History of Madagascar
Encyclopedia
The history of Madagascar
is distinguished by the early isolation of the landmass from the ancient supercontinents containing Africa
and India
, and by the island's late colonization by human settlers arriving in outrigger canoes from the Sunda islands
between 200 BC and 500 AD. These two factors facilitated the evolution and survival of thousands of endemic plant and animal species, some of which have gone extinct or are currently threatened with extinction due to the pressures of a growing human population. Over the past two thousand years the island has received waves of settlers of diverse origins including Austronesian, Bantu, Arab, South Asian, Chinese and European populations.
The majority of the population of Madagascar today is a mixture of Austronesian, North Indian, Arab
and Bantu settlers from Southeast Asia
, Gujarat, the Arabian Peninsula
and East Africa
, respectively. Years of intermarriages created the Malagasy people
, who primarily speak Malagasy
, an Austronesian language with Bantu
influences. Most of the genetic makeup of the average Malagasy, however, reflects an almost equal blend of Austronesian and Bantu influences (especially on coastal regions). Other populations often intermixed with the existent population to a more limited degree or have sought to preserve a separate community from the majority Malagasy.
By the European Middle Ages, over a dozen predominant ethic identities had emerged on the island, typified by rule under a local chieftain. Among some communities, such as the Sakalava, Merina and Betsimisaraka, leaders seized the opportunity to unite these disparate communities and establish true kingdoms under their rule. These kingdoms increased their wealth and power through exchanges with European, Arab and other seafaring traders, whether they were legitimate vessels or pirates. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, pirate activity in the coastal areas of Madagascar was common and the celebrated free pirate colony of Libertatia was established on Saint Mary's Island, originally populated by local Malagasy. The Sakalava and Merina kingdoms in particular exploited European trade to strengthen the power of their kingdoms, trading Malagasy slaves in exchange for European firearms and other goods. By the turn of the 19th century, the highly populous Kingdom of Imerina, located in the central highlands with its capital at Antananarivo, began to exert its authority over the island's other polities and populations. A series of Merina monarchs ruled over the Kingdom of Madagascar throughout the 19th century and engaged in the process of modernization through close diplomatic ties to Britain that led to the establishment of European-style schools, government institutions and infrastructure.
From the 17th century through to the Scramble for Africa
, the British
and French colonial empires
competed for influence in Madagascar. After a brief de facto protectorate period beginning in 1885 the island became a full formal French protectorate
in 1890, then a colony in 1896, and gained full independence from France
in 1960 in the wake of decolonization
. Under the leadership of President Philibert Tsiranana, Madagascar's First Republic (1960–1972) was established as a democratic system modeled on that of France. This period was characterized by continued economic and cultural dependence upon France, provoking resentment and sparking popular movements among farmers and students that ultimately ushered in the socialist Second Republic under Admiral Didier Ratsiraka (1975–1992) distinguished by economic isolationism and political alliances with pro-Soviet states. As Madagascar's economy quickly unraveled, standards of living declined dramatically and growing social unrest was increasingly met with violent repression on the part of the Ratsiraka government. Tension over popular dissatisfaction with Ratsiraka's rule was brought to a head when presidential guards were ordered to open fire on unarmed pro-democracy protesters in 1989. By 1992, free and fair multiparty elections were held, ushering in the democratic Third Republic (1992–2009). Under the new constitution, the Malagasy public elected President Albert Zafy, President Didier Ratsiraka, and most recently President Marc Ravalomanana. This latter was ousted in March 2009 by a popular movement under the leadership of Andry Rajoelina, then-mayor of Antananarivo, in what has been widely characterized as a coup d'état. Rajoelina has since ushered in a Fourth Republic and rules Madagascar as the President of the High Transitional Authority without recognition from the international community.
genetic
linguistics
,,), and history
- confirm that Malagasy people is originally and overwhelmingly Austronesian, native of Indonesian archipelago
. Probably arrived on the west coast of Madagascar with outrigger canoe (waka)
at the beginning of our era - or 300 years sooner according to archaeologists, and perhaps even earlier under certain geneticists assumptions - these pioneers are known to the Malagasy oral tradition under the name of Ntaolo (from *tau - *ulu - litt. "man first", of *tau -"man" and *ulu -"head", "first", "origin", "beginning" in proto- Malayo-Polynesian (MP)
). It is also likely that those ancients called themselves the Vahoaka (from *va-*waka -"people of canoes" or "people of the sea", of * waka-"canoe (outrigger)" in proto-MP
), today a term meaning simply "people" in Malagasy.
