Anamil (Kingany)
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Ibn Majid (1470) is the only author to mention the place (at 9 fingers in his Hawiya).
Note: with Bandar Darwis at 12.4°S; Anamil at 15.8°S; Manzalagi at 15.2°S and Bimaruh at 13.3°S we can see how problematic the description ‘at 9 fingers’ is.
Viré and Hébert are those who link it to the archaeological site of Kingany.
Taken from: Madagascar, Comores et Mascareignes à travers la Hawiya d’ibn Magid (F. Vire and J.C. Hebert)
Tibbetts indicates a phonetic similarity between Anamil (arabized but non-Arabic name) and the Namela river at the mouth of which Maintirano is located; this easy comparison remains very doubtful and would locate Anamil far too far south. Khoury sees this port at the end of the Radama Bay peninsula, but without justification. For us, there is no longer any doubt that this Anamil corresponds very exactly to the important establishment of Kingany, at the entrance to the bay of Boëny, which flourished particularly in the 15th century. The results of P. Vérin's excavations are conclusive in terms of their wealth; mosques, residences, tombs show to what extent this Antalaotse foundation played the role of a large commercial scale which, as Guillain says (1845, p. 35), attracted 'the Arab merchants who, for a long time, frequented this coast” (see Vérin, op. cit., 1, 283-340). The colony of Kingany, later withdrawn to the island of Antsoheribory, then to the mainland, at the bottom of the bay, was reinforced by the arrival of emigrants from Old Masselage who established the New Masselage.
Taken from: The Evolution of Settlement Systems in the Bay of Boeny and the Mahavavy River Valley, north- western Madagascar Henry T. Wright , Pierre Vérin
Excavations at Kingany during 1967-68 provide us with a comprehensive understanding of the material culture of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The dating of these samples is based upon the occurrence of ceramics imported from the Near East and Far East, as discussed below.
Chronology:
Chinese ‘Longqan celadon’ do not appear at Kilwa and Manda until about AD 1300. At Kilwa, Longqan ware is replaced by South-east Asian non-porcelanous green-glazed wares between 1500 and 1550 AD. Their frequency in all layers at Kingany indicates occupation within this range of 1300 to 1550.
The ‘Hadramauti black-on-yellow’ is absent. At Gedi it is very common the Great Mosque which probably dates between 1250 and 1350 AD. At Kilwa and Manda it appears in the thirteenth century. At Shanga also import between 1250 and 1350 AD. On Madagascar, it is common at the earlier port of Mahilaka, 370 km to the north-east of Boeny (Verin 1975,639). The absence of this ware from Kingany suggests that occupation did not begin before the mid-fourteenth century. Thus, the absence of these imported wares reduces the occupation at Kingany to between 1350 and 1550 AD.
Settlement:
The major settlement of this phase is the town site of Kingany, west of the mouth of the Bay of Boeny, surveyed and tested by Vérin in 1967-68 (1975, 293-337). The main portion of the site covers at least 3.5 hectares spread along 500 m of an older beach about 80 m behind the present beach. There are two discrete areas with concentrations of masonry house foundations, middens, and tombs at the two extremities of the site (Vérin 1975, 294, fig. 84; 1986, 161). Vérin termed the east area ‘Site 1’, the west area ‘Site 11’, and the south margin ‘Site 111’.
At Site I, the masonry remains of one house complex and 15 tombs were mapped. The complex had a two-room house, 7.6 by 4.6 m, and an adjacent walled enclosure, 18.1 by 14.l m in exterior measure. Local sherds, fragments of a chlorite-schist footed vessel, celadon sherds, and a stoneware jar from South-east Asia were found.
At Site 11, the masonry remains of two mosques, four houses, some wells and cisterns and 25 tombs were mapped. The mosques were small -8.8 by 6.0 m with simple rounded mihrabs. Open spaces to the east, south and west were bounded by walls. One house was excavated. This house was 9.25 by 3.25 m in exterior measure and had two rooms. In it were found sherds of local bowls and jars, Far Eastern celadon plates and bowls and white porcelain bowls, Near Eastern monochrome and polychrome bowls, and stoneware jars. Sherds of both chlorite-schist footed vessels and tops and ceramic imitations of such vessels were found. Slag in the house fill indicates iron-working in the vicinity of Site II, but only one iron hook, similar to a crochet hook for embroidering, was found. Small decorated spindle whorls indicate the spinning of fibres. A small link of silver chain and some cut-stone pieces, perhaps scale weights, may be direct indications of exchange. Cattle and fish bones are common, and possible sea turtle and dugong remains occur. Marine shell, however, is rare, perhaps because of Islamic proscriptions against the eating of molluscs.
