European exploration of Africa
One of the ships under command of Diogo Dias arrived at a coast that was not in East Africa. Two years later, a chart already showed an elongated island east of Africa that bore the name Madagascar. But only a century later, between 1613 and 1619, did the Portuguese explore the island in detail. They signed treaties with local chieftains and sent the first missionaries, who found it impossible to make locals believe in Hell, and were eventually expelled.
Sakalava people
Austronesian people started settling in Madagascar between 200 and 500 CE. They arrived by boats and were from various southeast Asian groups. Later Swahili-Arabs and Indian traders came to the island's northern regions. African slaves were brought to the island in increasing numbers between the 15th and the 18th centuries, particularly to the region where Sakalava people now live. This influx of diverse people led to various Malagasy sub-ethnicities in the mid-2nd millennium. The Portuguese traders were the first Europeans to arrive in the 15th century, followed by other European powers.