- Betsimisaraka
ethnic group
Ratsimilaho begun the Betsimisaraka Culture back in 1714
group=Betsimisaraka
poptime=
popplace=East coast ofMadagascar
rels=
langs=(Malagasy Northern Betsimisaraka) [Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. [http://www.ethnologue.com/ Online] , accessed14 August 2008 ]
related= otherMalagasy people The Betsimisaraka make up approximately fifteen percent of the
Malagasy people and are the second largest group inMadagascar after theMerina . [http://countrystudies.us/madagascar/11.htm Madagascar: A Country Study] , Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Library of Congress, 1994., accessed14 August 2008 ]History
The name was established by a leader called
Ratsimilaho who was alleged to be the son of a Malagasy princess and an English pirate. [http://original.britannica.com/eb/topic-492104/Ratsimilaho Ratsimilaho] , Encyclopedia Brittanica, accessed13 August 2008 ] He established the Betsimisaraka after driving out the clans who had invaded from the south. He had been given the right to lead the disparate groups as one fighting force, but after his death in 1750 his Queen, Bity, and then his son ended up losing the power that Ratsimilaho had once commanded.Geography
The Betsimisaraka area has included the port of
Toamasina ,Fénérive Est andMaroansetra . The territory today is a thin area of land that stretches along the east coast of Madagascar from the River Bemarivo to the River Mananjary in the south.References
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