Madagascar's historical role as a destination for…

Madagascar's historical role as a destination for travelers from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa is underscores by the ruins of fortifications built by Arab traders as far back as the ninth century.

Not until the beginning of the sixteenth century, however, do European ships flying Portuguese, Dutch, English, and French flags explore Madagascar's shoreline.

Beginning in 1643, several French settlements emerge; the best known of these, Tolanaro (formerly Faradofay) on the southeast coast, lasts for more than thirty years.

The settlement survives in part because the colonists have taken pains to establish cordial relations with the Antanosy, the ethnic group inhabiting the area.

Relations deteriorate later, however, and in 1674 a massacre of nearly all the inhabitants ends French colonization endeavors for more than a century; survivors flee by sea to the neighboring territory of Réunion.