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Bandar al Nub (Baly)

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Ibn Majid (1470) is the only author to mention the place. In the area where the place is supposed to be no archaeological research has been done so far.

At eight fingers Ibn Majid gives: Gazira al Anbar at 16.9°S (Island of St. Marie); Sagagi at 14.3°S; Musanbigi at 15°S; Bandar al Nub at 16.7°S.

 

To find a possible location for Bandar al Nub on the W-Madagascar coast I connected the two known places Island of St. Marie and Mozambique Island by a straight line. Then I check if where it crosses the W-coast of Madagascar there is a Medieval Swahili harbor.

The line reaches the coast at the Bay of Baly. According to oral tradition a medieval Swahili settlement existed at Baly.

 

Taken from: The History of Civilisation in North Madagascar Pierre Vérin 1986

 

P156

Migration (of Swahili) from Nosy Manja (=Landjany Island)(2) to the Bay of Baly (3)

As pointed out that, according to Guillain (1845:358), a group of people left the settlement at Mahajamba bay (=Landjany) and, under the leadership of Kambamba, founded a settlement on the island of Makamby (1) in the mouth of the Bay of Boina. The colonists then emigrated from this island, going to the Bay of Boina itself, to Kandrany (4), the Bay of Bombetoka (5) and Baly (6). What has emerged from a study of these places is, of course, that there is no need to believe that all the details …………

 

P169

……… Antranovato (=at the bottom of the Bay of Mahajanga) ……… We can only presume therefore that this site had to do with Kandrany (= one of the settlements founded by the initial wave of Swahili immigrants that in oral history stories founded the N-W coast trading centers and situated just S of Antranovato) and the Islamic peoples. ………

The settlement at Kandrany - Antranovato was never an important trading centre. According to Guillain, the Antalaotse of Kandrany returned to Boeny (=Another Swahili settlement) after the Sakalava had defeated the inhabitants of Langany (=Another Swahili settlement). The remains of the settlement founded by the members of Hassani's migration (see oral history written down by Charles Guillain) seem to have disappeared from the Bay of Baly (6) (=The Swahili settlement that might be Bandar al Nub). The name Baly was undoubtedly given to this place at the time of the Antalaotse occupation, because the Swahili word mbali means 'far' (7). According to Prince Kassim ben Joma, the name therefore describes the impression of depth created by the bay. There is no trace at all of this first Islamic settlement of the kind found at Boeny, Kandrany or Nosy Langany. This absence can be explained by the fact that Baly was very much inhabited until the beginning of the twentieth century and the recent settlement may well have resulted in the obliteration of all previous traces, probably because they were reused. In addition to this, there has been a good deal of erosion along the coast at this point. The shore and the submerged part of the land are full of fragments deriving from the nineteenth century village.

 

P377

(About the nineteenth century village.)

The German traveller Hildebrandt in 1879 stated: There are two villages in the bay (of Baly). One of them is the home of a Sakalava Princess, the other is inhabited by Muslim traders. Their flag is that of Zanzibar or Islam. The Hova (free commoners of the Merina Kingdom) no longer have any power here. The residence of the Sakalava Princess mentioned by Hildebrandt might have been either in the Madagascan village of Baly or neighboring Soalala.

 

I add the complete oral history story to the webpage: The Oral History of the Swahili Towns in N-W Madagascar.

 

Taken from: L’archipel des Comores et son histoire ancienne. Essai de mise en perspective des chroniques, de la tradition orale et des typologies de céramiques locales et d’importation. Claude Allibert 2015

 

Dembeni (Comoros), presents other reptiles, such as pyxis arachnoides or kapila (Madagascar) and yniphora, which were all consumed. Other animals from the Malagasy coast (turtles probably from the Baly Bay area, tenrecs, lemurs) were also used as food, which makes the generalization of Islam at this time very unlikely, these animals being forbidden for consumption.

 

(1) Nosy Makamby is about 7 km north into the sea from Kingani. See my webpage: Anamil (Kingany).

(2) Langani: see my webpage on Landjani; Lulugan =Langany; Lulangane (now Nosy Longany).

(3) Baly village still exists in the Bay of Baly. See my webpage on Bandar al Nub.

(4) Kandrany is still a village in the south of the Bay of Mahajanga. In front of it; closer to the shore of the bay is the village of Antranovato in which Pierre Vérin 1986 went searching for Swahili ruins and he found a majestic tomb.: “Using the traces of this wall and the stones placed at various points around the site, it proved possible to reconstruct the plan of Antranovato at least approximately. The structure was 8 m long in an east - west direction and 8.50 m in a north - south direction. It may have been a house, but because almost no fragments of pottery were found in situ it was more probably an Islamic tomb. The stonework was made of recent limestone …… The 'Indians' who were looking for treasure on Antranovato actually destroyed the tomb. There is no visible trace of any substructure and it is probable that there was a settlement consisting of buildings made of very light materials. The pottery found on the site has a combed decoration which is fairly representative of the Vezo - Antavelo style. …… We can only presume therefore that this island site had to do with Kandrany and the Islamic peoples. We noted in particular a stone construction, imported Chinese ware and quartz workings there. These are all common on Islamic sites, but there is no reason why they should not also appear among the inhabitants who were living before the Sakalava invasion, but were also in contact with the Islamic traders. The settlement at Kandrany - Antranovato was never an important trading centre. All that it consisted of were a few dozen small huts built of materials that were not long - lasting and possibly also the stone tomb of the founder of the settlement.”

(5) Bay of Bombetoka: Where is the city of Mahajanga.

(6) Baly or Bali Bay is the furthest south settlement in the N-W of Madagascar mentioned in the Oral History. In reality Swahili settlements are found way further south.

(7) Bali means ‘far’ in swahili: According to the Oral History written down by Guillain it was the farthest South Bay in which the Swahili settled extending from the initial settlement in the North of Madagascar. Swahili settlements further south are also known but do not feature in this oral history. They might have been settled out of other places on the East African Coast or at a later date.

First bay in which they settled: Bay of Ampasindava

Second bay: Bay of Mahajambe

Third bay: Bay of Boina.

Fourth/ Fifth bay: Bay of Bali and Bay of Bombetok (Bay of Mahajanga).