Imerina, 1861-1863

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1. #1The Island Of Madagascar

   Keys: Madagascar, Imerina

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   The great Island of Madagascar stretches long from north to south, a vast land whose bounds are the endless sea. At its heart rises the high country of Imerina, where the hills and plateaus stand open to the sky. Here the soil red and fertile in the valleys, and the people terrace the slopes for rice, digging canals so that the water of the rains may feed the paddies. The twelve sacred hills of Imerina watch over this domain; Antananarivo, the City of a Thousand, crowns one of them, its rova of wood and stone rising above the clustered houses of earth and thatch.

   Eastward the highlands fall away in steep escarpments and dense forest belts toward the narrow coastal plain. Thick woods of giant trees, traveller’s palms, and tangled vines cloak the slopes; the air hangs heavy with moisture, and the rains come often and hard. Lagoons and rivers mark the shore, and the ports of Toamasina and others open onto the ocean where foreign ships sometimes appear.

   Westward the land slopes more gently into broad plains and river valleys of the Sakalava country. Here the grass grows tall for the herds of zebu, and the soil is drier under a hotter sun. The great rivers flow toward the Mozambique Channel, and the coast offers good harbours for the trading of cattle and other goods.

   In the north the mountains of Tsaratanana rise highest of all, while the far south is a harder land of thorn and sparse pasture, where the rains are fewer and the people more scattered. The seasons turn between the hot rains of the wet months and the cooler dryness that follows. Cyclones may strike the eastern shores with fury, yet the highlands remain the secure heart of the realm, protected by distance and height from the sea-borne dangers that trouble the coasts.

   All the island is one under the claim of the Merina king, though the wilder forests, the distant southern wastes, and certain western valleys still hold peoples who have not yet fully bent the knee.

2. #2Peoples of Madagascar

   Keys: Antemoro, Multitude, Betsimisaraka, Merina, Betsileo, Sakalava, Tanala, Malagasy

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   In the highlands dwell the Merina, also called the Ambaniandro—those under the sun. They are the people of the elevated places, skilled in the tilling of rice and the keeping of herds. Their houses stand on the slopes, their villages ringed by ditches and banks in the old way. They honour the sacred hills and the tombs of the kings, and their ombiasy read the destinies in the sikidy. They are of lighter olive or copper complexion, often fairer than the coastal peoples, with black hair that is soft, fine, and straight or only gently curling.

   South of them in the highlands live the Betsileo, the Many Invincibles, masters of the terraced rice fields and the careful irrigation of their valleys. Their ways are close to those of the Merina, and many have accepted the overlordship of Antananarivo. They are larger-boned and often taller and more muscular than the Merina, their skin several shades darker, approaching deep brown or near-black in many. Their hair is thick, black or dark chestnut, planted upright and frizzed or crisped without being fully woolly.

   Along the eastern shores and forests dwell the Betsimisaraka, the Inseparable Multitude, and other coastal peoples such as the Tanala of the woods and the Antemoro who keep the old writings in the Sorabe script. These are of darker brown complexion, robust and muscular of limb, well-fitted for heavy labour and the carrying of burdens through the forests. Their hair is black, naturally crisped or curling and abundant, though not the tight wool of distant African folk. They fish the lagoons, work the forest, and trade at the ports.

   In the long western valleys rule the Sakalava, the People of the Long Valleys, herders of great herds of zebu, whose kings once held wide sway. They are among the finest in stature upon the island: tall, strong, and well-muscled, with broad shoulders and sinewy limbs. Their skin is the darkest, burnt deep by the western sun; their features are regular and often bold, the eyes keen and piercing, the hair black and shining, frequently crisped or curly.

3. #3History of Imerina

   Keys: Jean Laborde, Merina, Radama I, Andrianampoinimerina, Radama II, Lambert Charter, Imerina, Antananarivo, Ranavalona

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   In the days of the ancestors, the highlands of Imerina were divided among rival princes and the older Vazimba people. Kings rose and fell upon the sacred hills. Then came Andrianampoinimerina, the great king of Imerina. He gathered the six provinces, made Antananarivo his seat, and declared that the sea itself should be the boundary of his rice fields. He strengthened the kingdom, ordered the villages, and began the great work of bringing the island under Merina rule.

   Upon his death in 1810, his young son Radama took the throne. Rebellions rose among the newly conquered peoples, yet he crushed them and completed the subjugation of the Betsileo. With British firearms, military training, and the assistance of European advisers, Radama built a powerful army and extended Merina rule over much of the island. In return for ending the export of slaves from his ports to foreign ships, he secured British recognition and support.

   After Radama's death in 1828, his widow Ranavalona I succeeded him. Her long reign brought a sharp reversal of her husband's policy. Fearing European domination and the spread of Christianity, she restricted foreign influence, expelled many missionaries, and persecuted Christian converts. Yet she preserved much of the state built by Radama and continued to strengthen the authority of the Merina monarchy.

