Austronesian Settlers Arrive in Madagascar

Seafaring Austronesian peoples from Southeast Asia, primarily from Borneo and Java, arrived in Madagascar after crossing approximately 4,000 miles of the Indian Ocean. Archaeological evidence of Asian crops such as rice and mung beans confirms their presence beginning around the 7th–8th centuries CE. Linguistic studies show connections between the Malagasy language and Southeast Barito languages from Borneo. Genetic research indicates these settlers were a small founding population that intermarried with later-arriving Bantu peoples from Africa, forming the modern Malagasy population.