Morphologically / phenotypically, this Southeast Asian origin of the first Malagasy explains, for example regarding the eyes, the epicanthic fold common among all Malagasy whether coastal or highlands, whether pale, dark or copper skinned.
This original people (vahoaka ntaolo in Malagasy) that can be called the "protomalagasy" (from the Greek protos- "first") is the source of:
As for the cause of the coming of these Austronesians, the history of the Indian Ocean from the early first millennium AD is still poorly understood. One can only assume that the island of Madagascar played an important role in trade, particularly that of spice trade (especially the cinnamon
) and timber
between Southeast Asia
and Middle East
, directly or through the African coast and Madagascar.
" agriculture) to clear the virgin coastal rainforest
s for the cultivation of their crops. The first settlers encountered Madagascar's wealth of megafauna, including giant lemurs
, elephant bird
s, giant fossa and the Malagasy hippopotamus
, which have since become extinct due to hunting and habitat destruction.
By 600 CE groups of these early settlers had moved inland and began clearing the forests of the central Highlands where they particularly planted taro
(saonjo) and probably rice
(vary). These Vahoaka Ntaolo, hunters-gatherers and farmers, who decided to settle "in the forest", especially in the forests of the central highlands are known by the tradition
as the Vazimba
(from * ba /va- yimba- " those of the forest ", from *yimba -" forest "in proto Southeast Barito, today barimba or orang rimba in Malay). Rafandrana, an ancestor of the Merina
royal dynasty, for example, is known to have been a Vazimba. Rafohy
and Rangita
, the two founding queens of the Merina royalty, were also called Vazimbas.
On the other side, the fishermen who, from the beginning, remained on the Southwestern coast (probably the coasts of the first landing) were, according to the linguists, probably originally called the Vezo
(from *ba/va/ be/ve-jau – "those of the coast", borrowed from Proto-Malayo-Javanese, today veju in Bugis, bejau in Malay, and bajo in Javanese), which today is still the name of a Southwestern tribe.
A point is still debated among the researchers community about the Vazimba : as it is an Austronesian qualifier designating "forest dwellers" in general (including the Austronesians Vahoaka Ntaolo themselves settled in the forests ), it can not be excluded that other hominids vazimba natives like Flores Man, for example, have inhabited the forests of Madagascar dozens-even hundreds-of thousands of years before the arrival of the Austronesians Vahoaka Ntaolo. Some may have even existed at the arrival of these Austronesians in the first millennium BC. This could explain the myth of the "little people/dwarfs primary forest aborigens" that the Vahoaka Ntaolo - ancestor of the majority of present Malagasys - have met (and either integrated or wiped out) when they arrived. The compelling evidence behind this myth is still missing today. Only archeology and genetics can bring. It is, finally, not excluded that the myth of these "little/dwarf men vazimba " was led by the Austronesian from Sunda Islands
where they lived before, in which case this myth could actually relate to the Flores hominid type or, more probably, the Negrito
s (Orang Asli
in Malay). The latter have in fact lived in the forests of the Sunda Islands before before the arrival of Austronesians and are there considered to be the aboriginal peoples. We know, for example, that the malagasy myth of the ogre Trimo be – "eater of children" is a story brought by the Austronesians and in fact is about the tiger (from * (t) rimau, "tiger" in proto-MP) who lives in the forests of the Sunda Islands. The myth of the "dwarfs" vazimba could have been brought in a similar trip.
After the arrival of the Middle Age newcommers (see below), as growing population density necessitated higher crop yields, irrigated rice paddies emerged in Betsileo
country by 1600 and were complemented with terraced paddies throughout Imerina a century later. Zebu
were introduced around 1000 CE by Bantu
-speaking East African migrants (see below) who maintained large herds. The rising intensity of land cultivation and the ever-increasing demand for zebu pasturage in the central highlands had largely transformed the region from a forest ecosystem to barren grassland by the 17th century.
s and Shirazi Persians
established trading posts along the northwest coast and introduced Islam, the Arabic script (used to transcribe the Malagasy language in a form of writing known as sorabe
), Arab astrology and other cultural elements. During this early period, Madagascar served as an important transoceanic trading port for the east African coast that gave Africa a trade route to the Silk Road
and served simultaneously as a port for incoming ships.
