The imerina kingdom

RAFOHY: The first queen of the Hova kingdom mentioned in history and who founded the dynasty of kings who succeeded one another on the throne of Imerina. Rafohy reigned at Imerimanjaka (south of Antananarivo) east of Anganomasina Pond, approximately between the 1520s and 1530s. Little is known about his reign. A few moments before her death, she would have ordered that her body be placed in a canoe and covered by another overturned canoe: “You will take these two canoes,” said the sovereign, “and you will sink it in the neighboring lake.” His wish was carried out to the letter. His daughter Rangita succeeded him.

RANGITA: Daughter of Rafohy and who succeeded him in the same capital as her in Imerimanjaka approximately between the years 1530 and 1540. Rangita (the frizzy one) had two sons: Andriamanelo and Andriamananitany. Before dying, she designated her successor in these terms: “Andriamanelo will have Thursday and Andriamananitany will have Friday.” It was a way of saying that the eldest of his sons would succeed him immediately and, after the eldest, the youngest.

ANDRIAMANELO: son of Rangita and who succeeded him on the throne of Merimanjaka approximately between the years 1540 and 1575. Andriamanelo had a brother, Andriamananitany, who, jealous of the prerogatives that their mother had granted to Andriamanelo, fled to Ambohimanoa Andriamanelo transferred the capital of his kingdom to Alasora. To Andriamanelo goes the honor of having inaugurated the use of assegais and arrows: which gave him great superiority over the Vazimba whom he made himself feared. The first six children of Andriamanelo and Randamavola all died at a young age; only the seventh born in Betafo (east of Antananarivo) was to reach adulthood: it was Ralambo, the first great king of Imerina.

RALAMBO: son of Andriamanelo born in Betafo (near Ambohimangakely) Tananarive-suburb, and who succeeded his father on the throne approximately between the years 1575 and 1610. It is said that at the moment of his birth, who fell on the first day of the moon of Alahamady, a wild boar (lambo) jumped over the roof of the house where he was born; this is where its name Ralambo would have come from. It was during his reign that the first idol, Ikelimalaza, was introduced into Imerina, which an old woman called Kalobe had brought from Betsileo; There are many fabulous traits in which Ralambo and Ikelimalaza had a large part. It was still under his reign that the use of the first rifle was introduced into Imerina: one day Ambohibaoladina was attacked by the Vazimba, Ralambo fired a shot from his left hand, and all the enemies fled, rushing into the neighboring swamp called, since that day, Ankonamantsina (the foul swamp). Since that date, Ralambo's reputation was made: he was the king with the stick who spits fire. Thanks to all this, as well as the cunning of warlord Andrianandritany, Ralambo defeated several Vazimba kinglets, including that of Imerinkasinina. To further assert his prestige, he left Alasora and transferred his capital to Ambohidrabiby, the capital of his father-in-law's fiefdom. It was there that Ralambo established the “Fandroana” festival in memory of the day he tasted beef for the first time. He decided on this occasion that the hump and the “vodihena” (the breeches on the left side) would be for the sovereign. Finally, Ralambo established the order of noble castes which Andriamasinavalona was to reform subsequently, but whose foundation was laid from this date. He created four nobility castes in this way: the first was derived from his eldest Andriantompokoindrina, whose descendants are the current Andriana d'Ambohimalaza; the second and third were composed by the lords of his distant relatives: the current Andrianamboninolona and the Andriandranando; and the fourth included his own descendants and those of the branch of Andrianjaka, his second son and who succeeded him on the throne, this fourth was called Zanadralambo. It is reported that on the death of Ralambo (1610), his States were extended to the east as far as the forest, not including Tananarive.

ANDRIANJAKA: fifth king of Imerina since Rafohy, son of Ralambo (1610-1630). Being only the second son of Ralambo, the eldest was called Andriantompokoindrina. Andrianjaka, however, succeeded to the throne thanks to the attachment he showed towards the affairs of the kingdom and towards his father's people on many occasions: during the capture of Ambohipoloalina and on the occasion of a simulated Ralambo disease in particular. The future was to justify the happy choice that Ralambo had made: Andrianjaka subsequently became a great king. Sitting sometimes in Alasora, sometimes in Ambohidrabiby, he had the idea of making his capital a beautiful and large hill, approximately halfway between the two localities: Analamanga, then inhabited by the Vazimba. He therefore decided to take this city. Fortunately this was not difficult, because as his troops approached, the Vazimba fled without putting up any resistance. Arriving at the top of the hill, Andrianjaka had the centuries-old trees cut down, then he installed a colony of a thousand soldiers from Avaradrano called Tsimilefa. Since that day, Analamanga lost its name and was only called Tananarive (The City of Thousands). In addition to the conquest of Tananarive, among the remarkable things accomplished by Andrianjaka we cite the beginning of dike work on the banks of the Ikopa to have the Betsimisaraka and the construction of the royal mausoleum known as Fitomiandalana; but what put the height of his glory was being able to obtain fifty rifles and three barrels of powder (the rifle was already known in Imerina in the time of Andriamanelo, but, undoubtedly, still in the state of rare thing). Andrianjaka died around 1630; he was the first king buried in Antananarivo in Fitomiandalana. His subjects mourned his death more than that of other kings, and it was since his death that the customs of royal mourning were established which were to be kept until the end of the Hova monarchy.

ANDRIATSITAKATRANDRIANA: sixth king of Imerina since Rafohy, reigned in Antananarivo from approximately 1630 to 1650. Tradition reports that this king devoted his reign to encouraging agriculture, his successor being his son Andriantsimitoviaminandriandehibe.

ANDRIATSIMITOVIAMINANDRIANDEHIBE: seventh king of Imerina since Rafohy, father of Andriamasinavalona, residing in Antananarivo from around 1650 to 1670. There are no highlights highlighting his reign. He left the succession of the throne to his eldest son Razakatsitakatrandriana.

