, also or (), is a traditional zebu-wrestling sport of Madagascar's Betsileo people, in which fighters, called , attempt to bring a zebu ox to the ground by its horns or hump. Though the practice can be found throughout Madagascar's Central Highlands, it is most common in the Ambositra region, outside of which it is called (). The tradition, which accompanies many festivities and rituals for the Betsileo, is particularly important as a courtship practice for young men to impress potential brides and their families. Preparation for begins in childhood, with boys playing make-believe zebu games known as before training with real bulls.
Originating as an ancient game between rice farmers and their cattle, has evolved into a complex ritual involving magical healers, traditional guardians, and legendary wrestlers. There is no written guidance for the rituals of ; it is entirely an oral tradition passed to young men from fathers, village mystics, and older fighters. Various legends offering mythic explanations for exist among the Betsileo, whose agrarian society centers around the zebu ox. has endured through significant cultural shifts, including Madagascar's Christianization, colonization, and decolonization, into the modern day. In recent decades, a standardized, professional form of has developed as a popular spectator sport around the nation's capital.
Tradition
(' in the rice paddies') is the original, ludic form of , wherein farmers bring zebu to the wet rice paddies during the planting season (October to December) to trample the earth and wrestle them in the mud. It is done to entertain the farmers and maintain the health of the cattle. Farmers may also excite the oxen by mounting them, facilitating deeper penetration of the soil as the agitated zebu stomps, jumps, and runs.
Ritual and spectacle
Occasions Besides , matches coincide with festivals and rituals in the Betsileo calendar. Organizing a spectacle displays wealth, and it is traditionally the responsibility of high elders and great fighters. Local entrepreneurs and candidates for public office may also host .
During the period of circumcision rites (held in the colder months of May or June, so that the boys' wounds heal more quickly), families organize to promote strength and persistence in children. Christian Betsileo associate the season with Easter and Pentecost.Fabrice Folio, Serge Bouchet, Promotion du tourisme culturel par la mise en tourisme du savika, in Océan Indien, enjeux patrimoniaux et touristiques : actes du Grand séminaire de l'océan Indien 2014, Université de la Réunion, 2014, 224 p. Fights also take place surrounding , the annual ceremony of exhuming ancestral corpses. Some tribes organize funerary as part of the festivities that follow procession and burial: the ritual is intended to distract one of the deceased's two immortal souls. Among the Betsileo, the wrestled bull is eventually slaughtered, and its meat is used to feed the guests or be presented to guests in return for their gifts. Dennis Regnier recounts a at an ancestor-honoring festival. After the zebu was ritually slaughtered, a man entered the pen and repeatedly struck the zebu's corpse, announcing name changes in the village to onlookers and ancestors. The name-changing ritual took place at the because of the crowd's size and attentiveness, and the animal's corpse was struck to retain the attention of the ancestors. Some villages, most notably the commune of Manandriana-Avaradrano, stage to celebrate Madagascar's Independence Day on June 26.
Zebu selection Fighting zebu raised for are fed supplementary diets of cassava and yam twice a day. Zebu are chosen based on appearance, pedigree, and apparent fierceness and strength. Good zebu generally have large humps, developed horns, and lean, muscular bodies, are between 3 and 4 years old, and weigh between 300 and 400kg. The most desirable zebu are either reddish-black with grey ears, or sport a tricolor (red, black, and white) coat. Buyers test the aggression of zebus at market by poking them with sticks, and aggressive zebu fetch much higher prices than docile cattle, especially when fighters are present at market. Zebu aggression is described according to a system of classification (e.g. zebu, who "gore from bottom to top"). Once a zebu is purchased, an (healer) performs rituals to render the ox invincible, and feeds it a strengthening potion whose formula is kept secret to prevent the production of an antidote. Docile zebu who are otherwise good candidates for may be given stimulants before entering the arena.
Rites and preparation
is considered sacred, and the fight itself is preceded by a number of rites, including offerings of rum, requests for blessing, and a period of sexual abstinence. (fighters) form teams of about ten according to village affiliation and skill level, overseen by (protectors) and . Sons-in-law form their own class, called . Teams meet on the day before the fight to eat together out of one bowl and purify themselves with magical talismans or potions called . To prepare for the fight, follow certain (taboos) symbolizing avoidance of junction or penetration: no sitting at crossroads, no drinking at the intersections of streams, no eating foods that have been mixed together. One taboo requires that no women enter the arena, with the consequence of its violation being serious injury or death. For this reason, there are no female . who arrive for a fight in a place unknown to them must consult the local to learn the local . Violation of these is believed to result in injury to the fighter. An who has violated the necessary must make a costly sacrifice, which can range from a rooster to a healthy zebu, depending on the severity of his infraction. If the violator suffers a serious injury in the fight, the is tasked with healing him, often using his own saliva mixed with the medicinal plants , , and .
