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![[Tanibe flag]](../images/m/mg_tanib.gif)
image
by Jarig Bakker, 18 Jul 2005
See also:
Data according to the above mentioned site:
Tanibe
20 Mar 1822 Kingdom
of Tanibe
1828
Annexed by Imernia/Madagascar.
Kings
20 Mar 1822 - 1828 Jacques
Glond
Jarig Bakker, 18 Jul 2005
No idea either, but the name of the king does not sound very Malagasy.
I guess it was a short-lived kingdom proclaimed by a French (or even a
Belgian) adventurer. Before the establishment of the French protectorate,
only a few trade posts had a significant administration, and they controlled
only very limited areas.
Ivan Sache, 19 Jul 2005
There is a bit more info, in Italian, at <http://www.rbvex.it/africapag/madagasc.html>
It seems Glond was a European and Tanibe had something to do with the east
coast. The flag has the heading "Tanambao" above it and that is the name
of a city on the east coast.
Ned Smith, 19 Jul 2005
Stielers' Handatlas (1877) is always quite accurate but doesn't list
Tanibe or Tanambao - it does have a state of Betanimena, which according
to the UNESCO History of Africa was a kingdom in the 18th century without
a port. According to an old
Geographical dictionary (van Wijk, MDCCCXXI) its meaning was: "land
of the red inhabitants"; its main village was Andavourante (=Andevorandro),
which could provide 10.000 warriors (sic), on an estuary due east of
Antananarivo.
It was given control of Tamatave by a friendly neighbour, who later on
as a playful gesture snatched it away again, whereupon
Betanimena became a harbour-less state again - and very insignificant.
IMO the perfect realm of an adventurer seeking eternal glory (or suffer
(in)glorious defeat).
It is quite difficult to spot Malagasy names because of the use of
pre- and suffices, but to me it seems that "Tanibe" and "Betanimena" are
not a million miles apart...
Jarig Bakker, 20 Jul 2005
Some comments about the Tanibe kingdom, which is one that I have never heard
of although I lived in Madagascar for 15 years, but as someone mentions, many
small kingdoms were set up along the coasts by/with the help of ship wrecked
sailors and pirates. Mr. Bakker speaks of "Betanimena" as meaning "place of the
red people". Actually, broken down, 'Be' is a prefix or suffix which means 'big'
or 'much of'; 'tany' (which becomes 'tani') means 'soil'; and 'mena' is 'red'.
Hence 'Betanimena' translates as 'place of (much) red soil'. There is no
shortage of red soil in Madagascar so that doesn't help much in location. As for
'Tanambao', it is a common village/town name, often combined with a second word,
so would be difficult to pinpoint.
All very interesting. Sad that too much of Madagascar's peculiar history has
been lost. Great that your site has put together so much of the obscure
information.
Charlie Welch, 03 Mar 2006