Editing History of Madagascar (section)

===Neo-Austronesians: Malays, Javanese, Bugis, and Orang Laut (from the 8th century)===
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Kleurenlitho getiteld Katafalk van het hoofd van Longpoetih TMnr 5795-29.jpg|thumb|Canoe-sarcophagus of the Dayak: a burial that recalls the Malagasy tradition that former Ntaolo Vazimba and Vezo buried their dead in canoe-sarcophagi in the sea or in a lake]]

According to oral tradition,<ref>Ramilison E.,''Andriantomara-Andriamamilazabe: loharanon'ny andriana nanjaka teto Imerina'', Antananarivo, Lutheran Printing</ref> new Austronesian clans ([[Malays (ethnic group)|Malays]], [[Javanese people|Javanese]], [[Bugis]], and [[Orang Laut]]),<ref>Adelaar, KA (2006) [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828022131/http://www.santafe.edu/events/workshops/images/6/6d/IndonesianMigrations.pdf "The Indonesian migrations to Madagascar: Making sense of the multidisciplinary evidence"])</ref> historically referred to in general, regardless of their native island, as the "[[Hova (Madagascar)|Hova]]"<ref name="Callet" /> (from Old Bugis ''uwa'', "commoner") landed in the north-west and east coast of the island. Adelaar's observations of Old Malay (Sanskritised), Old Javanese (Sanskritised) and Old Bugis borrowings in the initial Proto-Southeast-Barito language indicate that the first Hova waves came probably in the 7th century at the earliest.<ref>Adelaar, “The Indonesian Migrations to Madagascar”, p. 15.</ref> Marre and Dahl pointed out that the number of Sanskrit words in Malagasy is very limited compared with the large number now found in Indonesian languages, which means that the Indonesian settlers must have come at an early stage of Hindu influence, that is ca. 400 AD.<ref>Dahl, Otto Chr. ''Malgache et Maanjan: une Comparaison Linguistique'', Egede-Instituttet Avhandlinger, no. 3. Oslo: Egede-Instituttet, 1951.</ref>

The Hova were probably derived from Indonesian [[thalassocracy|thalassocracies]]. Their leaders were known as the ''diana'' in the Southeast and ''[[andriana]]'' or ''raondriana'' in the Center and the West<ref name="Callet" /><ref>Ramilison, 1951</ref><ref name="Ramilison">{{cite book |last=Ramilison |first=Emmanuel |year=1951 |title=Ny loharanon'ny andriana nanjaka teto Imerina : Andriantomara-Andriamamilazabe |publisher=Imprimerie Ankehitriny}}</ref> (from ''(ra)-hadi-an'', "lord" or "master" in Old Javanese,<ref name="Adelaar" /> modern Javanese [[Priyayi#Titles|''raden'']], also found in the Bugis noble title [[:fr:Titres de noblesse indonésiens#Bugis|''andi'']] and the [[Tagalog language|Tagalog]] word for "king" ''hari''). They for the most part allied with Vazimba clans:<ref>Ravelojaona ''et alii'' 1937</ref><ref name="Ravelojaona">{{cite book |last=Ravelojaona |first=Randzavola, Rajaonah G. |year=1937 |title=Firaketana ny Fiteny sy ny Zavatra Malagasy |publisher=Antananarivo: Imprimerie Tanananarivienne}}</ref>
* In the Northwest area of the current Ankoala (from ''kuala'', "estuary" in Malay and Indonesian) where the Hova ''Orang Laut'' (''Antalaotra'' in Malagasy) had probably established their base for their Indian Ocean operations.
* On the east coast (Betsimisaraka) where the Hova leaders were also called ''Filo (ha) be'' by the "neo-Vezo" clans.
* In the southeast where the leaders ("Diana") of the Zafiraminia and Zafikazimambo clans allied with the "neo-Vezo" and founded the later Antaisaka, Antaimoro and Antambahoaka kingdoms.
* In the west: the Maroserana dynasty which founded the Sakalava Kingdom is itself a result of Zafiraminia on the east coast.
* In the Center where repeated alliances among the Hova leaders (the ''andriana'') (such as Andrianerinerina, Andriantomara and their descendants<ref name="Ramilison" />) with the chiefs of Vazimba clans (such as Rafandrana and his descendants<ref>Callet, F., op. cit.</ref>) led to the Merina and Betsileo Kingdoms.

With the arrival of Islam, Persian and Arab traders soon supplanted the Indonesians on the coast of Africa and eventually extended their control over the [[Comoro Islands]] and parts of the coast of Madagascar. Meanwhile, with competition in the new joint naval powers of [[Song dynasty|Song China]] and [[Chola dynasty|Chola South India]], the thalassocracies of Indonesia were in rapid decline, though the Portuguese still encountered Javanese sailors in Madagascar in the sixteenth century.