-5.
- Condra, Jill (2013). Encyclopedia of National Dress: Traditional Clothing Around the World. Los Angeles: ABC Clio. ISBN 978-0-313-37637-5.
- Ellis, Stephen (2014). The Rising of the Red Shawls. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107634893.
- Emoff, Ron (2002). Recollecting from the Past: Musical Practice and Spirit Possession on the East Coast of Madagascar. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819565006.
- Gennep, A.V. (1904). Tabou Et Totémisme à Madagascar (in French). Paris: Ernest Leroux. ISBN 978-5-87839-721-6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link) - Nielssen, Hilde (2011). Ritual Imagination: A Study of Tromba Possession Among the Betsimisaraka in Eastern Madagascar. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. ISBN 9789004215245.
- Ogot, Bethwell A. (1992). Africa from the Sixteenth to the Eighteenth Century. Paris: UNESCO. ISBN 9789231017117.
- Shoup, John (2001). Ethnic Groups of Africa and the Middle East: An Encyclopedia. New York: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598843620.