The Southern Cradle: An Alternate History of Africa

Religion and Society along the Bononoka(1), Part One

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An ancestral shrine in the Drakensberg foothills

It is impossible to undertake any serious survey of Malasi society at the dawn of the Fiadanana cultural complex without extensive coverage of religion. The two are so deeply intertwined as to be inseparable. In the old days, when the ancestors were yet freshly arrived along the shores of the Bononoka, they were followers of different gods and different ways more similar to the Ambatondrazaka(2) of Andrianerinerina(3) and were known amongst themselves as the Vahoaka, or “canoe-people”. The Vahoaka had a deeply curious mythology which evolved over time into a more recognizably Malasi form, losing some of its strange qualities. The central figures in Vahoaka mythology were the Vazimba(4), a pygmy people who were the very first settlers of both Andrianerinerina and, as logically concluded by the Vahoaka--despite the lack of evidence of previous settlement along the Bononoka--of the new lands as well. It is a curious little piece of Malasi and Vahoaka culture; no land that is discovered can ever have been unknown. This is in contrast to Europeans, who firmly believe that those lands to the west that they “found” were “new” and “unknown”. The Malasi and Vahoaka have always believed that any land they find had to have been previously found and settled by someone. Otherwise it would not be there.

The Vazimba, though considered to be long-dead by the Vahoaka even upon their earliest landings in Tanynymalemylanitra(5), still exerted great, nigh-divine power over the lives of the Vahoaka, as far as they were concerned. As the Vazimba were essentially the ancestors of the ancestors, they were considered to be by far the most powerful of any of the multitude of spirits present in the land, water, and air, of Tanynymalemylanitra. Though they had been a technologically primitive people in life--said to have used weapons of clay and to not know even basic horticulture, much less agriculture--the Vazimba had a deep connection with Zanahary, the divine creator of the world, and were able to use that connection upon their physical extinction to usurp his power and establish themselves as the premier spiritual force throughout the known world. Vahoaka shamans argued long into the night about whether Zanahary had been slain by the Vazimba or had merely fled, and if he had been slain, then was he truly dead? Could a god be killed? These questions would fade as did the concept of Zanahary himself--though his worship and that of his son remains the premier faith amongst the Ambatondrazaka to the east. The great chief of the Vazimba, one Mpihazafanahy or “Hunter-of-Souls”, looked upon the Vahoaka, though they were the chosen people of Zanahary, created with his dying (or fleeing) breath, with great mercy and kindness, caring for them as if they were his own children.

Unfortunately, the Vazimba were many and of many opinions, meaning that there were a great number of powerful spirits in the world that felt great malice towards the Vahoaka. When these spirits were feeling mischievous or were angered, great floods and sicknesses would occur, and great misfortunes. If Mpihazafanahy himself was angered, there would be terrible omens--the sun would blacken, rain would not fall, etc., etc. In such times, and even when lesser spirits were angered, great sacrifices were needed. Tales are told even to this day of the time that one chief near the great sea sacrificed more than five hundred painted dogs to Mpihazafanahy to quell his rage, impoverishing his people for decades. As time went on, however, and the Vahoaka became the Malasi, and settled into their new land, new gods arose in the west, among, yet again, the Fiadanana…

Notes
(1) Decided to try something of a different approach this time, tell me what you think!
(2) OTL, Ambatondrazaka is the name of a city on the shore of the largest lake in Madagascar. ITTL, the people of Ambatondrazaka will play a very big role in the history of *Madagascar.
(3) ITTL's name for Madagascar. Here, the island is named after the mythical first king of the island, obviously named Andrianerinerina, who is usually considered to be the son of Zanahary, the creator figure in Malagasy mythology.
(4) "Those-Of-The-Forest". They feature very strongly in Malagasy mythology and culture IOTL, being the original inhabitants of Madagascar. Some have speculated that this is actually the result of multiple waves of colonization of Madagascar, with the second or third waves seeing the first as deeply primitive and much smaller than the Bantu who would comprise the third wave.
(5) "Land-of-Soft-Skies". The Malasi name for *South Africa, or at least their part of it.
 
Are the new gods due to Khoisan influence? And what's happening on Madagascar? I'm really interested in how/if things have changed for the islands as well as what impact the Bantu will have on the Malasi-Khoisan society.
 
Are the new gods due to Khoisan influence? And what's happening on Madagascar? I'm really interested in how/if things have changed for the islands as well as what impact the Bantu will have on the Malasi-Khoisan society.

Some will be due to the influence of the Khoikhoi, not yet the San--while the Malasi to a certain extent know of the San, they don't really interact, as neither have anything to offer each other and the local San groups are to a certain extent hostile towards the Malasi as they're competing for hunting grounds. The Khoikhoi are happy to trade, however, and live nearby Malasi settlements. Anyway, like I said, some will be due to the influence of the Khoikhoi, but it's mostly just an evolution of Malasi religion due to changing political dynamics. You'll see. As for Madagascar, at the moment, it's developing more or less OTL, albeit with fewer people--hundreds of fairly undeveloped agricultural chiefdoms ripe for invasion by the Bantu in a few centuries. However, there will be deeply significant changes along the way. I'm really looking forward to the Bantu coming; it'll be a huge cultural conflict!
 
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