209:
an entire village. Although the gift giving and dancing that accompany the grand marriage have helped perpetuate indigenous arts in silversmithing, goldsmithing, folk song, and folk dance, the waste involved has disastrous consequences for an economy already short on domestic resources. A ban or curb on the grand marriage was on the agenda of many reformers in the period preceding the radical regime of Ali Soilih, who himself had taken the almost unheard-of step of declining to participate in the ritual. However, the efforts of the Soilih government to restrict the custom aroused great resentment, and it was restored to its preeminent place in
Comoran society almost immediately after Soilih was deposed in 1978. Although its expense limits the number of families that can provide their sons and daughters a grand marriage, the ritual is still used as a means of distinguishing Comoran society's future leaders. Only by participating in the ceremony is a Comoran man entitled to participate in his village's assembly of notables and to wear the mharuma, a sash that entitles him to enter the mosque by a special door. Few, if any, candidates win election to the
188:
continual state of war until the French occupation. Two similar clans were located on Nzwani, and these clans maintained vassals on Mahoré and Mwali after the
Sakalava wiped out the local nobles in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries . Although the clan system was weakened by the economic and social dislocations of the colonial era, the descendants of clan nobles continue to form a major portion of the educated and propertied classes. The pre-independence rivalry of Said Mohamed Cheikh and Prince Said Ibrahim, leaders, respectively, of the conservative Parti Vert and the Parti Blanc, was interpreted by some as a revival of old clan antagonisms. Yet many descendants of nobles live in poverty and apparently have less influence socially and politically on Nzwani than on Njazidja.
22:
160:
Malayo-Indonesian peoples—the
Oimatsaha, the Antalotes, and the Sakalava, the latter having settled largely on Mahoré. Intermarriage has tended to blur the distinctions among these groups, however. Creoles, descendants of French settlers who intermarried with the indigenous peoples, form a tiny but politically influential group on Mahoré, numbering no more than about 100 on that island. They are predominantly
252:
208:
Especially well regarded are those individuals who hold the grand marriage, often after a lifetime of scrimping and saving. This wedding ceremony, which can cost as much as the equivalent of US$ 20,000 to US$ 30,000, involves an exchange of expensive gifts between the couple's families and feasts for
191:
The present-day elite, although composed in part of those of noble ancestry who took advantage of the opportunities of the cash crop economy established by the French, is mainly defined in terms of wealth rather than caste or descent. This focus on wealth is not unusual, considering that the original
187:
Arab royal clans dominated the islands socially, culturally, and politically from the fifteenth century until the French occupation. Eleven such clans lived on
Njazidja, where their power was strongest, and their leaders, the sultans or sharifs, who claimed to be descendants of Muhammad, were in a
146:
dialect. The principal
Comoran Swahili dialect, written in Arabic script, is related to the Swahili spoken in East Africa but is not easily intelligible to East African Swahili speakers. Classical Arabic is significant for religious reasons, and French remains the principal language with which the
224:
elite, one observer reports that in many subtle ways old distinctions persist. The descendants of slaves, formally emancipated in 1904, are mostly sharecroppers or squatters, working the land that belonged to their ancestors' former owners, although some have gone abroad as migrant laborers (a
159:
settlers, who arrived in significant numbers in the fifteenth century; the Cafres, an
African group that settled on the islands before the coming of the Shirazi; a second African group, the Makoa, descendants of slaves brought by the Arabs from the East African coast; and three groups of
225:
greatly restricted option since
Madagascar's expulsion of thousands of Comorans in the late 1970s). Men of "freeborn" families choose "freeborn" wives, holding, if possible, a grand marriage; but if they take second wives, these women often are of slave ancestry.
213:
without a grand marriage in their pasts. For these reasons in particular, critics of traditional
Comoran society condemn the grand marriage as a means of excluding people of modest resources from participating in the islands' political life.
122:
dialect, and in a number of pre-Islamic customs. Western, primarily French, influences are also prevalent, particularly in the modern educational sector, the civil service, and cultural affairs.
118:
and the traditions of East Africa. The former provides the basis for religion and law; the East
African influence is evident in the language, a
164:
and mainly cultivate small plantations. In addition, a small group of people descended in part from the
Portuguese sailors who landed on the
217:
Those who can afford the pilgrimage to Mecca are also accorded prestige. The imams who lead prayers in mosques form a distinct elite group.
169:
32:
90:
62:
210:
69:
76:
285:
239:
47:
58:
261:
196:
settlers themselves were traders and that the precolonial sultans were actively involved in commerce.
267:
197:
221:
193:
184:
156:
83:
43:
8:
143:
168:
at the beginning of the sixteenth century are reportedly living around the town of
155:
A number of ethnically distinguishable groups are found: the Arabs, descendants of
119:
234:
165:
161:
134:, Arab, and Malayo-Indonesian elements. A few small communities, primarily in
279:
256:
131:
272:
39:
135:
21:
173:
255:
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
147:
Republic of the Comoros communicates with the rest of the world.
139:
115:
277:
200:continues to mark the lifestyle of the elite.
220:Despite the weakening of the position of the
48:introducing citations to additional sources
38:Relevant discussion may be found on the
278:
114:and culture reflect the influences of
150:
15:
13:
130:The Comoran people are a blend of
14:
297:
250:
31:relies largely or entirely on a
20:
240:History of Comoros (1978-1989)
203:
179:
1:
245:
7:
228:
125:
10:
302:
268:Federal Research Division
198:Conspicuous consumption
286:Society of the Comoros
172:on the east coast of
44:improve this article
59:"Comorian society"
211:National Assembly
151:Early settlements
109:
108:
94:
293:
271:
254:
253:
104:
101:
95:
93:
52:
24:
16:
301:
300:
296:
295:
294:
292:
291:
290:
276:
275:
263:Country Studies
260:
251:
248:
231:
206:
182:
153:
128:
112:Comoran society
105:
99:
96:
53:
51:
37:
25:
12:
11:
5:
299:
289:
288:
247:
244:
243:
242:
237:
235:Comoro Islands
230:
227:
205:
202:
181:
178:
166:Comoro Islands
162:Roman Catholic
152:
149:
127:
124:
107:
106:
42:. Please help
28:
26:
19:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
298:
287:
284:
283:
281:
274:
273:
269:
265:
264:
258:
257:public domain
241:
238:
236:
233:
232:
226:
223:
218:
215:
212:
201:
199:
195:
189:
186:
177:
175:
171:
167:
163:
158:
148:
145:
141:
137:
133:
123:
121:
117:
113:
103:
100:February 2022
92:
89:
85:
82:
78:
75:
71:
68:
64:
61: –
60:
56:
55:Find sources:
49:
45:
41:
35:
34:
33:single source
29:This article
27:
23:
18:
17:
262:
249:
219:
216:
207:
190:
183:
154:
129:
111:
110:
97:
87:
80:
73:
66:
54:
30:
204:Present day
180:Royal clans
246:References
170:Tsangadjou
70:newspapers
40:talk page
280:Category
229:See also
174:Njazidja
144:Malagasy
138:, speak
126:Language
222:Shirazi
194:Shirazi
185:Shirazi
157:Shirazi
140:Kibushi
120:Swahili
84:scholar
259:.
136:Mahoré
86:
79:
72:
65:
57:
132:Bantu
116:Islam
91:JSTOR
77:books
142:, a
63:news
46:by
282::
266:.
176:.
270:.
102:)
98:(
88:·
81:·
74:·
67:·
50:.
36:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