Site 111 is on a higher older beach ridge to the south is a long wall and three additional tombs. The wall is low and probably served as a territorial boundary for the town or its gardens rather than for defence. One of the tombs has a masonry pillar with octagonal top, 3.35 m tall on its east side. Such pillars occur on the East african coast (Kirkman 1964). This is the only known example on Madagascar. A few sherds of local ceramics and one of celadon were found near these tombs, but it is not known if there was housing in this area (Vérin 1975, 336-37; 1968, 167).
In sum, the evidence of the 1967-68 project shows that Kingany was a small but prosperous town whose leading citizens were Muslim traders with a life-style like that of townspeople on the coast of East Africa. Fishing, herding, gardening, potting, spinning and iron-working were local activities. The existence of several mosques and tomb clusters suggests that there was a demarcation between different segments of the community. The archaeological evidence indicates that Kingany was not occupied after the beginning of the sixteenth century, suggesting that the occupants found its exposed position facing the sea intolerably dangerous in the time of Portuguese ascendancy.
Kingany is probably the un-named Muslim town on the coast of Madagascar burnt by Admiral Tristan de Cunha in May 1506, as described by de Barros (Grandidier et al 1903-1920, 1:27-28) and d’Albuquerque (Grandidier et al 1903-1920, I:20). These accounts indicate that the town faced the open sea, and Kingany is the only such site of the fifteenth-century known (Verin 1975,251-54; 1986, 171-73). There is no known later documentation of this town, which conforms with the archaeological evidence of abandonment.
Taken from: The Materiality of Islamization as Observed in Archaeological Remains in Northern Madagascar. Excavations at Kingany, May 2019. Nathan Anderson
Fieldwork led by Nathan Anderson, in 2019 involved the excavation of twenty-five sondages and two larger investigation units at Kingany Site II. This expedition was designed to investigate Islamization at the site of Kingany and the Mozambique Channel at large.
Absolute dating of materials recovered from the terminal strata of Test Unit 1 suggest that Kingany Site II was inhabited by at least the mid-12th century. Islamization within the settlement likely began in the 12th century. Imported ceramics and other trade goods found at the site demonstrate that the community had access to long distance trade networks from as early as the late 10th up until the mid-14th century. These artifacts, while limited in quantity, reveal that communities within Boeni Bay shared in the networks which were supplying Mahilaka, with goods coming from Southeast Asia, East Asia, and the Persian Gulf (Radimilahy 2017). Additionally, chlorite schist and rock crystal finds suggest the existence of internal trade relationships with Madagascar’s northeast and north-central highlands. Kingany Site II experienced a gradual development, short peak immediately following the acceleration of Islamization at the site, represented by the construction of the southern mosque, and quick decline.
End of the Middle-Ages View on Kingany by the Portuguese.
Henry T. Wright, Pierre Vérin (2010): Kingany is probably the un-named Muslim town on the coast of Madagascar burnt by Admiral Tristan de Cunha in May 1506, as described by de Barros (Grandidier et rrl 1903-1920, 1:27-28) and d’Albuquerque (Grandidier et a2 1903-1920, I:20).
Taken from: Collections des ouvrages anciens concernant Madagascar Vol 1 ; Grandidier 1903
Fernan d'Albuquerque:
The Portuguese fleet left Lisbon on March 6, 1506 under the command of Tristan da Cunha ………
P20
…… The admiral then had the longboats put to sea, and the sailors seized a small canoe in which were two Moors whom they brought on board and who guided the ships to an Arab city that was very close by [in the bay of Boina]. The Moors, seeing the fleet coming, abandoned the city and fled; the Portuguese landed and pursued them, killing some who had hidden in the bush. The admiral recalled his sailors on board, for fear that they would break away, and he released the few women they had brought with them, then, after giving the order to burn the town, he sailed along the coast for a short distance and landed in a bay called Lulangane [Mahajamba Bay]; ……
De Barros:
……… Tristan da Cunha, who left Lisbon on March 6, 1506, with 14 ships and 1300 men-at-arms, was surprised ......
P28
…… The following day, he made the ships advance more than three leagues towards the North and he landed [at the entrance to the bay of Bombétoke =Mahajanga] at another important city, built on the edge of a river; he did no harm to the inhabitants who were numerous, but he seized the chief, who was the lord, of the country and who, during the night, led him to a very populated island, located in a well-enclosed bay [bay of Mahajamba] ……