RAZAKATSITAKATRANDRIANA: eighth king of Imerina since Rafohy eldest son of Andriantsimitoviaminandriana and brother of Andriamasinavalona. Barely ascended the throne of Tananarive, Razakatsitakatrandriana showed himself to be a harsh and selfish sovereign, also a powerful party of the nobility, at the head of which was a wise man named Andriamampandry. He did not take long to proclaim his fall, in order to place his son in power. younger brother Andriamasinavalona. Here are the circumstances in which this rather benign coup d'état took place. Andriamampandry, the king's advisor, took a friend with him and went to visit the sovereign. As soon as he entered, Andriamampandry's friend launched imprecations against the king and left. Andriamampandry took this as a pretext to consult fate according to custom in such cases, at the time "because he said, his friend had shaken his lamba against the sovereign." Questioned twice, fate would have responded that the king should immediately leave Tananarive and go north. Taken with fear, he obeyed immediately, but he was not yet a league from the city when the crowd there proclaimed his younger brother, Andriamasinavalona, king. Razakatsitakatrandriana was not to reappear; he had reigned five years from 1670 to 1675; he was considered a fallen king and therefore his remains are not found at Fitomiandalana.

ANDRIAMASINAVALONA: eighth king and one of the greatest of Imerina since Rafohy (1675-1710), brother of the deposed king Razakatsitakatrandriana and son of king Andriantsimitoviaminandriandehibe. The accession of Andriamasinavalona to the throne of Antananarivo was very special. It was his big brother Razakatsitakatrandriana who first reigned, but he showed such tyranny that all the people were determined to overthrow him. The “loholona” saga Andriamampandry took the lead of the movement and, through a clever maneuver, he carried out a very successful coup d'état. From that day on, the new king made Andriamampandry his first and intimate advisor, whose wise advice, unfortunately, he did not always listen to. Gentle and fair, the new king Andriamasinavalona not only won the affection of his people, but even attracted many chiefs from the East and West under his scepter. His first concern was, in the interior, to intensify agriculture, so he enlarged the dykes bordering the rice fields of Betsimitatatra as far as Ilanivato. aLike Ralambo, his great-grandfather, he gave such importance to the organization of the nobility that he once again reworked that established by Ralambo himself: among other modifications, he placed above the then existing noble classes that which still carries today today his name, made up of two of his children who were not to reign, and, above that, the Zazamarolahy caste, made up of the children of his predecessors. The excess of a quality becomes a defect: the goodness of Andriamasinavalona degenerated into weakness: he made the mistake, even during his lifetime, of dividing his States between his four sons who were to govern under his direction at the four cardinal points of the 'Imerina. This project was strongly and repeatedly opposed by his wise advisor Andriamampandry, but it was in vain. Andriamasinavalona did not want to reverse his decision: he placed (1710) his eldest son Andriantsimitoviaminandriana in Ambohimanga, Andrianjakanavalomandimby near him in Tananarive, Andrianavalonimerina

in Ambohidrabiby, and Andriantomponimerina in Ambohidratrimo; in addition, he placed his nephew Andriambohinimerina in Alasora. He had to regret this division of the kingdom, and the lesson would come to him even to one of his own sons. Andriantomponimerina, the lord of Ambohidratrimo having been tyrannical towards his subjects, they came to complain to Andriamasinavalona. The old sovereign immediately went to his son to urge him to govern better. But the latter, far from listening to his father's advice, responded to him with insolence and even held him prisoner. Andriamasinavalona was only to leave the rova of Ambohidratrimo seven years later thanks to the dedication of the people and the astuteness of a Sakalava chief, Andriamaheninarivo. The people had secretly created an exit trench from the place where Andriamasinavalona was locked up to the street which opened outside the town of Ambohidratrimo. Once the trench was completed, the old king was lowered into it one night by means of a thick rope, while Prince Sakalava diverted Andriantomponimerina's attention by treating him to a great feast. This is how Andriamasinavalona was able to return to his capital, Tananarive. After this event takes place the sacrifice of Trimofoloalina, a beautiful gesture that Andriamampandry imagined to probe to what extent the people had still remained faithful to Andriamasinavalona. The sad adventure that happened to the king was not the only misfortune he witnessed during his lifetime as a result of the division of the kingdom, there was also the great famine called “mavovavazokiny”. The Merina, dissatisfied with the feudal regime under which the young princes governed almost everywhere, abandoned work and a great famine resulted. And it was on this sad event that Andriamasinavalona died around 1710, the great king whose weakness delayed for almost a century the unification of a powerful Imerina already moving towards progress.

ANDRIANTSIMITOVIAMINADRIIANDRAZAKA: eldest son of Andriamasinavalona whom he placed in Ambohimanga when he divided his States between his four sons in 1710. Against his three brothers Andrianjakanavalomandimby (Tananarive), Andriantomponimerina (Ambohidratrimo), Andrianavalonimerina (Ambohidrabiby),

Andriantsimitoviaminandriandrazaka was renowned for his kindness and wisdom, qualities which he passed on in 1720, with the inheritance of the throne, to his son Andriambelomasina, grandfather of Andrianampoinimerina.

