People / group

Sakalava

Also known as Sakalava people

The Sakalava are a people of western Madagascar. From the 17th century their Maroserana kings built the kingdoms of Menabe and Boina, which used firearms bought from European traders to dominate the west coast and traded cattle and slaves at ports such as Mahajanga. Their sacred kingship centred on royal relics (dady), and they long resisted the Merina Kingdom and later the French.

Sakalava
Image: Heinonlein · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 profile

Merina KingdomMilitary, Decline

Mentioned in 7 state histories

Sultanate of MayotteMahafaly KingdomsMenabeBoinaBetsimisaraka ConfederationNosy BeColony of Mayotte and Dependencies

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Sakalava. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sakalava
MLA
“Sakalava.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sakalava. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Sakalava.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sakalava.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Sakalava’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/sakalava (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