S4E18: The Rise of the "Mad Queen" of Madagascar

1905 portrait of Ranavalona I

Ranavalona I have may be the most famous (or infamous) figure yet to be covered on this podcast. She is, for example, the first figure from this podcast to feature in her own pop history biography. The title of that book adequately summarizes Ranavalona's incredibly negative reputation in Western popular conception: "Female Caligula." Until relatively recently, the view of Ranavalona as a bloodthirsty and sadistic tyrant remained unchallenged, and the image of the "Mad Queen of Madagascar" became the definitive description of Ranavalona.

But what if it's wrong? What if the reality of Ranavalona's reign was far more complex than her depiction as a one-dimensional villain? Throughout the next several episodes, we'll examine the long reign of Ranavalona, observe how she achieved this infamous reputation, and assess the fairness of her inclusion among history's most infamous figures.

Enslaved workers packing rice - 1856

Ranavalona rose to power on the back of a military coup following her husband's death in 1828. Upon assuming the throne, Ranavalona was immediately beset by numerous problems which she would have to address throughout her reign. The early industrial firms supported by Radama were failing, the growing number of enslaved workers was challenging the traditional labor hierarchy, sampy guardians were becoming increasingly resentful of Christian missionaries, and a French invasion in 1829. These early challenges would shape Ranavalona's future administration in multiple ways. The British, Merina allies, refused to help defeat the French invasion, sewing a deep mistrust of European powers within Ranavalona. Additionally, while she remained relatively friendly to Christians at first, the conflicts between Sampy guardians and Christian missionaries would eventually send Ranavalona down a path of persecution that will define her historical legacy.

S4E17: The Forges of Amoronkay

 

Malagasy workers running an iron forge.

Following the Merina abolition of the exportation of enslaved workers to European colonies in 1817, Radama had hoped that a stipend obtained from the British Empire would be enough to offset economic losses. On the one hand, this hope made sense. The slave trade between Madagascar and the primary British colony in the region, Mauritius, had been on the decline since the legal abolition of the practice in 1807. While local plantation owners continued smuggling enslaved workers, the colonial government began clamping down harder on the underground trade. Initially, the colonial government instead began importing Chinese indentured servants in the early 1810s, further weakening Mauritian demand for enslaved workers (our latest premium episode focuses on the history of the Chinese diaspora population in Mauritius, so if that sounds cool to you, please support the show and check it out!)

Chinatown, Port Louis Mauritius, ~1860s

However, Radama's hope that the stipend would cover the costs of abolition proved untrue. A combination of expensive wars of conquest throughout Madagascar as well as the unforeseen indirect costs of ending the trade ensured that the stipend was insufficient. While Imerina continued exporting small numbers of enslaved workers to other countries, the declining sales of enslaved workers in Merina-owned ports like Toamasina and Mahajanga ensured that non-Merina-owned Malagasy ports enjoyed a competitive advantage with Swahili, Arab, and Indian merchants.

Bezanozano porters carrying cattle skins to Toamasina

Instead, Radama had to reform his economy to produce competing products outside of the slave trade. This namely took the form of a concerted industrialization campaign. Through a combination of the invitation of foreign craftsmen and the training of domestic managers, Radama's reign saw the creation of major industrial centers at the hands of British, Mauritian Creole, and even Bengali craftsmen, as well as the training of hundreds of Malagasy to serve as shop managers and industrial directors.

S4E16: The Conquest of Toamasina

By 1817, Toamasina (Tamatave) was the busiest port on the east coast of Madagascar 

Radama's last promise to his father, that he would extend Imerina to the sea, was finally met in 1817, when Radama conquered the city of Toamasina. The city had long been under the protection of European powers, who leveraged their maritime power to protect the government of Jean Rene, a Malagasy merchant who governed the city. But in 1817, Radama made his own agreement with the British. In a treaty signed between the two states, Radama abolished Merina involvement in the slave trade in exchange for a large sum of cash, military equipment, and the opportunity to send Malagasy youth abroad. With a new ally on the island, the British abandoned Jean Rene and gave Radama the go ahead to conquer the coastal city.

Workers unload cargo from an outrigger canoe in Toamasina, circa 1880.

Toamasina gave Imerina its first major port in its history, as well as a direct line of communication with the outside world.

