can rely. The Andriana formed the top tier of a three-tiered central Malagasy society. Below them are the Hova, 'those who love, who are able to change', the group of free men. Third are the Andevo, the group of captives who lost their status through political or economic shortcomings or misfortune. [From the African mainland, in particular, came more slaves]. According to Raymond Kent, the American historian, the emergence of Malagasy 'kingdoms' can be directly correlated to the size of the slave trade, the number of pirogues, dhows, brigs arriving in Madagascar [the author, in effect, refers here to Malagasy, Arab/Swahili and European boats respectively, all participating in the trade].
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Joseph C Okoroji (1993) studied this question.