ANDRIAMBELOMASINA: grandson of Andriamasinavalona and son

of Andriantsimitoviaminandriana (one of the sons of Andriamasinavalona who reigned in Ambohimanga) and Rangonimerina. Andriambelomasina acceded to the throne of Avaradrano around 1730. He was a just and good king with high ambitions: “It is me that God has chosen to reign in Avaradrano,” he said as he ascended the throne, “but in the end , I will have gathered under my scepter all the Imerina left by my grandfather Andriamasinavalona”. It was only a wish, the glory of restoring unity in Imerina was reserved for his grandson Imboasalama, known as Andrianampoinimerina. Andriambelomasina had, on many occasions, to defend his little kingdom against the Sakalava; it was he who built the village of Abohitrarahaba, making this village an advanced post of Avaradrano on the Antananarivo territory. Andriambelomasina had ten children by his wife Rasoherimananitany, the son of whom was Andrianjafinandriamanitra and the first of the daughters, Ranavalonadriambelomasina, the mother of Imboasalama. Even during his lifetime, he took care to name his successors on the throne of Ambohimanga in the following order: first, his eldest son, Andrianjafy, then on the latter's death, his grandson, his daughter's eldest Ranavalonadriambelomasina, that is to say Imboasalama. It was for trying to change these wishes of Andriambelomasina that Andrianjafy was dethroned by the loholona of Ambohimanga who immediately put Imboasalama in his place. Many are the stories that are told about Andriambelomasina's relationship with his grandson Imboasalama, a relationship that enabled him to appreciate the character and valor of the young prince, the future great monarch. One day, old Andriambelomasina gathered his sons and grandsons around him and offered them various objects to choose from: jewelry, oranges, brightly colored fabrics, and a small basket filled with earth. As Imboasalama chose the small earthen basket from among the objects presented, the old sovereign was struck and exclaimed: “The earth and the kingdom are his!” » Andriambelomasina died around 1770, revered throughout Avaradrano.

ANDRIANJAFY: (full name Andrianjafinandriamanitra), the eldest of Andriambelomasina's four sons and maternal uncle of the great king Andrianampoinimerina. During his lifetime, Andriambelomasina had named Andrianjafy lord of Ilafy, and, before dying in 1770, designated him to succeed him on the throne of Ambohimanga, while recommending that Imboasalama (the future Andrianampoinimerina) would reign after him. A few years after the death of Andriambelomasina, Andrianjafy, on the advice of his wife, Ranavalondrazaka, decided to give succession to the throne of Ambohimanga to their only son: Ilaitokanimerina, contrary to the wishes of Andriambelomasina. He therefore tried three times to attempt the life of young Imboasalama, his nephew, but his sinister plans turned against him: twelve chiefs of Ambohimanga, at the head of whom was Rabefiraisana, realizing that Andrianjafy wanted to change the words of 'Andriambelomasina, dethroned him and elected Imboasalama in his place (17897). The chiefs of Ambohimanga were to be joined, shortly after, by the chiefs of Ilafy under the leadership of Andriantsilavo and Hagamainty. Defeated and discouraged, the deposed king Andrianjafy sought refuge with his son-in-law Andrianamboatsimarofy, king of Antananarivo. He would have lived there in peace if he had not allowed himself to be trapped by the inhabitants of Avaradrano. They sent thirty Zanamarefo, inhabitants of Ambohitrarahaba, to invite Andrianjafy to return among his former subjects who, they said, regretted him. Despite Andrianamboatsimarofy's warnings, Andrianjafy agreed to follow the Zanamarefos. They then carried him in a closed litter, but instead of bringing him to Ambohimanga, they directed him, after multiple detours, to the bottom of a solitary valley, south of Ambohimanga, where they put him to death. This valley is still called Antsarafady (the taboo valley) today. Thus ends Andrianjafinandriamanitra.

1787-1810 Ramboasalama, prince of Ambohimanga, unifier of the Merina called Andrianampoinimerina (abbreviated as Poina or *Nampoina)

1810-1828 Radama I, son of Andrianampoinimerina, unifier of the majority of the kingdoms of Madagascar, the title of King of *Madagascar was recognized by foreign diplomats

1828-1861 Ranavalona I

1861-1863 Radama II

1863-1868 Rasoherina, married Rainilaiarivony Prime Minister (1864-1895)

1868-1883 Ranavalona II, married Rainilaiarivony Prime Minister (1864-1895)

1883-1896 Ranavalona III, married Rainilaiarivony Prime Minister (1864-1895), exiled in 1897 to Réunion and then to Algiers

“AMBOHIMANGA KINGDOM”

ANDRIANTSIMITOVIAMINANDRIANDRAZAKA: eldest son of Andriamasinavalona whom he placed in Ambohimanga when he divided his States between his four sons in 1710. Unlike his three brothers: Andrianjakanavalomandimby (Tananarive) Andriantompoinimerina (Ambohidratrimo), and Andrianavalonimerina (Ambohidrabiby), Andriatsimitoviaminandriandrazaka was renowned for his goodness and wisdom, qualities which he transmitted in 1720, with the inheritance of the throne to his son Andriambelomasina, grandfather of Andrianamponimerina.

ANDRIAMBELOMASINA: grandson of Andriamasinavalona and son of Andriantsimitoviami-andriana (the one between the son of Andriamasinavalona who reigned in Ambohimanga) and Rangorinimerina. Andriambelomasina acceded to the throne of Avaradrano around 1730. He was a just and good king with high ambitions: “It is me that God has chosen to reign in Avaradrano,” he said as he ascended the throne, “but in the end I will have gathered under my scepter all the Imerina left by my grandfather Andriamasinalona.” It was only a wish, the glory of restoring unity in Imerina was reserved for his grandson Imboasalama, known as Andrianampoinimerina. Andriambelomasina had, on many occasions, to defend his little kingdom against the Sakalava; it was he who built the village Abohitrarahaba, making this village an advanced post of Avaradrano on the Antananarivo territory.

