Melayu, Malagasi & Madagascar:

  

Author: Benign

1 - I had the opportunity to read an old journal that is published by a British learned society in the field of geographical science named Royal Geographical Society , entitled Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society Vol. VII for the 1862-63 session . On page 69, entry dated Feb 9 , 1863, there was a report in respect of the terrain and geographical conditions of the world 's fourth largest island , Madagascar Island.

2 - The language spoken by the population of Madagascar is Malagasy . A little about this language , Malagasy as Hawaiian and Rapanui speech belongs to the Austronesian language family in which one of the two largest fraction is Malayo-Polynesian . To facilitate understanding, this is one of the Malagasy language of expression that includes a large family in our native language , Malay language . It was not difficult for us to understand the price of an item is worth folo , roapolo , telopolo , efapolo or enimpolo. Ten , Twenty , Thirty , Forty and Sixty.

3 - According to the journal , and alphabetic writing system supposedly never been introduced to the people of Madagascar until the arrival of Christian missionaries to the island in the early 1850s. One of the missionaries , Rev. . Mr . Ellis , who left the island for several years , very surprised after his return to the island and found a general Madasgaskar was busy copying a message from the lip superiors to send one part to another island.

4 - Even more surprising missionaries are there a large number of Malagasy words this is a direct adaptation of the Malay language. It opens the door to some extent the answer to the question that bane of scholars at the time. While Madagascar is located close to the African continent , why it does not have anything to do with the continent. In terms of revenue and types of plants, what is in Madagascar is different from the countries of the continent. Even the average population of Madagascar do not know what the Zebra and Giraffe .Traditional houses on the coast of Madagascar.

5 - The houses are built by the people of Madagascar are not directly mimic the structure arkitektual available in African countries . Houses in Madagascar more equal houses from the Malay archipelago . Most of its residents were found to prefer to wear a selimpang called Lamba made ​​from plant ties . Unlike the usual African natives who prefer to wear animal skins.Merina tribe woman with white Lamba.

6 - The report goes on to state , though there is a huge difference between the people of Madagascar and the Malay Archipelago , they also have facial features that contrast with the typical shape of Africa nation.

7 - Even in terms of culture and civilization , the people of Madagascar are seen to have a far more civilized achievement advans and move ahead as compared to their counterparts from the African continent away may not have 300 miles . Evidence of the level of civilization , according to reports the Royal Geographic Society in 1862 , is based on language spread across the entire island , something that could not happen without the availability of civilization advans.

8 - According to the report, there has never been black people who know to create characters , but after reviewing the Malagasy language , the Royal Geographic Society officers discovered nearly 200 words a clear, comes from the Malay language. 

9 - Citing the report, very rarely are people from the African continent that knew how to count . Races ever discovered by explorer Dr.Livingston was only able to count to 10 only and almost nothing that can count up to one hundred units . But in Madagascar , indigenous tribes that lived on the island is able to calculate the unit up to a hundred thousand under the influence of the Malays who migrated to Madagascar . No wonder the word for ten thousand and one hundred thousand in the Malagasy language is clearly derived from the Malay word Sanskrit. 

10 - Researchers next Royal Geographic Society has issued an opinion that at one time may be a group of Malay sailors shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar as a result of the turbulent monsoon . As the number of them in the pretty much to ensure their safety in the face of the threat of the original tribes who settled on the island, they decided to settle down and build a settlement on the island. 

11 - After such time, the Malay sailors captured tribes - tribes remained even ruling caste . The browser has also taught the tribes - tribes with farming knowledge and use the types of crops grown in certain parts of the island ( to answer why the natural landscape in Madagascar earth different countries of Africa) . Through intermarriage , finally the Malay browser is integrated with the original tribes that inhabited Madagascar.
 12 - I subsequently made a little reading about the history of the island of Madagascar through Wikipedia. and of course there are sources that say that the Malays have long been in Madagascar during the first time it was discovered by the European sailors . Jared Diamond wrote in his book Guns, Gems & Steel : The Fate of Human Societies published in 2001, was quoted as follows :

    These Austronesians, with Their Austronesian language and modified Austronesian culture , were already established on Madagascar by the time it was first visited by Europeans , in 1500. This strikes me as the single Most astonishing fact of human geography for the potentials world . It's as if Columbus , on reaching Cuba, found it limits Occupied by blue -eyed , Blond - haired Scandinavians speaking a language close to Swedish, even though the nearby North American continent was inhabited by Native Americans speaking A Merindian languages.

13 - Through a number of sources that I read again , descendants of the sailors is today known as the Merina tribe , tribes are considered noble and aristocratic quarter in Madagascar . These tribes still remains today as the government in Madagascar. Interesting?