10th century – 18th century
Eastern Madagascar and the Merina plateau
The Hova were a population whose ancestors arrived in Madagascar from the east and gradually expanded into the interior plateau. Their movement displaced or absorbed the Vazimba and was accompanied by fortified settlements using ditches in an Indonesian fashion. The Hova occupation of the Merina plateau, together with the extension of irrigated rice cultivation, formed the basis for the later development of the Imerina kingdom.
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The Story
The Hova emerged in the passage as part of the later wave of arrivals that moved inland from eastern Madagascar. Their ancestors came under the broader influence of Indonesian settlement and helped reshape the demographic and political organization of the interior plateau. Their expansion brought them into direct contact with the Vazimba, older communities already established in the region.
The movement of the Hova into the interior involved both displacement and absorption. Rather than describing a single conquest, the passage presents a gradual process through which earlier plateau populations were incorporated into or pushed aside by newcomers. This transformation also created more organized settlements, with villages protected by ditches characteristic of Indonesian building traditions.
Hova occupation of the Merina plateau was closely linked to the spread of irrigated rice cultivation. Agricultural intensification gave the interior a durable economic foundation and eventually developed into the Imerina kingdom. The Hova therefore appear as a key population in the formation of Madagascar’s later central political order.
10th century – 18th century
Eastern Madagascar and the Merina plateau
The Hova were a population whose ancestors arrived in Madagascar from the east and gradually expanded into the interior plateau. Their movement displaced or absorbed the Vazimba and was accompanied by fortified settlements using ditches in an Indonesian fashion. The Hova occupation of the Merina plateau, together with the extension of irrigated rice cultivation, formed the basis for the later development of the Imerina kingdom.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Hova emerged in the passage as part of the later wave of arrivals that moved inland from eastern Madagascar. Their ancestors came under the broader influence of Indonesian settlement and helped reshape the demographic and political organization of the interior plateau. Their expansion brought them into direct contact with the Vazimba, older communities already established in the region.
The movement of the Hova into the interior involved both displacement and absorption. Rather than describing a single conquest, the passage presents a gradual process through which earlier plateau populations were incorporated into or pushed aside by newcomers. This transformation also created more organized settlements, with villages protected by ditches characteristic of Indonesian building traditions.
Hova occupation of the Merina plateau was closely linked to the spread of irrigated rice cultivation. Agricultural intensification gave the interior a durable economic foundation and eventually developed into the Imerina kingdom. The Hova therefore appear as a key population in the formation of Madagascar’s later central political order.
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