Merina people
The Merina oral histories and documents in Comoros mention series of annual expeditions by Sakalava slave raiders against their villages through the end of the 18th century. These expeditions were aided by guns obtained from the Arabs, a weapon that both Comoros and Merina people lacked. The largest and one of most favored ports for slave trade on Madagascar was the Sakalava coastal town of Mahajanga. The Sakalava had a monopoly on slave trade in Madagascar till the end of the 18th century. Although smaller by population, their weapons permitted them wide reach and power, allowing them to force other more populous ethnic groups to pay tribute to them in the eighteenth century.