PC: Arab-Influenced Madagascar

[Night Gaul]

I know there's some Arab influence on the culture of Madagascar, but I'm wondering how plausible it is for Arabic culture to have considerably more influence. After all, I know Arabs - especially Omanis - had some pretty heavy influence on East Africa.

 

[r3ddbar0n]

It’s pretty hard, because Madagascar is one of the last settled places on the planet. Omani influence in east Africa is pretty high because there’s been a long history between Iran/Persia, the Arabian Peninsula, and East Africa, with trade ties possibly going back further than 1000 BC. There was regular trade between the Arabian peninsula and the East African coastal city states during the Ancient Greek and Roman periods, whereas Madagascar was still composed of subsistence hunters. There’s just not a lot of reasons to go there.

 

[Arkenfolm]

You'd need one of the coastal groups which were strongly influenced by Arab culture (some Islamisation, use of Arabic script) to start conquering the island around the 16th/17th century. It shouldn't be impossible for the Sakalava (the most powerful of these groups) to start this process instead of the Merina, and indeed earlier than the Merina. A Sakalava-united Madagascar would fulfill this challenge.