ANDRIANAMPOINIMERINA: (the desired prince of Imerina), the most famous king of Imerina and the main founder of the so-called Hova monarchy. Andrianampoinimerina was born on the first moon day of Alahamady in the year 1745 (?); he was the son of Andriamiaramanjaka, lord of Ikaloy, and of Ranavalonandriambelomasina, eldest daughter of the king of Ambohimanga Andriambelomasina. As he was born on a so-called violent day (was considered as such on the 1st day of the 1st, 4th ^, 7th ^and 10th ^lunar months), according to custom he was given a derogatory name, that of Imboasalama (a robust dog) ; that of Andrianampoinimerina was only applied from the moment when his unique power was asserted over all of Imerina. Although Imboasalama's destiny was "violent", it was nonetheless full of happy omens, announcing his future greatness, because the greatest kings who had preceded him had the same horoscope at birth: Ralambo and Andriamasinavalona. To this happy omen Imboasalama added, it is true, solid and real qualities: vigorous good sense; great sureness of judgment and a deep and elevated sense of both justice and humanity. From a young age, he displayed all of these characteristics. One day, his grandfather Andriambelomasina gathered his grandsons around him and made them choose from a large number of gifts. All about rushing towards objects of beautiful appearance, while the young Imboasalama, for his part, chose a soubique filled with earth. The grandfather then cried out, delighted: “The land and the kingdom are his!” » Before dying, Andriambelomasina had designated his successors: first his eldest son Andrianjafy, then, after him, the son of his eldest daughter, Imboasalama. When the old monarch died, it was Andrianjafy who reigned. Unfortunately, the latter turned out to be too authoritarian and unfair. Moreover, at the instigation of his wife, he wanted to change the order established by his father regarding the succession to the throne, in favor of his own son Ilaitokanimerina. To achieve this, he had to suppress Imboasalama, and that was not easy. As he sought to attempt, for the third time, the life of his nephew, Andrianjafy was himself deposed by around forty “loholona” tsimahafotsy (from Ambohimanga) led by Rabefiraisana for the benefit of the young Imboasalama. A few names should be remembered among the actors of this extraordinary coup d'état: Andriantsimitovizafinitrimo, another uncle of Imboasalama, who had always defended him against Andrianjafy; the soothsayer Ratendro, who was going to alert Rabefiraisana and his companions; finally, Hagamainty and Andriantsilavo, “loholona” tsimiamboholahy (of Ilafy) and supporters of Andrianjafy but who very early joined the Imboasalama faction. It was not enough to take power, it was still necessary to establish it. Proclaimed king of Ambohimanga in 1787, Imboasalama immediately acquired the esteem of the people. Everywhere people remembered and exalted his virtues from the time when he was only a young prince: “Here he became king, it was said, the one who chased quails to sell them, the one who raised sheep and oxen… Imboasalama will therefore reign alone. Our oxen will now be ours. He is a prince full of kindness and gentleness.” In fact, after the first seven peaceful years of his reign (1787-1794), Andrianampoinimerina undertook conquests: he knew too well that true peace was conditioned by the total unification of the country as it existed under Andriamasinavalona. “I don’t want the country to resemble a wild boar’s den,” he said; but it is good that there is only one king, to give peace to Imerina. This is why I ask God to be king alone.” His aims went even further than Imerina: did not those who had brought him to the throne say to him: “This whole island belongs to you”? and he himself often uttered these words: “This land must belong to me, the sea will be the limit of my kingdom”. The conquest of Imerina was quite hard. He demonstrated extraordinary valor and tenacity, at the same time as a generosity and humanity which won his hearts, also taking diplomatic advantage of the morganatic alliance which he did not make for want of. use according to the accepted customs of his time. He had to fight three battles before occupying Antananarivo where Andrianamboatsimarofy then reigned; the latter, defeated, went further west, to Soananjakana (Anosijato) while putting power in the hands of his son Ramaromanompo, whom he made reign over all of Imerinatsimo (Vakinisaony and Ambodirano). On the death of his father, Ramaromanompo, in turn submitted to Andrianampoinimerina; for fear that the Manisotra and the Ambodirano would revolt again, Andrianampoinimerina pushed Ramaromanompo even further north and put him in residence in Mangarano, north of Ambohidava, while he married his daughter Ravaomanjaka, whom he placed in Fenoarivo .All the towns of Imerina: Ambohidratrimo, Alasora, Ambohipeno, Ambohimanambola, Ambatomanga, Ambohijoky, passed thus, one by one, either by force, or by diplomacy, or even as a result of the kindness he showed towards the defeated, under the scepter of Andrianampoinimerina, and it was with good reason that from this date he was called by the name of “Désiré de l'Imerina”. Once master of all Imerina and powerfully helped by his vanquished of yesterday (the valiant Antehiroka and the intrepid Manisotra), he once again turned his weapons against the Imamo of the West, whose king Andriamary he fairly benignly defeated, then against the Sihanaka of the North, where he placed "voanjo" whose descendants still inhabit the Sihanaka territory today, from Anjozorobe to Antoby; finally, against the Betsileo of the South. They seemed at first to submit without much difficulty, especially after the betrayal of the son of king Betsileo Andriamanalinarivo, but this forced submission did not last long. Andrianampoinimerina had to undertake two major campaigns at the end of which he submitted all the Vakinakaratra that he entrusted to vadintany or royal commissioners with the mission of extending Merina domination throughout the Betsileo country. During the last years of his life he attempted to win over the Western and Northern Sakalava diplomatically, but this was only achieved by his son Radama I. Such future conquests of Andrianampoinimerina: by the successive enlargements made under his reign, the Hova kingdom exceeded the Imerina of the time of Andriamasinavalona by four to five times in extent. Even more than through his conquests, Andrianampoinimerina showed himself to be a great king through the wisdom of his administration. From an administrative point of view , he divided Imerina into six large territories: Avaradrano (to the north and north-east of Antananarivo), Vakinisaony (to the east and south-east), Ambodirano (to the West and South West), Marovatana (north of Ambodirano), Vonizongo (still north of Marovatana), finally Vakinakaratra (at the foot of the Ankaratra massif). He first created 50, then 70 vadintany, whom he called "his eyes, his ears and his hands" and who distributed the chores, carried out soldier levies, collected taxes, examined serious trials. If he did not institute at least he almost completely reorganized the “fokonolona”, this type of socio-economic community administering itself and ensuring its own police force and its own judgment to a certain degree. , and whose activities are based on a vigorous esprit de corps by which everyone works for each person as revenge for each other, so each person never ceases to own their own property. From a political point of view , Andrianampoinimerina strove to firmly establish royal authority: the king was absolute sovereign of people, goods and lands, sole legislator, master of corvées, but the government was effectively shared with the people: in several speeches that have remained famous, Andrianampoinimerina consulted him many times after having taken the advice of his own advisors. “I consult you, all of you,” he said one day, “you the great ones and my advisors, because I do not impose my will; I do not say: this is how I want it: this is how I want to regulate my kingdom; Do you accept it yes or no? If you accept, I will gather the population and I will pronounce a kabary to inform them of this decision.” From a legislative point of view , it established a civil code perfectly consistent with the natural law and morals of the country, as well as a penal code whose only fault was excessive severity: trafficking in justice, theft of people to be sold as slaves, normal things; but even drinking rum, smoking hemp and chewing tobacco was punishable by death. There, however, during execution, valuable advisors, such as Hagamainty and Andriantsilavo, corrected more than once what was too rigorous in the penal code. From the military point of view , Andrianampoinimerina was the first King Marina to put a certain order in the army, among the soldiers to whom he gave the name “lahindefona” (man of the spear). A regulation required that in camp the tents reproduce exactly on the ground, according to their geographical location, the six territories of Imerina; which allowed each soldier to quickly recognize the location of his tent; in the center of the camp stood the rova , guarded by the royal slaves. In combat, the soldiers excited each other: one corps paid 1000 piastres to another having shown more courage in the battle; the brave were congratulated and rewarded, in particular the “voromahery” were authorized to place an eagle at the top of their tents and even their house. From an economic point of view, Andrianampoinimerina showed a truly astonishing sagacity of mind. First, his only concern was the well-being of his subjects: “Whatever it may be,” he said, “the care of the State consists only in the works which make the land productive, since it "is the way to ensure the well-being of the population", and this is why he focused his efforts on agriculture and trade. “Rice and I are one,” he liked to repeat and he encouraged everyone to work; to the able-bodied needy who asked him for alms, he offered a spade saying: “Work the earth, it will feed you”. It also gave a great impetus to trade. He created a number of markets throughout the kingdom; the first, he founded the monetary system, weights and measures (the fathom for length, the “vata” for capacity). For the speed and economy of transport, he had a canal (the “lahindrano”) dug from Antananarivo to Sahafa near Ambohimanga, a canal that he himself, seated in a canoe, inaugurated with great fanfare in a large day of celebration and public rejoicing. As for economics lessons, he did not fail to provide them; here, for example, is advice on saving and capitalization: “If you go looking for firewood, sell it to have money; buy a chicken which will become a sheep, a sheep, then an ox…” Andrianampoinimerina had his theory on political economy. First of all, he declared the equality of all in law: “I will make Imerina, he said, a guinea fowl of only one color... The guinea fowl is not a bird with large plumage because its feathers are mixed and are one... ", and equality before work: "If someone steals, he says again, even a manioc root, or appropriates anything, even a “saonjo”, I will punish him. Work therefore to have goods; no one has anything without difficulty”; then, he formally opposed the abuses of the great, the rich or the strong on the small: let us listen to him say to his grandfather's subjects even before he was king: "I am not, myself, a young prince who appropriates the oxen of others, I buy them”, and when he became king: “I will not follow the fancies of my wives and my children in my kingdom”; finally he had sovereign respect for everyone's property, but at the same time he also had the constant concern to raise the condition of the little ones; this is clearly said: “This is what I declare to you who are under heaven: Have confidence, rest easy… I make sure that the little ones enjoy what they have, and the great also; I make sure that the skinny ones get fatter and the little ones grow taller. Is this not it, O you who are under the sun? » If Andrianampoinimerina does not say here explicitly what allows him to bring together these two things that are difficult to reconcile: respect for property, on the one hand, and concern to fatten the skinny, on the other hand, we also know that it It is pity, not to say charity, which constantly moved Andrianampoinimerina, as shown by an anecdote he experienced, one day when, having caught a dishonest individual in the act of stealing food crops, he said to him: “ Do you think that they (the farmer's “saonjo”) did not cause any fatigue to their owner? » And he came to compensate, himself, the stolen farmer. This solution to economic inequality through justice and charity testifies, it seems, to enlightened wisdom. Andrianampoinimerina had twelve wives; this should not surprise us too much because if it cannot be approved, at least it can be explained, being inserted in the context of the customs of the time, not to mention that, for Andrianampoinimerina, he "used" as the said Father Callet in the Tantara ny Andriana most of these women “to pacify” the territories he had recently conquered by force. His first wife was called Rabodonimerina; one of them, Rambolamasoandro, was to become the mother of Radama I. Among the other children of Andrianampoinimerina, we also cite Ramavolahy, whom he had from the princess of Alasora Ramanantenasoa, one of his twelve wives. Ramavolahy was the eldest of Radama, and the monarch had first drawn him to succeed him, but Ramavolahy having shown himself inferior to his task during an expedition to the country of the Sihanaka, Andrianampoinimerina changed his mind and promised the crown to Radama. Disappointed, Ramavolahy conceived, to take revenge, the monstrous plan of hitting his father, but when the matter became known, he himself was put to death by the loholona tsimahafotsy. Ramavolahy was not the only one of Andrianampoinimerina's children to want to threaten his old age; another, Robodolahy, his adopted son, nephew of his first wife Rabodonimerina, was also punished for his parricide plan. Thus the last years of the great king were saddened by the painful spectacle of jealousies and quarrels which broke out between his sons. To put an end to them, he then solemnly proclaimed Radama his successor; he was to die shortly after, in 1810, mourned by all and the subject of a grandiose funeral, aged around 65, after 25 years of reign (1745-1810).

