Andrianampoinimerina

Andrianampoinimerina
King of Imerina
Idealized portrait painted around 1905 by Ramanankirahina
Reign	ca. 1787–1810
Birthplace	Ambohimanga
Died	1810 (aged 64–65)
Place of death	Antananarivo
Buried	Ambohimanga, 1810
Predecessor	Andrianjafy
Successor	Radama I
Dynasty	Merina
Father	Andriamiaramanjaka
Mother	Ranavalonanandriambelomasina

Ruling between 1787–1810, Andrianampoinimerina (Andriana-Nampoin'-Imerina , "The-King-Wished-by-Imerina"), born Ramboasalama or Ramboasalamarazaka at Ambohimanga around 1745 (later, also known as Nampoina, Imboasalama, and Ny Ombalehibemaso - The Big-Eyed Bull), initiated the unification of Madagascar under Merina rule and is considered one of the greatest military and political leaders in Madagascar history.

Andrianampoinimerina deposed his uncle, King Andrianjafy (1770–1787) of Imerina Avarandrano (Northern Imerina), one of four continually warring principalities that emerged upon the division of the historically unified Imerina kingdom by King Andriamasinavalona a century before. Andrianampoinimerina established his capital at the fortified town of Ambohimanga, a site of great spiritual, cultural and political significance that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 and where the king's original royal lodgings can still be visited today. From this position, he progressively extended his domain first over all Imerina, then over the greater Highlands, absorbing the Betsileo, Sihanaka, Bezanozano and Bara territories. He died after reigning for 23 years.^[1] His reign formed the basis for the unification of Madagascar, which was almost achieved under his son Radama I.^[2]

Early life

Birth

Andrianampoinimerina was born in Ikaloy, in Imerina Avaradrano, during the first quarter of the moon (tsinambolana) of the month Alahamady, the sign of a royal birth according to popular belief. Following the Merina customs of the time, his parents temporarily gave him the humble name Ramboasalama (Ra-amboa-salama, "The-dog-healthy") to protect him from attracting the undesirable attention of jealous rivals or evil spirits, before being changed in childhood to Ramboasalamarazaka. He grew up during a period when great strife and poverty were afflicting Imerina.^[1]

Family and lineage

Andrianampoinimerina was descended from two royal lines. He was the third son of Andriamiaramanjaka, the King of Ikaloy and Anjafy in Imerina and a Zafimamy Prince of Alahamadintany, a Highlands kingdom that had retained political and cultural independence from Imerina.^[3] His mother, Ranavalonandriambelomasina, was sister to Andrianjafy (1770–1787), King of northern Imerina, making him a Merina Prince.^[3]

In response to the threat of invasions by the Sakalava to the West and the Alahamadintany-Zafimamy alliance to the North, Andrianampoinimerina's grandfather Andriambelomasina concluded a strategic alliance with the bordering Alahamadintany- Zafimamy principality of Ikaloy by marrying his daughter, Ranavalonandriambelomasina, to King Andriamiaramanjaka of Ikaloy and Anjafy. This deal stipulated, notably, that after the reign of Andriambelomasina's son, Andrianjafy, the throne of Ambohimanga would be given to one of his daughter's sons.^[1] For the people of Ambohimanga, this alliance seemed to fulfill a famous prophecy attributed to King Andriamasinavalona who said: "One day, Imerina will be unified and ruled by a light-skinned man from Alahamadintany".^[1] Andriamasinavalona's prophecy suggest that the Merina Kings had long intended to extend their kingdom to the North by absorbing the great and menacing Zafimamy Kingdom of Alahamadintany. At the same time, the Zafimamy Kings of Alahamadintany had also wished to extend their land to the South by absorbing the Merina Kingdom. Thus, the wedding of Andrianampoinimerina's parents represented a fair and peaceful compromise for both parties: the Prince born of this union would at last rule over both states and unify these two great kingdoms without bloodshed.^[1]