Radama (on the upper left horse) inspects an army 

Using resources acquired from his deal with the British, Radama assembled a modern army equipped with the latest firearms, artillery, and even horses, an otherwise unknown sight on Madagascar. The new Merina army proved unstoppable, with only the former hegemons of Madagascar, the Sakalava kingdoms, putting up successful long term resistance during Radama's reign.

Map of Radama's Conquests of Madagascar

The king's palace: Tranovola or the Silver House

In addition to using new military technologies acquired from foreign trade, Radama also sought to promote literacy in foreign writing systems, inviting British missionaries into Madagascar to teach the Latin script. He additionally mixed Malagasy and western architecture when commissioning a new palace. The Tranovola, Radama's new palace, features western elements like the double floor veranda, as well as Malagasy elements like house horns and an interior andry, or singular central pillar holding up a sloped roof.

Radama's rule was a critical period of Malagasy history. His conquests represented the first steps in producing a united kingdom of Madagascar, while his importation of new educational institutions rapidly grew literacy. However, his reign also brought new economic problems. Namely, the abolition of the slave trade had a far more profound impact on his kingdom's economy than he anticipated. To make up for lost revenue, Radama sought to transform Madagascar into Africa's first industrial power. That saga will be the focus of our next episode.

S4E15: Radama the Great

 

Radama, as depicted in an illustration by William Fitzwilliam Owen

If his father is the most remembered king in Madagascar, Radama is probably the best-known Malagasy king in the rest of the world. Radama is famous not only for leading the first major push to unify his home island but also for his later efforts to modernize and industrialize the Merina Empire. But how did this fascinating man come to power in the first place? Today, we track the rise of Radama from the heir to the kingdom to the man synonymous with the formation of Malagasy identity.

The beginning of Radama's reign was full of chaos. Even before taking the throne, he had already been the target of multiple assassination attempts by brothers, forced into an unhappy marriage, and served in the army on multiple campaigns. After taking the throne, he had to put down rebellions by his Betsileo and Sihanaka subjects.

Ifanadiana, Madagascar. The hill in the background is the site of the "martyrdom" of the Betsileo soldiers.

Beyond putting down revolts, Radama began his career with a series of successful campaigns against neighboring Betsileo kingdoms. The most famous of these campaigns was the Siege of Ifanadiana, where a group of Betsileo at the top of a hill chose to commit suicide rather than surrender to the Merina invaders.

A pirate graveyard on Nosy Boraha

Radama's greatest ambition for conquest would have to wait, though. He specifically desired to conquer the eastern coast of Madagascar. The eastern coast had recently undergone a cultural transformation with the arrival of swarms of European and American pirates to the region. One pirate from New York even established a colony on the island of Nosy Boraha. The arrival of pirates began a cultural and political transformation on the east coast, with some Malagasy using pirates as mercenaries, trading with the seafarers, and some even marrying and having children with pirates. Malagasy who adopted elements of European culture from European pirates and merchants were known as Malagasy Creoles, while those who came from a mixed background were called Zana Malata.

A photo of the old French fort at Fort Dauphin (taken hundreds of years after its abandonment.)

Our latest premium episode focuses on one of Madagascar's most interesting mixed-race historical figures: the pirate turned king of Madagascar, Abraham Samuel. Listen here.

S4E14: Andrianampoinimerina part 2 - The Birth of the Merina Empire

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvcqc984m44UpImrPpaU0fGyQOU_MCiyt2d0jziBtNaCp3_XM09FtJrq6BlcfXNxlvy3w_z3c64X5hzKcSuYaLEbUOcYDLOL2IgSVE2kiNhLYHpNZItgchIiBid4AqFbd67ZrbnoN5NzQNgxAlqD1CHZXZUGTtQ7luRQYBSlhorKZxYGwmscHUNBq1/s1280/expansionofimerina.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">Map of Andrianampoinimerina's Expansion of Imerina from 1787-1810.In our last episode, Andrianampoinimerina reunited the warring kingdoms of Imerina after seven decades of intermittent civil war. While this alone is a significant achievement, Andrianampoinimerina also had to shoulder the considerable burden of trying to repair his economically and socially devastated kingdom. Through smart and efficient use of the Fanamapoana corvee labor system, Andrianampoinimerina directed the repair, construction, and maintenance of hundreds of canals and dams, which greatly revitalized the region's agricultural output. Combined with the end of Sakalava raids, this resulted in a major population boom. Soil depletion and overpopulation, however, forced Merina people to expand their territory for further settlement, at the expense of neighboring people.