RADAMA I: (also known as Radama Rainy, father): Son of the great king Andrianampoinimerina and his main wife Rambolamasoandro, born in 1792. Inheriting the high ambitions of his father, Radama spent his entire reign which lasted only eighteen years in continue to expand the Hova kingdom. Even before the induction ceremony, he had to suppress several revolts among the Bezanozano and among the Betsileo of Ambositra and Fianarantsoa and did so with a certain severity, because these tribes had tried to shake off the Merina yoke after the death of Andrianampoinimerina. Radama reigned at a time when England and France were in full colonial rivalry, and, although he had the difficult part, he handled the situation skillfully as a diplomatic and intelligent king. In 1814, the island of France, Mauritius, became the property of England; Robert Farquhar, governor of this island, cast envious glances at Madagascar while France multiplied its garrisons almost everywhere on the East coast to be able to establish that it had rights over Madagascar. Radama takes advantage of Farquhar's advances to expand his kingdom; he received his envoys, Lesage and Hastie (1816), who helped him organize his army; Twice he signed a treaty drawn up by Farquhar abolishing the slave trade (October 23, 1817 and October 11, 1820). Then he undertook his expeditions, starting with those of Menabe (1820-1822), which led to his marriage with Rasalimo, daughter of the king of Menabe, Ramitraho; Ramamba and Andrianikija were his main generals during this war. In 1822, upon his return from Menabe, Radama, through an English corvette, informed Sylvain Roux who had just disembarked at Sainte Marie to have to withdraw as soon as possible; in 1823, he personally undertook the campaigns of the eastern coast, taking Tamatave, Mahavelona and Tintingue. In 1824 he sent a Hova army corps to take Mananjary under the command of Jean René and another take Fort-Dauphin (1825) under the orders of Ramananolona, he himself directed the Boina campaign, helped by his best generals: Ramanetaka and Ramaroasadry. This last expedition was disastrous for Radama's army, but the Merina king eventually conquered Boina, from which King Andriantsoly fled to Mayotte in April 1827. Radama was not content with expanding his kingdom, he was the first to open it to foreign civilization. Friend of education, (he already had two Antaimoro as secretaries: Andriamahazonoro and Ratsilikanina who had taught him “Sorbian” or Arabic writing) he learned and had his subjects taught, through the care of the Frenchman Robin, his aide-de-camp and his third secretary, reading, writing, arithmetic and French. As for the army, he organized it in a serious way, notably instructing the troops, the two Englishmen Hastie and Brady. Industry also began to develop in Madagascar under the reign of Radama: a Frenchman, Le gros carpentier, and two Englishmen, Cameron and Hovendon, industrialists, taught the Malagasy the use of various tools; the last two even founded the first in Antananarivo. It is not even the Justice that Radama did not bring reorganization by appointing judges (the Andriambaventy) and removing the use of the “tangena”. Radama died in Antananarivo on July 27, 1828, after having deserved well from all his subjects, leaving the kingdom to his wife Ramavo (Ranavalona I). (1792-1828).