According to the traditions of some Malagasy peoples, the first Bantus and Arabs to settle in Madagascar came as refugee
s from the civil wars
that followed the death of Mohammed in 632.
Beginning in the tenth or eleventh century, Arabic and Zanzibari slave-traders worked their way down the east coast of Africa in their dhow
s and established settlements on the west coast of Madagascar. Notably they included the Zafiraminia, traditional ancestors of the Antemoro, Antanosy and other east-coast ethnicities. The last wave of Arab immigrants, the Antalaotra, immigrated from eastern African colonies. They settled the north-west of the island (Majunga area) and introduced, for the first time, Islam to Madagascar
.
Arab immigrants, though few in number compared to the native Austronesians and Bantus, nevertheless left a lasting impression. The Malagasy names for seasons, months, days, and coins in certain regions come from Arabic origins, as do cultural features such as the practice of circumcision
, the communal grain-pool, and different forms of salutation (such as "salama"-"hello" in malagasy).
Neo-Austronesians : Malays, Javanese, Bugis
According to oral tradition, new Austronesian clans (Malays, Javanese, Bugis
, and Orang Laut
), historically and globally - regardless of their native island- referred to as the Hova (of uwa-"commoner", in old Bugis]), have landed in the North West and East coast of the island. Linguists observations about Old Malay (sanscritised), Old Javanese (sanscritised) and Old Bugi borrowings in the initial proto-SEB languages, point out that the first hova vawes came probably in the eighth century at the earliest.
These Hova were probably derived from Indonesian thalassocracies. Their leaders, known as the diana in the Southeast, andriana
or raondriana in the center and the West
(from (ra)-hadi-an -"lord" or "master" in Old Javanese, today raden in Java, also found in the Bugis nobility title andi), had for the most part, allied with vazimba clans
With the arrival of Islam
, in fact, Persians and Arabs traders quickly supplant the Indonesian coast of Africa and eventually extend their control over the islands Comoros
and parts coast of Madagascar. Meanwhile, competition in the new joint Chinese naval powers (Song
) and South Indian (Chola), the thalassocracy
s in Indonesia are in rapid decline, although the Portuguese are still Javanese sailors in Madagascar when they deal with the .
substratum
in the initial proto-SEB malagasy language. This substratum is especially significantly present in the domestic and agricultural vocabulary (eg the beef omby or aombe of Swahili Ngumbe, the onion tongolo of Swahili kitunguu, the Malagasy pot Nongo from nunggu in Swahili)
sea captain Diogo Dias
sighted the island after his ship separated from a fleet going to India. The Portuguese continued trading with the islanders and named the island São Lourenço (St. Lawrence). In 1666, François Caron
, the director general of the newly formed French East India Company
, sailed to Madagascar. The company failed to establish a colony on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Ile-de-France (today's Réunion
and Mauritius
). In the late 17th century, the French
established trading posts along the east coast. On Nosy Boraha, a small island off the northeastern coast of Madagascar, Captain Misson and his pirate crew allegedly founded the famous pirate utopia
of Libertalia in the late 17th century. From about 1774 to 1824, Madagascar was a favorite haunt for pirates. Many European sailors were shipwrecked on the coasts of the island, among them Robert Drury
, whose journal is one of the few written depictions of life in southern Madagascar during the 18th century. Sailors sometimes called Madagascar "Island of the Moon".
from the Muslims. They did this by bypassing the Middle East and sending their cargo-ships around the Cape of Good Hope
to India. The Portuguese mariner Diego Dias became the first European to set foot on Madagascar when his ship, bound for India, blew off course in 1500. In the ensuing two-hundred years, the English and French tried (and failed) to establish settlements on the island.
Fever, dysentery, hostile Malagasy, and the trying arid climate of southern Madagascar soon terminated the English settlement near Toliary
(Tuléar) in 1646. Another English settlement in the north in Nosy Bé
came to an end in 1649. The French colony at Taolañaro
(Fort Dauphin) fared a little better: it lasted thirty years. On Christmas night 1672, local Antanosy tribesmen, perhaps angry because fourteen French soldiers in the fort had recently divorced their Malagasy wives to marry fourteen French orphan-women sent out to the colony, massacred the fourteen grooms and thirteen of the fourteen brides. The Antanosy then besieged the stockade at Taolañaro for eighteen months. A ship of the French East India Company rescued the surviving thirty men and one widow in 1674.