A 1900 sketch of a Betsileo man in traditional attire.

The Betsileo people were a relatively new identity in the late 18th century, with the term referring to a group of highlander Malagasy who banded together to defeat Sakalava raiders a few decades prior and had become applied to people within their political sphere of influence. Andrianampoinimerina defeated and conquered the federations of Betsileo people to his south, opening the region to Merina settlement. He also expanded north and east at the expense of the Bezanozano and Sihanaka people, marking the first period of Merina expansion outside of their traditional homeland.

Zoma market, for centuries the largest marketplace in Imerina, was one of many markets established by Andrianampoinimerina 

Andrianampoinimerina also instituted numerous reforms to transform his kingdom's system of trade. The old model of relying on Betsimisaraka or Sakalava middlemen to facilitate trade with coastal partners was replaced with a protectionist system which granted state agents major control over trade entering and leaving Imerina. Foreigners were confined to a single village, and rarely allowed to enter the kingdom. Meanwhile, the government merchants established formalized marketplace locations, standardized weights and measures, and a robust new system of laws to prevent fraud.

S4E13: Andrianampoinimerina part 1 - The True Prince

1905 Portrait of Andrianampoinimerina by Philippe-Auguste Ramanankirahina

In the late 18th century, Imerina was still emerging from a period of profoundly devastating civil war. The man who would lift Imerina out of the civil war was born in the Kingdom of Zafumamy, a small offshoot kingdom located to the northeast of Ambohimanga. He was the son of the King of the Zafimamy and the princess of Ambohimanga.
 

The Rova of Ambohimanga remains one of the best-preserved and most visited Merina historical sites to this day.

At a young age, Andrianampoinimerina, still then known by his birth name Rambosalamarazaka, quickly emerged as the favorite to inherit the kingdom of Ambohimanga. However, the kingdom was instead inherited by his uncle Andrianjafy. Throughout his rule, the king would enact several unpopular policies. His failed wars against the king of Antananarivo led to economic strife, as did growing tribute demands from Ambohimanga's Sakalava overlords. In order to cope with these growing demands, Andrianjafy made the unpopular decision to begin manufacturing criminal accusations against his own subjects to justify selling them into slavery.

The Hill of Ikaloy, the capital of the Zafimamy Kingdom.

This unpopular decision justified a group of nobles in overthrowing Andrianjafy and placing Andrianampoinimerina into power. 

S4E12: The Crisis of the 18th Century part 2: The Merina Civil War

During this period of civil war, the Sakalava Kingdoms of Menabe and Boeny exploited Merina polities for tribute payments of cattle and slaves in exchange for military assistance.

With the collapse of centralized political authority, the 18th century saw Imerina fall into 70 years of bloody civil war.

The 18th century saw an acceleration of an existent, but relatively small slave trade in Madagascar into a large, organized affair. In addition to their own raids on the Merina, Sakalava raiders offered their services as mercenaries to Merina rump states in exchange for assistance in their civil war. Sakalava soldiers were generally larger and healthier due to a more nutritious diet, as well as more experienced in combat and better equipped, but they failed to make a decisive difference in the tangled mess of Merina civil wars. Given how advantageous the situation was for them either way, the raiders likely didn't mind this shortcoming.

The Spanish "Real de a Ocho" or "Piece of Eight", the coins which Rakotomavo sought to mint

The king of Ambohimanga, Rakotomavo, tried to salvage his kingdom's economy with an unsuccessful attempt to counterfeit Spanish pieces of eight to facilitate a competitive advantage in trade with foreigners. The plan failed.

Enslaved man on a sugar plantation in Mauritius

The rising slave trade on Madagascar during the Merina civil war was fueled largely by two growing markets for Malagasy enslaved workers. In the east, French investors planned to transform the once derelict Dutch colony of Mauritius into an enormous sugar plantation. The colony proved enormously profitable for investors, and enormously costly on laborers. The deadly conditions forced the French to constantly purchase new labor to replace losses.

Auction of enslaved people in Zanzibar

In modern Tanzania, the Sultanate of Oman was expanding the spice plantations surrounding Zanzibar. While these plantations had not reached their full potential yet, the 18th century marked the beginning of a period of rapid growth. Throughout the 18th century, the majority of enslaved people exported from Madagascar ended up in this region of East Africa.