The Sorabe: Madagascar’s Arabic-Script Manuscripts

This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you book through them.

By Jordan Lamont · Last updated 7 October 2026

Say it like a local: Sorabe (soo-rah-BEH) — “great writings”; ombiasy (oom-bee-ASH) — a sage, healer and keeper of knowledge.

Long before Madagascar adopted the Latin alphabet, the Malagasy language was already being written — not in European letters, but in Arabic ones. Hidden in the southeast of the island, guarded for centuries in sacred manuscripts, is a writing system most visitors never hear about: Sorabe. It is the oldest form of written Malagasy, and the story of who kept it, and why, opens a door onto a side of the island that has nothing to do with lemurs or beaches.

Writing that came across the sea

Arabic script reached Madagascar’s shores with Arab and Swahili traders, probably between the 7th and 10th centuries. But it was the Antaimoro (“people of the coast”), whose aristocratic clans settled the southeast around the 15th century, who turned it into a Malagasy writing system. They adapted the Arabic alphabet to the sounds of their language and called the result Sorabe — literally “great” or “large writings.” For centuries it was the only way the Malagasy language was committed to paper.

A script for secrets, not shopping lists

Sorabe was never an everyday script. It was sacred and, often, deliberately secret. The manuscripts recorded the most valued knowledge a community possessed: astrology and the reading of destinies, divination, genealogies, herbal medicine, protective charms and religious ritual. This was the preserve of the ombiasy — learned men who were part astrologer, part healer, part priest. To be able to read Sorabe was to hold power, and the knowledge was passed down carefully rather than shared freely.

The sages who travelled the island

The Antaimoro ombiasy did not stay put. Carrying their script and their reputation, they travelled across Madagascar, practising their arts for local communities, advising kings, and sometimes founding new principalities of their own. Highland rulers — including, later, the Merina court — consulted Antaimoro diviners on the timing of wars, coronations and major decisions. A small southeastern people thus wove their influence into the politics of the whole island, one manuscript and one prophecy at a time.

What survives

Most Sorabe manuscripts that survive today were copied in the 19th century, though some texts are far older, and at least one may predate the 1600s. They are written on paper made from local avoha bark — the same Antaimoro papermaking craft that survives as a souvenir industry today. When King Radama I made the Latin alphabet official in 1823, everyday Malagasy writing moved on; but Sorabe endured where it had always lived, in the hands of families who treat it as heritage and sacred trust rather than mere text.

Why it matters today

Sorabe is a reminder that Madagascar’s story is not only Austronesian and African but also Arab, and that the island was literate in its own way long before Europeans arrived. For a traveller it reframes the southeast — around Vohipeno and Manakara — as a place of deep written history, not just scenery. Read about Malagasy customs and belief, explore Antananarivo where some of this history is told, and plan with our Madagascar travel guide.

FAQ

What is Sorabe?

Sorabe (“great writings”) is an Arabic-derived script used to write Malagasy, kept by the Antaimoro people of the southeast in sacred manuscripts.

What was it used for?

Chiefly for sacred and secret knowledge — astrology, divination, herbal medicine and ritual — recorded and guarded by learned men called ombiasy.

How old is it?

Arabic script reached Madagascar via traders around the 7th–10th centuries; the Antaimoro tradition dates to about the 15th century, with most surviving manuscripts from the 1800s.

Is it still used?

It survives as a heritage and ritual tradition among Antaimoro families; everyday Malagasy has been written in the Latin alphabet since 1823.