Andrianampoinimerina's Zafimamy ancestors practiced endogamy and therefore rarely mixed with the descendants of the legendary first inhabitants of Madagascar, the Vazimba. However, he is known to have had partial vazimba ancestry on his mother's side through her antecedent, King Andriamanelo (1540–1575), son of vazimba Queen Rafohy (1530–1540) and her Merina husband Manelo.^[4]

Childhood and education

Andrianampoinimerina spent his early childhood in his father's Zafimamy court at Ikaloy.^[1] There, he received a Zafimamy education and culture, which probably included Indonesian, Indo-Aryan and Arabic forms of knowledge, including cosmology, astronomy and the Arabic-based sorabe script, as well as Malagasy mythology such as the myth of Ibonia, an origin myth that communicates the Malay-Javanese concept of Andriambahoaka afovoanitany ("A King must be at the center of his territory").^[5] In addition, he most likely studied medicine, military strategy (including the traditional strategic boardgame of fanorona), weaponry, basic economics and music - perhaps learning to play the valiha, a bamboo tube zither then reserved for Merina and Zafimamy princes and noblemen^[6]). After concluding this Zafimamy education at the age of 12, his Merina grandfather, King Andriambelomasina, oversaw his Merina education at Amboatany and later at court in Ambohimanga, where he learned political leadership (including the Merina oratory art of hain-teny and particularly kabary) and continued his studies in military strategy and economics.^[1]

Beginnings as a "Self-Made Prince"

Andrianampoinimerina's house at Ambohimanga

Starting with the meager proceeds of his own business, Andrianampoinimerina managed, by intelligence and hard work, to amass a sizable property, including rice fields and herds of zebu. Thus, by the age of 30, he had become one of the richest princes of Ambohimanga.^[1] Regarded as a "self-made man" who didn't rely on his privileges as a prince, his independence, temper, tenacity and sense of justice made him very popular among the commoners and the slaves of Ambohimanga. His popularity stood in contrast to popular dissatisfaction with his uncle, King Andrianjafy, who was seen as an irresponsible ruler.

Reign

Historical context

For almost a century, from the end of the reign of King Ralambo (1575–1600) to King Andriamasinavalona (1675–1710), the part of the Highlands controlled by the Merina had developed, witnessed economic growth, and enjoyed a certain civil peace. However, the unity of Imerina collapsed after Andriamasinavalona divided Imerina amongst his four favorite sons, leading to frequent wars that weakened the ability of subsequent princes to respond effectively to the pressures of slave trading and a growing population.^[1][7]

Coup against King Andrianjafy

In 1787, at 42 years old, Andrianampoinimerina incited a rebellion against Andrianjafy, with the help of the commoners' Council of Elders and those sold into slavery. After the success of the coup, which compelled Andrianjafy to flee, the new King adopted his ruling name, Andrianampoinimerina.^[8] Following his ouster from the town of Ambohimanga, Andrianjafy continued fighting his nephew from his southern headquarters Ilafy. Andrianampoinimerina reached a treaty with the rival Merina town of Antananarivo in 1786, which allowed him to fully concentrate on reuniting Imerina. The conflict between Andrianampoinimerina and Andrianjafy finally ended in 1790 when the former King was either killed in Ilafy or died in exile in Antananarivo. Andrianampoinimerina conquered Antananarivo in 1792,^[1][8] and subsequently, he moved the capital of the Merina empire there; however, Ambohimanga remains among the most important spiritual and cultural sites in Madagascar.^[9]

Reunification of Imerina

Continuing his conquests in the 1790s, Andrianampoinimerina began establishing control over a comparatively large part of the highlands of Madagascar including the twelve sacred hills of Imerina. He soon proclaimed his ambition to become the sole King of Madagascar, using the Merina hain-teny metaphoric style to announce to the people of Ambohimanga: "The sea is the limit of my ricefield" (Ny ranomasina no valam-parihiko).^[1] Andrianampoinimerina centralized power into his own hands and amassed European firearms.^[10] This allowed him to gradually conquer neighboring Merina principalities before moving on to those of the Vakinankaratra and Betsileo.