RANAVALONA I: Wife of Radama I, known as Ramavo before her accession to the throne in 1828. This queen has the reputation of being an exacerbated xenophobe and of a fierce nature. She had four successive Prime Ministers: Rainimahay, then the young and handsome Andriamihaja, father of Radama II, finally Rainiharo and Rainijohary, the latter two exercising the function of minister at the same time and having each proven themselves by leading troops during of several expeditions. The long reign of Ranavalona I was marked by several important events, the main ones of which were: a) the beginning of a revolution of which she suspected the English of being the instigators, so she tore up all the treaties made with England since 1817; b) the clash of the Hova troops with Captain Gourbeyre who, in 1829, took Tintingue and then bombarded Tamatave: forced to retreat, the French troops were dispersed by the Hova; c) the special law enacted in 1845 by the queen, under the terms of which foreign traders and merchants established in Antananarivo were ordered to leave the Island or be subject to the queen's corvées, to all work, and even to “tangena”. After this edict, the severance of all relations between the Hova, France and England was clear; it was to last eight years during which Madagascar remained closed to English and French trade; d) the great credit enjoyed with the queen, despite the official break, three French people: Lastelle, a merchant; Laborde, an industrialist, and Lambert, a diplomat; e) finally, the tacit plot of the three French people (especially Lambert) with Crown Prince Rakoto (future Radama II) with a view to placing Madagascar under the effective protectorate of France. This clandestine project had the misfortune of sharpening the already existing diplomatic conflict between the two English and French powers and, thereby, of being discovered by the queen; some historians report, in fact, that Lord Clarendon, informed of the project by Lambert himself in England, immediately dispatched Reverend Ellis to negotiate in favor of English influence in Antananarivo; it was enough for the queen, discovering the plot, to arrest and expel all the Europeans (1857), then carried away by her passion and fearing to be the toy of foreign powers, ferociously persecuted the Christians who professed English Protestantism: The number of Malagasy martyrs, victims of this political-religious persecution, is estimated at more than 5,000. The expansion of the Hova kingdom under the reign of Ranavalona I was less rapid than in the time of Radama I and, however, also if not even more costly. Three main expeditions are to be noted: 1) that led by Rainiharo, then commander-in-chief, among the Tanala with 7000 men; 2) that led by Rainijohary among the Bara, returned to Antananarivo, from a worrying revolt; Rainiharo was again designated to quell the rebellion with 5,000 men; 3) that led successively by Ravalosalama among the Sakalava of Ambongo (1828, 1831, and 1836), by Rainijohary (around 1840) and by Prince Rainitsimisetra (1842). Ranavalona I died on August 16, 1861 after 32 years of reign (1780-1861).