In 1665, François Caron
, the Director General of the newly formed French East India Company
, sailed to Madagascar. The Company failed to found a colony
on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Île-de-France (today's Réunion
and Mauritius
respectively). In the late 17th century, the French
established trading-posts along the east coast.
,
resulted in a journal giving one of the few written depictions of southern Madagascar in the 18th century.
Pirate luminaries such as William Kidd, Henry Every
, John Bowen
, and Thomas Tew
made Antongil Bay and Nosy Boraha (St. Mary’s Island)
(a small island 12 miles off the north-east coast of Madagascar) their bases of operations. The pirates plundered merchant ships in the Indian Ocean
, the Red Sea
, and the Persian Gulf
. They deprived Europe-bound ships of their silks, cloth, spices, and jewels. Vessels captured going in the opposite direction (to India) lost their coin, gold, and silver. The pirates robbed the Indian cargo ships that traded between ports in the Indian Ocean as well as ships commissioned by the East India Companies
of France, England, and the Netherlands. The pilgrim fleet sailing between Surat in India and Mocha on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula provided a favorite target, because the wealthy Muslim pilgrims often carried jewels and other finery with them to Mecca. Merchants in India, various ports of Africa, and Réunion Island showed willingness to fence
the pirates' stolen goods. The low-paid seamen who manned merchant ships in the Indian Ocean hardly put up a fight, seeing as they had little reason or motivation to risk their lives. The pirates often recruited crewmen from the ships they plundered.
With regard to piracy in Malagasy waters, note the (semi-)legendary accounts of the alleged pirate-state of Libertalia.
Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, certain Malagasy tribes occasionally waged wars to capture and enslave prisoners. They either sold the slaves to Arab traders or kept them on-hand as laborers. Following the arrival of European slavers, human slaves became more valuable, and the coastal tribes of Madagascar took to warring with each other to obtain prisoners for the lucrative slave-trade. Instead of spears and cutlasses, the tribesmen fought with muskets, musket-balls, and gunpowder that they obtained from the Europeans, conducting fierce and brutal wars. On account of their relationship to the pirates on Nosy Boraha, the Betsimisaraka in eastern Madagascar had more firearms than anyone else. They overpowered their neighbors the Antakarana and Tsimihety
and even raided the Comoros Islands. As the tribe on the west coast with the most connections to the slave-trade, the Sakalava
also had access to guns and powder. They subdued the other tribes on the west coast. Tribal chiefs who failed to capture prisoners for the slave-trade sometimes did the previously unthinkable -— they sold their own people into slavery.
Today, the people of Madagascar can be considered as the product of mixing between the first occupants, the vahoaka ntaolo Austronesians (Vazimbaand Vezo) and those arrived later (Hova neo-Austronesians, Persians, Arabs, Africans and Europeans).
Genotypically
, the original Austronesian heritage is more or less evenly distributed throughout the island. Researchers have noticed the "Polynesian motif" everywhere: an old marker of Austronesian populations from before the great immigration to the islands of Polynesia and Melanesia. This fact would require a starting common home among the proto malagasy vahoaka ntaolo (gone west to Madagascar) and the ancestors of the current Polynesians (left for the Pacific Islands in the East) between 500 BC – 0.
phenotypically
, it is among the malagasy populations of the highlands (Merina, Betsileo, Bezanozano, Sihanaka), more endogamous
, that the / # Asian_people Physical_features Austronesian Sundadont Mongoloid phenotype is more significant. One can also note some Australoid' and Negrito phenotype everywhere (including in the highlands). Unlike the East African Bantu phenotype, the Austronesian "Negrito" phenotype is characterized by its small size.
On the coasts, the integration of the Orientals, Middle Easterns, East Africans (Bantus) and Europeans (Portuguese) gave birth to Antakarana Boina
Menabe
and Vezo
(West Coast), Mahafaly
and Antandroy
(South), Antesaka Antambahoaka
Antemoro Antanala
Betsimisaraka (East Coast) kingdoms/tribes .
In the interior, the struggle for hegemony between the different Neo-Vazimba clans of central highlands (called the Hova by the coastal Neo-Vezo clans) led to the birth of the Merina
Betsileo
Bezanozano
Sihanaka
Tsimihety
and Bara
kingdoms/tribes.
The birth of these kingdoms/tribes essentially altered the political structure of the ancient world of the Vahoaka Ntaolo, but the vast majority of other categories remained intact in these new realms: the common language, customs, traditions, the sacred, the economy, the art of the olds remained preserved in the vast majority of forms with variations by region.
