BETSILEO

a Malagasy people living in the central highlands of south-central Madagascar. They speak a dialect of Malagasy, the West Austronesian language that is common to all Malagasy peoples. River valleys inhabited and farmed by Betsileo are separated from one another by dense montane forest. The Betsileo were initially divided into a great many autonomous clans. They were conquered by the expanding Merina kingdom to the north in the early 19th century, after which they came under French colonial administration. They are efficient and productive cultivators of rice on painstakingly irrigated and terraced hillsides. They also grow cassava, corn (maize), yams, bananas, and sugarcane. Many others have become carpenters, bricklayers, or other skilled craftsmen or have settled in other areas of Madagascar to work as merchants or government employees.