   When Ranavalona died in 1861, her son Radama II took the throne. Unlike his mother, he welcomed Europeans, missionaries, and foreign merchants back into Madagascar. He sought closer relations with France and Britain and encouraged Christianity and European-style reforms. His reign therefore marked a return to many of the policies associated with his father, though under very different circumstances.

   Radama II granted Europeans considerable privileges, most famously through the Lambert Charter, which gave the French adventurer Joseph-François Lambert extensive rights to exploit land and resources in Madagascar. These concessions alarmed many members of the Merina elite, who feared that the king was giving foreign powers too much influence over the kingdom.

   Thus, by Radama II's reign, Imerina stands at a crossroads. The kingdom is still powerful and independent, but European powers are becoming increasingly interested in Madagascar. Radama II believes that closer contact with Europe will strengthen his kingdom and bring new knowledge and technology. His opponents fear that the same openness would eventually destroy the independence of Imerina.

4. #4Architecture and Settlements

   Keys: Mahamasina, Ambohimanga, royal enclosure, Analamanga, Antananarivo, church, Rova, royal tombs, rice terrace, ditches

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   Villages across the highlands still stand within rings of deep ditches and earthen banks, sometimes planted with sharpened stakes, a defence against raids, feuds, and rival communities. Houses of the common people are generally built from earth, reeds, grasses, and other plant materials, with thatched roofs. Traditional Merina houses are tall and narrow, with steeply pitched roofs suited to the highland climate. Timber houses, once associated especially with the andriana and other nobles, remain a mark of status, while wealthier families increasingly make use of fired brick and more substantial construction.

   At the heart of Antananarivo stands the Rova, the royal enclosure upon the highest part of Analamanga. Its walls, gates, and terraces protect the royal compound, within which stand the great wooden houses of the king and his queens, royal tombs, and places associated with the ceremonies of the monarchy. Below the Rova lies Mahamasina, the great open ground where royal ceremonies, proclamations, and public gatherings take place.

   Antananarivo has grown greatly since the days of Radama I. The city climbs the hills in dense layers of houses, paths, stairways, and terraces. Noble families occupy many of the larger and more prominent houses, while the dwellings of artisans, merchants, soldiers, servants, and common people fill the lower parts of the city. Rice fields and cultivated valleys surround the capital, making the highland landscape a mixture of crowded settlements, terraced fields, and open countryside.

   European influence is now visible in the city as well. Missionaries have established churches, schools, and houses, while European craftsmen and advisers have introduced new methods of construction. Stone and fired brick are increasingly used for important buildings, and some wealthy Malagasy families imitate European forms while retaining traditional Merina features. Yet Antananarivo remains unmistakably a highland Malagasy city: its architecture, social divisions, royal compounds, and settlement patterns are still governed largely by local customs.

   Outside the capital, the great fortified towns and ancestral settlements remain important centres of Merina power. Ambohimanga, the ancient sacred capital of the dynasty, retains a special religious and historical importance even though Antananarivo is the seat of government. Roads connect the capital with the surrounding provinces, carrying rice, cattle, cloth, goods, soldiers, messengers, and travellers between the highlands and the rest of the kingdom.

   The royal hills, ancestral tombs, earthen defences, and traditional wooden houses belong to an older world, while churches, schools, brick buildings, and European-style houses increasingly appear beside them.

5. #5Social Structure

   Keys: merchants, fokonolona, Andevo, Merina, Lambert Charter, royal court, Hova, borizano, slavery, Christians, Andriana, menabe, missionaries, menakely, slave trade, nobles, miaramila, commoners

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   The people of Imerina are traditionally divided into three great social groups: the Andriana, the Hova, and the Andevo. The Andriana are the noble caste, the Hova are free commoners, and the Andevo are people held in slavery. Rank is largely determined by birth, ancestry, and descent, though wealth, royal favour, office, and personal service may greatly affect a person's standing and influence.

   The Andriana are the hereditary nobility, divided among themselves into several ranks according to their relationship to the royal family and their ancestral status. Many hold offices at court, govern districts, command soldiers, or exercise authority over dependent communities and estates. Their power, however, is not independent of the crown. Since the time of Andrianampoinimerina, the monarchy has worked to bring the great noble families under closer royal control, and the most powerful Andriana depend heavily upon the sovereign's favour.

   The Hova are the free commoners and form the greater part of the population. They include farmers, craftsmen, soldiers, merchants, officials, and other people who are not members of the hereditary nobility. Most live in villages and communities organised around rice cultivation, family ties, and the fokonolona. A Hova may become wealthy, influential, or powerful through trade, military service, or royal employment, but wealth does not by itself make a person an Andriana.