Among the Central Kingdoms, the most important were in the south, the Betsileo
kingdom and to the north, the Merina
kingdom. These were definitely unified in the early nineteenth century by Andrianampoinimerina
. Then, his son and successor Radama I (reigning 1810–1828) opened his country to European influence exerted mainly by the British. With their support, he extends its authority over much of the island. Thus, starting from 1817, the central Merina kingdoms, betsileo, Bezanozano, and Sihanaka, unified by Radama I get to the outside world, the Kingdom of Madagascar.
and Somali
traders who connected Madagascar with East Africa, the Middle East and India, and later with European slave traders. The wealth created in Madagascar through trade created a state system ruled by powerful regional monarchs known as the Maroserana. These monarchs adopted the cultural traditions of subjects in their territories and expanded their kingdoms. They took on divine status, and new nobility and artisan classes were created. Madagascar functioned as a contact port for the other Swahili seaport city-states such as Sofala
, Kilwa
, Mombasa
and Zanzibar
. By the Middle Ages, large chiefdom
s began to dominate considerable areas of the island. Among these were the Betsimisaraka alliance of the eastern coast and the Sakalava
chiefdoms of the Menabe
(centered in what is now the town of Morondava
) and of Boina
(centered in what is now the provincial capital of Mahajanga
). The influence of the Sakalava extended across what are now the provinces of Antsiranana
, Mahajanga
and Toliara
.
The island's chiefs began to extend their power through trade with their Indian Ocean
neighbours, notably East Africa
, the Middle East
and India
. Large chiefdoms began to dominate considerable areas of the island. Among these were the Sakalava
chiefdoms of the Menabe
, centred in what is now the town of Morondava
, and of Boina
, centered in what is now the provincial capital of Mahajanga
(Majunga). The influence of the Sakalava extended across what are now the provinces of Antsiranana
, Mahajanga and Toliara.
According to local tradition, the founders of the Sakalava kingdom were Maroseraña (or Maroseranana, "those who owned many ports") princes, from the Fiherenana (now Toliara
). They quickly subdued the neighbouring princes, starting with the southern ones, in the Mahafaly area. The true founder of Sakalava dominance was Andriamisara; his son Andriandahifotsy (c1610-1658) then extended his authority northwards, past the Mangoky River
. His two sons, Andriamanetiarivo and Andriamandisoarivo, extended gains further up to the Tsongay region (now Mahajanga). At about that time, the empire's unity starts to split, resulting in a southern kingdom (Menabe) and a northern kingdom (Boina). Further splits resulted, despite continued extension of the Boina princes' reach into the extreme north, in Antankarana country.
The Sakalava rulers of this period are known through the memoirs of Europeans such as Robert Drury
, James Cook
, Barnvelt (1719), Valentyn (1726).
(1785–1810) and his son, Radama I (1810–1828) succeeded in uniting nearly all of Madagascar under Merina
rule. These kings and their successors descended from a line of ancient Merina royalty who ruled the lands of Imerina in the central Highlands of Madagascar since at least the 16th century. Even prior to their eventual domination and unification of the entire island, the political and cultural activities of Merina royalty were to leave an indelible mark on contemporary Malagasy identity.
With the establishment of dominion over the greater part of the Highlands, Andrianampoinimerina became the first Merina monarch to be considered a king of Madagascar. The island continued to be ruled by a succession of Merina monarchs until the last of them, Ranavalona III, was deposed and exiled to Algeria by French forces who conquered and colonized the island in 1895. The monarchs of a united Madagascar are listed below.
and successor to his uncle King Andrianjafy
, successfully reunited the fragmented Merina kingdom through a combination of diplomacy, strategic political marriages and successful military campaigns against rival princes. Andrianampoinimerina distinguished himself from other kings by codifying laws and supervising the building of dikes and trenches to increase the amount of arable land around his capital at Antananarivo in a successful bid to end the famines that had wracked Imerina for decades. The king ambitiously proclaimed: Ny ranomasina no valapariako (“the sea is the boundary of my rice-field”), and by the time of his death in 1810 he had conquered the Bara and Betsileo highland tribes, laying the groundwork for expansion of his kingdom to the shores of the island.
in 1814/1815, the balance of power in Europe and in the European colonies shifted in Britain's favor. The British, eager to exert control over the trade routes of the Indian Ocean, had captured the islands of Réunion
and Mauritius
from the French in 1810. Although they returned Réunion to France, they kept Mauritius as a base for expanding the British Empire
. Mauritius’s governor, to woo Madagascar from French control, recognized Radama I as King of Madagascar, a diplomatic maneuver meant to underscore the idea of the sovereignty of the island and thus to preclude claims by any European powers.