Territorial expansion

It is notable that Andrianampoinimerina achieved many of his victories by relying heavily on shrewd diplomacy and alliance treaties, only resorting to military conquest when it was essential and unavoidable. He liked to remind his officers of one of his favorite principles: "Force is weaker than the spirit" (Ny hery tsy mahaleo ny fanahy).^[1] The extension of his rule allowed Andrianampoinimerina to stop paying tribute to the Sakalava kingdom, the western clan who had continuously disrupted life the Malagasy central highlands by slave hunting.^[10]

The gradual conquest of surrounding lands by Andrianampoinimerina and his Merina army was opposed by the Sakalava and other clans, who made several attempt to end Andrianampoinimerina's reign.^[1] He also faced opposition from certain Merina nobles and from his own family. Early in Andrianampoinimerina's rule, an attempt on King's life by his uncle, the deposed King Andrianjafy, was foiled by an informant who had learned about the conspiracy by chance. Later the king rewarded the informant by marrying his daughter to the Crown Prince, future King Radama I.^[1] After Radama I's death in 1828, this royal wife would rule Madagascar for 33 years as Queen Ranavalona I.

Ramavolahy, Andrianampoinimerina's eldest son, was killed on his orders near Imahazoarivo after an attempted coup, and the appointed Heir Apparent Rakotovahiny was killed for conspiracy against the King in May 1808.^[11]

Management of the kingdom

Andrianampoinimerina was the first Merina King to establish formal civil and penal codes, the latter ameliorated and transcribed by his son Radama I. He distributed land according to a rigorous land code, established a fiscal code and collected various taxes such as the hetra a portion of the rice crop that citizens were required to pay to the Sovereign. Andrianampoinimerina regulated commerce and the economy by creating official markets (tsena) and standardizing market scales (fandanjana) and other units of measurement (including length and volume). Additionally, the use of money (vola) was standardized and regularized. Finally, he established a citizen army called the Foloalindahy (the "100,000 soldiers").^[1] One of the well-known slogans of Andrianampoinimerina was "Starvation is my sole enemy",^[1] and in the fight against it Imerina gained a surplus in rice and cattle production during his reign. This surplus allowed the kingdom to consolidate its economic and military supremacies under his successor, Radama I.

Death and succession

Andrianampoinimerina died in the Mahitsielafanjaka house on the compound of the Rova of Antananarivo on July 6, 1810 at the age of 65, having fathered eleven sons and thirteen daughters by his many wives.^[12] He designated his 17-year-old son Radama I to succeed him upon his death. The king's body was interred in a tomb at Ambohimanga in 1810. In an effort to desacralize the holy city of Ambohimanga, the French colonial authority transferred all the royal remains from their original tombs to those at the Rova of Antananarivo originally built for Radama I and Rasoherina; Andrianampoinimerina's remains were placed within the tomb of his son, Radama.^[13]

Primary sources

Much of what is known about Andrianampoinimerina comes from Father François Callet's book Tantara ny Andriana eto Madagasikara ("History of the Nobles in Madagascar"). This collection of oral tradition about the history of the Merina Dynasty was originally written in Malagasy and published between 1878 and 1881. Callet translated it in French under the title Tantara ny Andriana (Histoire des rois) in 1908.^[1] Tantara ny Andriana constitutes the core material for the historians studying the Merina history, and has been commented upon, criticized and challenged ever since by numerous historians from Madagascar, Europe and North America (see for example: Rasamimanana, 1930;^[14] Ravelojaona et al., 1937;^[15] Ramilison, 1951;^[16] Kent, 1970;^[7] Délivré, 1974;^[2] Berg 1988;^[8] and Larson, 2000^[17]). The work is complemented by oral traditions of other tribes collected by Malagasy historians.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andrianampoinimerina

• History of Madagascar
• Merina
• Ambohimanga
• Rova of Antananarivo

References