   The distinction between Andriana and Hova is therefore not simply one of wealth. A prosperous Hova merchant may possess more property than a poor nobleman, yet the two remain members of different hereditary groups. At the same time, the royal court provides opportunities for talented Hova to gain considerable influence through service to the crown.

   The Andevo are the unfree. Slavery remains legal within Madagascar, even though the export of slaves overseas was restricted under Radama I and later policies. Enslaved people may be acquired through warfare, debt, inheritance, purchase, or other circumstances recognised by local custom. They perform domestic, agricultural, and craft labour and may be attached to households or estates. Their position is fundamentally different from that of the free Hova, although individual circumstances vary greatly.

   The old division of land and authority between the menabe, lands belonging directly to the crown, and the menakely, lands held by nobles or other royal dependants, continues to shape relations between the monarchy, the nobility, and the villages. On the menakely the people labour for their Andriana lord as well as for the king; on the menabe they answer only to the crown.

   Fokonolonas are the village communities. The fokonolona remains an important institution of village life. Communities organise agricultural work, local affairs, mutual obligations, and relations with higher authorities. The king's government depends upon these communities to provide labour, taxes, soldiers, and other services.

   The miaramila, the soldiers of the kingdom, remain an important part of the social order. Military service has long offered capable men a path to status and royal favour, particularly among the Hova. The borizano, by contrast, are civilians who remain engaged in agriculture, crafts, trade, and other occupations. The distinction is practical rather than a separate hereditary caste: a man may enter military service and later return to civilian life.

   Under Radama II, the social order is also being affected by the renewed presence of Europeans and Christian missionaries. Merchants, missionaries, interpreters, craftsmen, and Malagasy Christians connected with them may acquire influence at court and in the capital. Some Hova families see new opportunities in trade, education, and foreign connections, while many members of the established elite fear that these changes threaten the authority of the traditional order.

   The arrival of Europeans therefore creates a new source of power that does not fit neatly into the old divisions of Andriana, Hova, and Andevo. Radama II's willingness to favour foreigners and Christian institutions has given some people access to wealth and influence that would have been difficult to obtain under his mother, Ranavalona I. At the same time, it has intensified tensions between the king, the traditional elite, and those who fear that foreign influence may undermine the established order.

6. #6Economy

   Keys: royal stores, Jean Laborde, export trade, trade, fanompoana, Joseph-François Lambert, markets, foreign concessions, Lambert Charter, taxation, rice, crafts, labour service, merchants, cattle, irrigated agriculture, zebu, rice terraces

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   The wealth of Imerina rests first upon its rice fields. The valleys and terraced hillsides of the highlands are carefully cultivated and irrigated, providing the staple food of the population and much of the wealth upon which the monarchy depends. Rice is grown not only for household consumption but also for taxation, trade, and the provisioning of the royal court and army.

   Beyond the rice fields, the highland economy depends heavily upon zebu cattle. Cattle are a source of food, wealth, prestige, and ritual value, and large herds are kept across the grasslands surrounding the settled highlands. Hides, horns, and other animal products also enter local and regional trade.

   Most people still live primarily from agriculture, and much of the economy remains based on obligations of labour and produce rather than coin. Communities owe taxes and various forms of labour service to the authorities. Such labour may be used for the maintenance of roads, irrigation works, royal settlements, fortifications, and other public projects. Enslaved people provide additional labour within households, workshops, and agricultural estates.

   Markets are found throughout Imerina, particularly in the larger towns and along the roads connecting the capital with the provinces. Rice, cattle, livestock products, cloth, pottery, tools, iron goods, and other local products are exchanged for salt, metal, imported cloth, weapons, and goods brought from the coast. Merchants and travelling traders connect the highlands with the ports and with communities across Madagascar.

   Antananarivo is the centre of the kingdom's internal trade. From the capital, roads lead towards the coastal regions, although travel remains difficult and slow. Coastal ports bring foreign goods into the island, while Malagasy products are exchanged for goods from Europe, Africa, and the wider Indian Ocean world.

   The foreign trade of Madagascar is changing rapidly under Radama II. Unlike his mother, who restricted European commercial and missionary activity, Radama II actively encourages foreigners to trade and invest in the kingdom. European merchants, craftsmen, missionaries, and adventurers return to the island, bringing new goods, technologies, and commercial opportunities.

   The most controversial example is the Lambert Charter. Granted to the French adventurer Joseph-François Lambert, the charter gives him extensive commercial and economic privileges, including rights to exploit land and natural resources and to establish enterprises within the kingdom. To Radama II and his supporters, such concessions offer a means of attracting European capital and technology. To many members of the Merina elite, they appear to grant foreigners excessive power over the resources of the kingdom.