RADAMA II: son of Ranavalona I and who succeeded him on the throne in 1861. He was known before his elevation to the dignity of king under the name of Prince Rakoto. It was with great joy that the people, feeling relieved from the rigors of the previous reign, greeted the accession of the young prince, who showed himself from the start to be broad, humanitarian and generous. As soon as Radama was elevated to the throne, Madagascar was opened to all foreigners; complete freedom was given to all to teach, to preach, to be baptized. Various deputations hastened to come to Madagascar to compliment the new sovereign: on September 26, 1861, the English deputation led by Colonel Middleton; on February 8, that of France, under the leadership of frigate captain Brossard de Corrigny. In the meantime, Radama had written to Pope Pius IX who replied with a very paternal letter; then to the Emperor Napoleon III who sent him an embassy led by Captain Dupré, on July 28, 1862. The following September 12, a treaty of friendship was signed between France, represented by Mr. Dupré, and Radama II. Radama's coronation was celebrated on September 12, 1862 with a pomp that had not yet been equaled and in the presence of all the foreign representatives whom he showered with marks of friendship. A final feature completed the liberality of Radama: a decree from Napoleon III gave legal existence to the operating company known as the Compagnie de Madagascar, the work of Lambert (it is this charter which, having secretly concluded and signed by Radama while he was only a young prince, was not to have the ratification of Rasoherina and the Grands of the Court in the future). All these favors given to foreigners were considered unfortunate by a part of the population who saw them as imprudent acts, endangering the security of the country. Moreover, from the first days of May 1863, disorder had been thrown into the masses by the appearance of a certain epidemic of convulsionaries called “Ramanenjana”. Besides being too liberal towards foreigners, Radama II sought to remove from the administration those who were in office, starting with the Prime Minister, to give all the positions to very young people, his companions of pleasure, known as “Menamaso”. Discontent was therefore almost general; a simple love intrigue would trigger the tragic outcome: one of his favorites, Rasoamieja, having been supplanted by a rival named Rasoandrazana, convinced the Prime Minister that the leader of Menamaso was going to take his place. Rainivoninahitriniony decided the loss of Menamaso. They were soon torn from the Palace, chased through the streets, massacred; finally, on May 12, 1863, King Radama II himself was strangled with a silk lamba. He had reigned only two years and nine months; his body was buried secretly at night in Ilafy.

RASOHERINA: Widow of Radama II, formerly known as Princess Rabodo, who was elevated to the throne in 1863, after the assassination of her husband. Gentle although energetic, Rasoherina governed her people with wisdom and firmness. With her reign began what historians call the “Manjakahova” period: power passed almost entirely into the hands of her prime minister Rainivoninahitriniony, who ipso facto became her husband according to customs established since Ranavalona I. During the reign of Rasoherina, serious difficulties arose between the kingdom and the French government, the first of which was the little regard that the Greats of the kingdom made of the treaties signed by Radama II, too Francophile for their liking. Also on September 4, 1863, Captain Dupré made a naval demonstration in front of Tamatave to recall the respect due to the 1862 friendship treaty between France and Madagascar. In the meantime, Rainivoninahitriniony was supplanted by his brother Rainilaiarivony who was elevated to the dignity of Prime Minister on July 14, 1864. On March 24, 1866, took place the liquidation of the Cie de Madagascar dissolved by the abolition of the charter Lambert; the Hova Government paid compensation of one million francs to the shareholders of the said company. It was during the reign of Rasoherina that the first treaty of friendship and commerce between the United States and Madagascar was signed (February 14, 1867). Rasoherina's last days were marked by a sad event: while she was falling ill, returning from her trip to Andevoranto, some great people, unhappy with the fact that Rainilaiarivony held all the power and believing that a queen is always weak, plotted to overthrow the Prime Minister and to elect a king instead of a queen in case Rasoherina dies. It was Prince Rasata, son of Raharolahy and grandson of Rabodosahondra, sister of Radama I, whom they thought of elevating to the throne, and Rainivoninahitriniony to the dignity of Prime Minister. But cleverly ventilated by Rainilaiarivony, all these plots failed. Rasoherina died on April 1, 1868, after having received Catholic baptism at the last minute on March 27 from the hands of J.Laborde (1818-1868).

RANAVALONA II: first cousin of Rasoherina and who succeeded her to the throne in 1868, known before her elevation to the throne under the name of Princess Ramoma. First Christian queen of Madagascar, Ranavalona II was also an intelligent and active sovereign: through the laws she promulgated and the clear decisions she took to break with idolatry, she showed herself to be a true woman of character; his only great mistake was, without doubt, by making ten evangelists ten governors in Imerina, to want to make Protestantism a religion, in this case a religion of states. The main events which marked the reign of Ranavalona II were: 1) the promulgation of the first Malagasy code comprising 101 articles (Iray venty amby zato) which took place on the very day of his coronation, September 5, 1868; 2) her baptism followed by her marriage to Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony in the Palace Church on February 19, 1869; 3) the emancipation of all slaves imported from Africa known as Masombika, on June 20, 1877; 4) the destruction of all the sampy (royal idols) in Imerina: Ikelimalaza, Imanjakatsiora, Ramahavaly etc… on September 8, 9 and 10, 1869; 5) the promulgation of the Malagasy code of 305 articles (Dimy venty sy telon-jato) on March 29, 1881; 6) finally, the Franco-Hova war of 1883-1885, known as the first Franco-Hova war. The immediate causes of this war were the claim by the Hova Government of the succession of Laborde (under article 85 of the code of 305 articles) and the establishment of the Hova flag in Sakalava territory. France takes a very dim view of this double gesture. On June 17, 1882, on the orders of the Minister of the Navy, Captain Le Timbre tore down the Hova flags planted in Ampasimena, in the bay of Ampasindava. Seeing this and not wanting to completely break with France, whose complaints he took into consideration, Rainilaiarivony sent to France on August 1, 1882 an embassy composed of Ravoninahitriniarivo and Ramanarika assisted by their interpreters, Andrianisa and Marc Rabibisoa. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Duclerc, refused to receive them and operations began the following year. On May 16, 1883, Admiral Pierre captured Majunga after fierce resistance from 2,000 Hova who had fortified themselves there. Going from there to the east coast, the admiral addressed a formal ultimatum to the Queen in front of Tamatave. On June 9, the Hova government rejected the ultimatum, and the next day, Admiral Pierre bombarded and took Tamatave. It was in the meantime that, on July 14, 1883, Ranavalona II died, after a reign of 15 years. (1829-1883).

