The kayamb in Réunion is a musical instrument used in Mascareignes to play sega and maloya. It is an idiophone percussion instrument. It is described as a raft-shaped rattle:It is an idiophone by shaking it. It is also an instrument which, by itself, embodies the soul of Reunion music: it summarizes the whole history of the island,  The inheritance of slaves in the plantations of sugar canes. It was them who built the first kayambs with what they found  in the fields: wood, seeds, and cane-flower stalks. The history of kayamb is intimately linked to that of maloya. It would have arrived with the first slaves in Reunion between  1690 and 1724, the date of the official institution of slavery at Bourbon by letters patent of the King. The maloya is still a historical enigma even if we better measure today the outlines of this cultural practice deeply rooted in the popular Reunion tradition.