Manzalagi (Old Masselage)
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Ibn Majid (1470) in his Hawiya is the only author to mention this place. He puts it at 9 fingers with Lulugan at 10 fingers; which is for both too much.
Note: with Bandar Darwis at 12.4°S; Anamil at 15.8°S; Manzalagi at 15.2°S and Bimaruh at 13.3°S we can see how problematic the description ‘at 9 fingers’ is. Lulugan is also at 15.2°S.
Taken from: Slave trade and slavery on the Swahili coast (1500-1750) by Thomas Vernet
The Antalaotra (= foreigners coming from oversees) inhabited a few port towns, mostly situated in the region from the Bay of Boeny to the Bay of Ampasindava. They seem to have been Swahili sharing an adherence to Islam, the Swahili language, some Shirazi traditions, and a similar material culture. In the early sixteenth century the main Antalaotra town was Langany, located in the Bay of the Mahajamba, probably founded in the fifteenth century. Around the 1580s Langany was supplanted by Boeny, another port city, founded at this time and located on the island of Antsoheribory in the Bay of Boeny. This town was often referred to as “Mazalagem Nova” by the Portuguese, or “New Masselage” by the English (from the Antalaotra name Masalajy), as opposed to Langany, which the Europeans began to call “Mazalagem Velha” or “Old Masselage.”
Taken from: Madagascar, Comores et Mascareignes à travers la Hawiya d'Ibn Magid (866 H. /1462)
Par François VIRE et Jean-Claude HEBERT
Langany was a commercial establishment on the islet and then later on the coast, eight km to the east. These are contemporary occupations along beaches on the mainland, but these have not yet been mapped in detail.
The agglomeration of the coast will be called Manzalagi, Masselage (the old), the Portuguese called it Mazelagem Velha. The site of Langany, rich in Muslim archaeological remains, has been meticulously and fruitfully explored by P. Vérin (see Les échelles ..., 11, 519-576)
Ibn Magid implicitly confirms in this direction the identity of Langany (on the islet) and the "Vieux Masselage" (on the opposite coast). We will therefore remember that in his time the double name of this flourishing Muslim port already existed. The toponym arabized in Manzalagi (or Manzilagi) was transcribed in multiple forms by the Europeans in the following centuries.
The decline of the Old Masselage only began in the first half of the 17th century in favor of the New Masselage located in the bay of Boëny; the exodus of the inhabitants of Vieux Masselage was determined by the defeat inflicted on them by the king of Tinguimaro.
Note that this is the only article in which the settlement on the coast is called Old Masselage and this because Ibn Majid marks this settlement and Langany as two places at the same location. Mostly Manzalagi is taken as another name for Langany island.