RANAVALONA III: last queen of the Hova monarchy. Having the name Razafindrahety before being elevated to the throne, Ranavalona III, born November 22, 1845, was the daughter of Randriantsimianatra, feudal lord of most of Amoronkay, and Raketaka; she was, through her mother, descended to the 6th ^degree , from Rasoherimananitany wife of Andriambelomasina. While the first cousins Radama II, Rasoherina and Ranavalona II were 3rd degree descendants ^of Ramboakovelo, granddaughter of Rasoherimananitany, Ranavalona III was a 4th degree descendant of Razafinandriamanitra, sister of Ramboakavelo. Widowed by Ratrimoarivony (brother of Ramahatra) for barely 3 months, Razafindrahety was called to ascend the throne on November 22, 1883. The reign of Ranavalona III, which lasted sixteen years, was most disrupted. Succeeding Ranavalona II, who died when the first Franco-Hova war was not yet over, it was she who had to pay the war indemnity of 10 million. The state of the larval protectorate in which Madagascar was skillfully placed caused the queen a thousand worries: in the province of Tuléar, the Sakalava of Fiherenana, revolted, lynched the French colonists, orders were immediately given by the French resident in Ranavalona to repress the tribe in sedition. Rainimiadana, then Ramahatra, were successively sent there by the queen. On the other hand, the equivocal clauses of the 1885 treaty concerning exequatur often put the French resident and the Malagasy Government at odds. The latter remained intractable, and France, taking advantage of the long-awaited opportunity, resolved to seize Madagascar by going up to Antananarivo. This was done on September 30, 1895. One month and twenty-three days after the capture of Antananarivo, which consecrated, this time, the French protectorate in good shape, the Manalamba insurrectionary movement broke out, which was to spread in March 1896 at many points on the island. To Ranavalona III fell the heavy task of exhorting the people to calm and pacifying spirits. However, his efforts were in vain. In September 1896, Resident General Laroche was replaced by General Gallieni; the latter, with a harsh grip, after having condemned and executed some rebel leaders, issued a decree abolishing royalty in Madagascar, on February 28, 1897. The same day, at 3 a.m., Ranavalona III deposed, went into exile for Reunion, with an escort made up of his aunt Ramasindrazana and his sister Rasendranoro who was to die on the boat while giving birth to a daughter. From Réunion, the French Government directed Ranavalona III after a few years to Algiers, where she died in 1917, aged 71. Treated with respect during her two stays, she received from France a pension of 25,000 francs in Reunion and 35,000 francs in Algeria. It was only on October 31, 1938 that, according to his explicit wishes before his death in a country of exile, the mortal remains of Ranavalona III were transferred by the French Government to Antananarivo to be buried in the royal mausoleum of Rova. Despite her disrupted reign, which was like a web of disasters for her and for her country, Ranavalona III always showed herself to be a valiant, intelligent, sympathetic and pious queen. Far from being a simple model in the hands of Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, as some historians would have us believe, she personally managed state affairs. She fixed the date of Fandroana, no longer as before, on the first day of the moon of Alhamady, but on November 22, the anniversary of his birth and his coronation. She focused her efforts mainly on teaching; this is how she appointed a Minister of Public Instruction who was to be informed periodically on the number of schools and their numbers throughout the kingdom; that every year she sent school inspectors to each “faritany” to note the progress made, publicly congratulating the good students and blaming the mediocre ones: to these, each was given a piastre as a reward ( an ox cost three piastre at the time); as for lazy students, they received lectures and canings in public. From an administrative point of view, we know that, under Ranavalona III, Madagascar had a well-established organization and framework: the entire island included two large districts: 1) Imerina, divided into 6 provinces; 2) the regions subject to Imerina, divided into 11 provinces at the head of each of which was a regional chief or “Komandy”; these were Antakarana, Sihanaka, Boina, Bezanozano, Betsimisaraka, Betsileo, Antaimoro, Menabe, Fiherenana, Bara and Antanosy. Finally, we must not forget that Ranavalona III was a pious queen: a former student of the FFMA Schools of Faravohitra and LMS of Ambodinandohalo, she remained a good Christian until the end. When, some time after the capture of Antananarivo, the Anglican bishop Kestell-Cornih (father), came to greet her before returning to Europe, exhorted her to be valiant and strong in the face of any eventuality and called blessing on her and on her country, she hastened to kneel and pray; after which, she recommended herself to the good prayers of the bishop. (1846-1917)

“KINGDOM OF ANTANANARIVO”

ANDRIANJAKANAVALOMANDIMBY: second son of Andriamasinavalona and whom he placed in Antananarivo when he divided his States between his four sons. Tradition reports that after his partitions, the four sons of Andriamasinavalona lived in deep discord, to the point that some of them called on other tribes or bands of plunderers to attack their own brothers whom they were jealous. Andrianjakanavalomandimby is said to have done this. He reigned from approximately 1710 to 1727 .

“KINGDOM OF AMBOHIDRATRIMO”

ANDRIANTOMPONIMERINA: third son of Andriamasinavalona whom he placed in Ambohidratrimo when he had divided his States between his four sons in 1710. Of the four brothers Andriantomponimerina showed himself to be the nastiest and most insolent , pushing his irreverence to the point of treacherously retaining his old man father imprisoned at home in Ambohidratrimo for seven years. It was again this miserable prince who had the unfortunate idea of calling the Sakalava from the west to fight his brothers, kings of Ambohimanga and Tananarive. But his ignominious project hardly succeeded. He died in 1737 , leaving the throne to his son Andriamananimerina.

ANDRIAMANANIMERINA: son and successor of Andriantomponimerina on the throne of Ambohidratrimo around 1737. Much better than his father, he was animated by his people and got along quite well with his cousins, the kings of Ambohidrabiby. History records that his wife Ramorabe was particularly fond of their little nephew, the young Imboasalama, who often came from Ambohimanga to visit. Ramorabe then predicted, it is said, the future of the future Andrianampoinimerina; these predictions could not fail to excite the jealousy of the other young princes: this was undoubtedly the origin of the hatred which pushed Andrianjafy to want to lose his nephew.

By Hermann RAZAKAMBELO