hi! there's lots of room for more input, but fyi, you may be interested in these earlier posts

• Why did the seafarers from Borneo colonize Madagascar and not places closer to their origins?

• How was Madagascar settled? How were Pacific Islanders able to sail so far on such small canoes?

This reminds me of a related question I've been meaning to ask, so I hope you won't mind me piggy-backing off yours, /u/okmuht.

I was reading a bit about the Srivijaya Empire recently and there was a brief mention that the colonization of Madagascar was an extension of Srivijayan trade around the Indian Ocean. Does anyone here known anything about an early Malagasy connection to Srivijaya specifically?