7. #7Army

   Keys: fanompoana, garrisons, Merina army, officers, provincial garrisons, borizano, commanders, royal army, military service, royal authority, miaramila

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   Since the reign of Radama I, the kingdom has maintained an organised military establishment known as the miaramila. Military service has become one of the principal forms of service to the crown, standing alongside the obligations imposed upon the civilian population, the borizano.

   The foundations of the modern Merina army were laid during Radama I's reign, when European instructors and advisers helped introduce new forms of military training and organisation. Radama also sent young Malagasy abroad for education and training, including instruction connected with military and naval affairs. These reforms helped create a more permanent and centralised military force capable of supporting the expansion and administration of the kingdom.

   By the reign of Radama II, however, the army is no longer simply an instrument of conquest. It is one of the pillars of royal authority. Soldiers serve the crown in Antananarivo and in garrisons throughout the territories controlled by Imerina. Officers and commanders may gain considerable influence through military service, and a capable Hova can rise to a position of authority through loyalty to the sovereign.

   The distinction between the miaramila and the borizano is therefore both military and social. The miaramila serve through arms and military duty, while the borizano remain primarily engaged in agriculture, crafts, trade, and other forms of civilian labour. Both groups are subject to the obligations of fanompoana, the service owed to the sovereign and the kingdom. Under Radama I, this principle was used to organise not only military service but also large-scale civilian labour for the state.

   The army remains dependent upon the resources of the countryside. Villages provide provisions, labour, and men for royal service, while the crown must maintain the roads, garrisons, officers, and supplies necessary to keep its forces in being. The system is therefore powerful but demanding, placing a considerable burden upon the population.

   Under Radama II, the army enters a new political situation. The king's policy of opening Madagascar to Europeans and missionaries is welcomed by some and feared by others within the ruling elite. Foreign influence, Christianity, and the extensive concessions granted to Europeans become matters of intense political dispute. The army, as one of the chief instruments of royal authority, stands at the centre of these tensions.

8. #8Religion

   Keys: razana, hasina, tombs, ancestors, ombiasy, Protestantism, royal ancestors, Catholicism, ody, sampy, London Missionary Society, Rova, LMS, fady, missionaries, Christianity

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   The living and the dead remain bound by the power of hasina, the sacred efficacy associated with ancestors, royalty, and the proper ordering of the world. The tombs are the dwelling places of the ancestors; they are tended with care, and the living seek their blessing and protection through ritual, offerings, and remembrance. The ancestors are not distant figures of the past, but an active presence in the life of the family and community.

   The king stands at the centre of the traditional political and sacred order. Royal ancestry gives the monarchy its sacred legitimacy, and the sovereign's authority is closely connected with the hasina of the royal line. Blessings, ceremonies, oaths, taboos, and royal rituals all help maintain the relationship between the living, the ancestors, and the kingdom. Sacred hills, royal tombs, and other places associated with the ancestors retain great importance.

   Sampy and ody also remain part of the religious world of Imerina. Sampy are powerful royal or communal sacred objects associated with protection and the welfare of the kingdom, while ody are personal charms used for protection and other purposes. Their keepers and the ritual specialists who attend them possess knowledge that has traditionally been passed down through families. Fady, or taboos, govern many aspects of daily life, marking certain actions, places, objects, and times as sacred or forbidden.

   These traditions have not disappeared with the arrival of Christianity. Rather, by the reign of Radama II, Imerina contains several overlapping religious worlds. Traditional beliefs remain deeply rooted among the population and continue to shape royal ceremonies, family life, ideas of ancestry, and relations between communities. At the same time, Christianity has survived years of persecution and has developed a Malagasy following of its own.

   Christianity first gained a foothold in Imerina during the reign of Radama I, when missionaries of the London Missionary Society (LMS) established schools and taught literacy, crafts, and Christian doctrine. The missionaries were expelled under Ranavalona I, and open Christian practice was severely restricted. Yet Malagasy Christians continued to exist, and by the end of her reign the Christian community had not disappeared. When Radama II came to the throne in 1861, the restrictions were lifted and European missions returned to Madagascar in 1862.

   Radama II openly favours the return of Christianity and the presence of missionaries. Protestant missionaries once again establish themselves in Antananarivo, reopening schools and churches and seeking to expand the Christian community. For many Malagasy converts, this is not the arrival of an entirely foreign religion, but the return of a faith for which some of their countrymen had already suffered and died during the previous reign.

   The reopening of the kingdom therefore creates a religious as well as a political transformation. Christianity now has greater freedom to spread, while the traditional religious order remains deeply embedded in Merina society. The two systems do not simply replace one another overnight. Some people embrace Christianity wholeheartedly, some remain devoted to the ancestral traditions, and others navigate between the two worlds.

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