On the day of the fight, the fighters traditionally swallow a strength potion and wear special clothing. Fighters of the forest-dwelling Tanala tribe drink an infusion of and as a pre- tonic. Betsileo often drink alcohol before fighting, including at funerals.
Fight The coordinator introduces the event, delivering a (oration) explaining the tradition and blessing the zebus and fighters. ceremonies are ubiquitously preceded by a "prayer of invocation of Zanahary [the supreme deity of Malagasy religion], the ancestors, and the holy land." The fighters' representatives recite a vow of fair conduct. The zebus' owners recite their own introducing the animals. Barefoot and armed with sticks, fighters take turns wrestling the ox. During the event, women sing a theme song containing directives for the fighters, accompanied by piercing screams. Women also throw cold water into the arena throughout the fight, which enrages the animal and refreshes the man. The fighter attempts to defeat the animal by either encircling its hump, choking its neck, or grasping its head. Victory over the zebu is proclaimed when the animal lies on the ground, or if the final blow is "unequivocal". The zebu is sometimes sacrificed, sometimes returned to its owner, and sometimes gifted to the champion. Fighters may receive monetary rewards from spectators for being the first to fight the ox, but such rewards are generally uncommon, as is considered a social institution whose innate rewards are spiritual and communal.
Other bull-fighting traditions in Madagascar Among the neighboring Bara people, stampeding cattle are wrestled and mounted in a sport called associated with funerary procession.
Sakalava bull-fighters prepare and drink an overnight-infused decoction of (Flacourtia ramontchi), (Albizzia fastigiata), (Hyphaena coriacea) and (Hedychium flavescens) during the fight's preparatory period, during which they abstain from sex and do not eat herbs or vegetables. The potion is purported to make the fighter impervious to goring, and the solids remaining after infusion may be powdered and applied to the fighter's skin and clothing for additional power.
James Sibree describes a bullfight as part of Sihanaka festivities surrounding the rites of circumcision: they choose the strongest ox, sharpen its horns, and tackle the animal in groups "after two or three days' continuous drinking, when they [have gotten] perfectly maddened with spirits and ready for any foolhardy adventure".
(derived from Ramadan) is a bull-fighting practice among the Sakalava people on the island of Nosy Be unrelated to , having its roots in the Comoros. In 1922, French ethnologist André Dandouau asserted that in Nosy Be (located off Madagascar's Northwestern coast, far from Betsileo country) originates from the nearby Comorian island of Anjouan. Alain Gyre reports that the practice in Nosy Be was inherited in 1949 from a small number of Comorian immigrants and Spaniards who arrived on the island aboard a ship called the Kotriha. is practically distinct from in its use of a cloth to agitate the zebu, similar to the used in Spanish bull-fighting. The game ends when the zebu is tired or ignoring provocation. It is associated with festivities, particularly with Eid among Nosy Be's sizable Muslim community.
Social function and significance is considered an educative rite of passage for young Betsileo, teaching them resilience and dominance, and initiating them into a patrimonial oral tradition maintained by a hierarchy of fathers, great fighters, protectors and healers. Performance in is considered particularly important for prospective sons-in-law to prove themselves to their future wives' families. Skill at is emblematic of masculinity and virility, and victory brings glory to the fighter, his village, and his ancestors. Ernest Ratsimbazafy identified as important to local social politics, including in elements relating to the procurement of zebu, the organizing of events, and the creation of a restricted caste of who share with each other knowledge that is forbidden to those who do not fight.
Iboniamasiboniamanoro, the hero of the centuries-old Malagasy epic Ibonia, is recognized in the legend for his skill at bull-fighting.
Zebu Present on the island since the 9th century CE, zebus are a symbol of prosperity and power across all of Madagascar, and are so valued that they are commonly subject to thievery from bandits (called ). In Madagascar, zebu outnumber people, and 6,813 Malagasy proverbs, common sayings, and expressions on the island refer to the animal.
Zebu are particularly central to Betsileo life, being essential to agriculture among the agrarian people; one's social status and wealth can be measured by his herd of zebu. A man's ox is considered his greatest companion after his wife. is an important ritual element of Betsileo zebu culture.
Betsileo children and adolescents play mimetic zebu games called , familiarizing themselves with zebus in preparation for .
At infancy, children rub shoulders with zebu in their fathers' arms or tied to their mothers' backs, as their parents walk beside their cattle. Crying babies are brought by their fathers to admire the family's zebu.
Betsileo children craft and play with clay figurines representing zebu, with emphasized horns and humps. Using their figurines, they model typical zebu interactions: herdsmen guiding cattle, zebus carrying objects, and wrestling. Such play is called or . Between 3 and 5 years of age, boys sharpen cassava stems and use them to "fight" imaginary miniature zebu in a game called . Boys of this age also play , a sort of cricket-fighting in which boys compete to catch the strongest and largest crickets, who then fight in a pit. A boy's wealth is measured in the strength and number of his crickets, modeling zebu ownership. Beetle-fighting in imitation of bull-fighting has also been recorded among Malagasy children.