 The history of the Bara begins along the Ihosy River in the Arindrano region of southwest Madagascar, near Toliara.Little is known about the earliest period in Bara identity formation, beyond that it coincided with the formation of the Maroserana dynasty of the Sakalava people and that certain Bara nobles had Maroserana origins.This early kingship-based social structure is believed to have had weak or nonexistent rules of succession.