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Adapted from the Indonesian version in MAJALAH ARKEOLOGI INDONESIA
Trace of Indonesian Women in Madagascar
KOMPAS, Tuesday, April 17, 2012 – When the Archipelago was at its heyday in the 9th century, several Indonesian women had already reached Madagascar. It was they who later became the ancestors of the Malagasy people, the inhabitants of Madagascar.
There is no answer yet as to why they got there. However, in the discussion that took place at the Eijkman Institute, Monday (16/4), two possibilities emerged. The progress of trade made Indonesian ships sail to the east coast of Africa. Or conversely, African traders who came to the archipelago married and took Indonesian women back to their country.
In the discussion, the research results of the Eijkman Institute—in collaboration with the University of Arizona in the United States, Massey University in New Zealand, and the University of Toulouse, France—were presented by Dr. Herawati Sudoyo MS PhD, Deputy Director of the Eijkman Institute. Also present were researchers from the National Archaeological Research and Development Center, Ministry of Education and Culture, including Prof. Research Archeology Naniek H Wibisono.
DNA Research
Traces of Indonesian women in Madagascar can be traced from mitochondrial DNA inherited from the mother’s chromosome. DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or a long chain of nucleotide polymers, does contain genetic information to be passed down. Also recorded in the sequence is information about life, changes in diet, environment, and all their activities.
The study involved 2,745 individual samples from 12 islands in Indonesia, namely Sumatra, Nias, Mentawai, Java, Bali, Sulawesi, Sumba, Flores, Lembata, Alor, Pantar and Timor. Whereas, from Madagascar there are 266 individuals from three isolated populations, namely Mikea who live from hunting, Vezo (fishermen), and Merina (highlands).
To see whether there are Indonesian men who are also the ancestors of the Madagascar people, further research is needed on the phylogeny of the Y chromosome which is only present in men. “Hopefully this Y chromosome research can be completed soon,” said Herawati.
In fact, the results of this DNA study corroborate various findings that have existed so far. The Malagasy languages, for example, are the only Astronesian family in Africa. Likewise, the physical appearance of the Malagasy people shows a mix of East African and Southeast Asian people.
However, to further understand the relationship between Indonesians and Madagascar, multidisciplinary research is needed, including archaeological research. Moreover, according to Naniek H Wibisono, about 1,200 years ago the kingdoms in the archipelago developed rapidly and one of them was the Sriwijaya Kingdom. It could be that the big cities became the starting points of this move. (nes)
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