recent study to identify two additional mutations (1473 and 3423A) found in all Polynesian motif carriers of Madagascar, hence named the Malagasy motif. The frequency varied among three ethnic groups: 50% in Merina, 22% in Vezo, and 13% in Mikea. Based on this result, a study suggested that Madagascar was settled approximately 2,200 years ago by a very small group, which consisted of approximately 30 women, where 28 (93%) of them have maritime Southeast Asian descent and 2 (7%) of them have African descent. The Malagasy population existed through the intermixing of the first small founding population. The closest Asian parental population of the Malagasy are the Banjar and other South Kalimantan Dayak people of south east Borneo. Language footprints of their ancestors from Southeastern Asia can presently be witnessed by many shared basic vocabulary with Ma'anyan, a language from the region of the Barito River in southern Borneo. Historical subdivisions The difference in origins remains somewhat evident between the highland and coastal regions . In addition to the distinction in term of ancestral proportion between highland and coastal Malagasy, one may speak of a political distinction as well. Merina monarchs in the late 18th and early 19th century, united the Merina principalities and brought the neighbouring Betsileo people under their administration first. They later extended Merina control over the majority of the coastal areas. The neighbouring island of Moheli was also ruled by a Muslim Merina dynasty founded by Abderremane, Sultan of Mohéli, who was a brother-in-law of King Radama I. The military resistance and eventual defeat of most of the coastal communities assured their subordinate position vis-à-vis the Merina-Betsileo alliance. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial administration capitalized on and further exacerbated these political inequities by appropriating existing Merina governmental infrastructure to run their colony. This legacy of political inequity dogged the people of Madagascar after gaining independence in 1960; candidates' ethnic and regional identities have often served to help or hinder their success in democratic elections. Within these two broad ethnic and political groupings, the Malagasy were historically subdivided into specifically named ethnic groups, who were primarily distinguished from one another on the basis of cultural practices. These were namely agricultural, hunting, or fishing practices; construction style of dwellings; music; hair and clothing styles; and local customs or taboos, the latter was known in the Malagasy language as fady. The number of such ethnic