Antandroy

Antandroy, a Malagasy people living in southernmost Madagascar. Numbering about 500,000 in the late 20th century, the Antandroy (“People of the Thorn Bush”) speak one of the Malagasy languages, a group of closely related Western Austronesian languages; Antandroy chiefs claim Indian origins. The Antandroy maintained their independence from interior or western Malagasy kingdoms (e.g., Merina and Sakalava), and at the time of the French conquest in 1895 they were divided among five small states that observed the three-tiered social stratification common to Madagascar. The French quickly dissolved all kingdoms and incorporated the Antandroy into their colony. The Antandroy are a pastoral people who tend their cattle herds in the arid, semidesert environment of their native Tulear province. Coastal Antandroy are fishermen. They also grow some crops, including cassava, yams, rice, millet, and corn (maize). Many Antandroy have become migrant labourers in the urban centres of Madagascar, returning to their homeland once they have acquired the funds to purchase a cattle herd of their own.