Radama I signed treaties with the United Kingdom outlawing the slave trade and admitting Protestant missionaries into Madagascar. On the face of it, the terms of these treaties seem innocuous enough, but Protestant missionaries would spread British influence; and outlawing the slave trade would weaken Réunion's economy by depriving that island of slave laborers for France's sugar plantation
s. In return for outlawing the slave trade, Madagascar received what the treaty called "The Equivalent": an annual sum of a thousand dollars in gold, another thousand in silver, stated amounts of gunpowder, flints, and muskets, plus 400 surplus British Army uniforms. The governor of Mauritius also sent military advisers who accompanied and sometimes led Merina soldiers in their battles against the Sakalava and Betsimisaraka. In 1824, having defeated the Betsimisaraka, Radama I declared, “Today, the whole island is mine! Madagascar has but one master.” The king died in 1828 while leading his army on a punitive expedition against the Betsimisaraka.
, the widow of Radama I, was characterized by a struggle to preserve the cultural and political sovereignty of Madagascar from French and English colonial designs. The queen repudiated the treaties that Radama I had signed with Britain and in 1835 after issuing a royal edict prohibiting the practice of Christianity
in Madagascar, she expelled British missionaries from the island and began persecuting Christian converts who would not renounce their religion. Malagasy Christians would remember this period as ny tany maizina, or "the time when the land was dark".
Unbeknownst to the queen, her son and heir, the crown-prince (the future Radama II
), attended Roman Catholic masses in secret. The young man grew up under the influence of French nationals in Antananarivo. In 1854, he wrote a letter to Napoléon III
inviting France to invade and uplift Madagascar. On June 28, 1855 he signed the Lambert Charter. This document gave Joseph-François Lambert, an enterprising French businessman who had arrived in Madagascar only three weeks before, the exclusive right to develop all minerals, forests, and unoccupied land in Madagascar in exchange for a 10-percent royalty payable to the Merina monarchy. In years to come, the French would show the Lambert Charter and the prince’s letter to Napoléon III to explain the Franco-Hova Wars and the annexation of Madagascar as a colony. In 1857, the queen uncovered a plot by her son (the future Radama II) and French nationals in the capital to remove her from power. She immediately expelled all foreigners from Madagascar, sparing her son. Ranavalona died in 1861.
re-opened trade with Mauritius and Réunion, invited Christian missionaries and foreigners to return to Madagascar, and re-instated most of Radama I’s reforms. His liberal policies angered the aristocracy, however, and Rainivoninahitriniony
, the prime minister, engineered a coup d’état which resulted in the King's death by strangling.
approached Rabodo, the widow of Radama II, the day after the death of her husband. They gave her the conditions under which she could succeed to the throne. These conditions included the suppression of trial by ordeal
as well as the monarchy's defense of freedom of religion
. Rabodo, crowned queen on May 13, 1863 under the throne name of Rasoherina
, reigned until her death on April 1, 1868.
The Malagasy people remember Queen Rasoherina for sending ambassador
s to London
and Paris
and for prohibiting Sunday markets. On June 30, 1865, she signed a treaty with the United Kingdom
giving British citizens the right to rent land and property on the island and to have a resident ambassador. With the United States of America she signed a trade agreement that also limited the importation of weapons and the export of cattle. Finally, with France
the queen signed a peace between her descendants and the descendants of the Emperor of France. Rasoherina married her Prime Minister, Rainivoninahitriniony
, but public outcry against his involvement in the murder of Radama II soon forced his resignation and exile to Betsileo
country south of Imerina. She then married his brother, Rainilaiarivony
, head of the army at the time of Radama II's murder who was promoted to the post of Prime Minister upon the resignation and exile of his older brother. Rainilaiarivony would rule Madagascar from behind the scenes for the remaining 32 years of the Merina monarchy, marrying each of the final three queens of Madagascar in succession.
, previously educated by the London Missionary Society
, underwent baptism into the Church of England
and subsequently made the Anglican faith the official state religion
of Madagascar.
