The archaeology of northern Madagascar reveals settlements dating from the eleventh and twelfth centuries and onward that were in contact with the Comoros, the East African coast, western Asia, and perhaps India and Southeast Asia (Vérin 1990). The development of a town such as Mahilaka, on the northwestern coast of Madagascar, closely mirrors that of Swahili and Comorian cities: in a way, Mahilaka can be seen as an extension of the Swahili world. The Arab geographers show the progressive insertion of Madagascar into Indian Ocean networks. Until the twelfth century, Madagascar was known as the mysterious and ill-located Waqwaq Island; it would later be renamed Qumr (Allibert 2001). During the thirteenth century, Ibn al Mujāwir shed light on early ties connecting Aden, Mogadishu, Kilwa, and Madagascar.