The queen had all the sampy
(traditional royal idols) burned in a public display. Catholic and Protestant missionaries arrived in numbers to build churches and schools. The reign of Queen Ranavalona II proved the heyday of British influence in Madagascar. British arms and troops arrived on the island by way of South Africa
.
and his entourage in their positions. She also promised to do away with the French threat.
Angry at the cancellation of the Lambert Charter and seeking to restore property stolen from French citizens, France invaded Madagascar in 1883 in what became known as the first Franco-Hova War
(Hova as a name referring to the Merina aristocrats). At the war’s end, Madagascar ceded Antsiranana
(Diégo Suarez) on the northern coast to France and paid 560,000 gold franc
s to the heirs of Joseph-François Lambert. In Europe, meanwhile, diplomats partitioning the African continent worked out an agreement whereby Britain, in order to obtain the Sultanate of Zanzibar
, ceded its rights over Heligoland
to Germany
and renounced all claims to civilize Madagascar in favor of France. The agreement spelled the end of the independent native tribes of Madagascar. Rainilaiarivony
had succeeded in playing Great Britain and France against one another, but now France could act without fear of reprisals from Britain.
In 1895, a French flying-column
landed in Mahajanga
(Majunga) and marched by way of the Betsiboka River
to the capital, Antananarivo
, taking the city’s defenders by surprise. (They had expected an attack from the much closer east coast.) Twenty French soldiers died fighting and 6,000 died of malaria
and other diseases before the second Franco-Hova War ended. In 1896 the French Parliament voted to annex
Madagascar. The 103-year-old Merina monarchy ended with the royal family sent into exile in Algeria
.
(1828 - 1861), the the kingdom of Madagascar created by Radama I continued its transformation throughout the nineteenth century.
Radama I - who wrote the Malagasy in Arabic script - learn the Latin alphabet
in 1820 with David Jones, Welsh missionary of the London Missionary Society': together, they codified the new Malagasy Latin alphabet of 21 letters which replaced the old Arabic alphabet. The Bible is, in 1830, the first book written in this new Malagasy Latin alphabet.
An embryo of industrialization has also took place from 1835 under the direction of the French Jean Laborde
(an ex-foam survivor of a shipwreck off the east coast) , producing soap, porcelain
, metal tools and firearms (rifles, cannons, etc.)..
In 1864 Antananarivo
opened the first hospital
and a modern medical school. Two years later appeared the first newspaper. A scientific journal in English (Antananarivo Annual) is even released from 1875. In 1894, on the eve of the establishment of colonial rule, the schools of the kingdom, mainly led by the Protestant missions, are attended by over 200,000 students.
The British accepts in the Berlin Treaty the claims of France to exert its influence on Madagascar and a treaty of alliance between France and Malagasy was signed in December 17, 1885 by Queen Ranavalona III.
Disagreements on the implementation of this treaty, serve as a pretext for the French invasion of 1895, which first met little resistance. The authority of the Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony
, in power since 1864, has indeed became very unpopular with the public.
The intention of the French was to first to establish a simple protectorate
system, affecting especially the control of the economy and foreign relations of the island. But later, the outbreak of the popular resistance of Menalamba and the arrival of General Gallieni
responsible "pacify" the country 1896 lead to the annexation and the exile of the queen Algeria
.
The British accepted the imposition of a French protectorate
over Madagascar in 1890 in return for eventual British control over Zanzibar
(subsequently part of Tanzania
) and as part of an overall definition of spheres of influence in the area.
Malagasy troops fought in France
, Morocco
, and Syria
during World War II
. After France fell to the Germans
in 1940, the Vichy
government administered Madagascar until 1942, when British Empire troops occupied the strategic island in the Battle of Madagascar
in order to preclude its seizure by the Japan
ese. The United Kingdom
handed over control of the island to Free French Forces
in 1943.
of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) party, suppressed the Madagascar revolt
, a nationalist uprising. Between 80,000 to 90,000 Malagasy were killed during a year of bitter fighting.
The French subsequently established reformed institutions in 1956 under the Loi Cadre
(Overseas Reform Act), and Madagascar moved peacefully toward independence. The Malagasy Republic, proclaimed on October 14, 1958, became an autonomous state within the French Community
.
as President.
Tsiranana's rule represented continuation, with French settlers (or colons) still in positions of power. Unlike many of France's former colonies, the Malagasy Republic strongly resisted movements towards communism
.
In 1972 protests against these policies came to a head and Tsiranana had to step down. He handed power to General Gabriel Ramanantsoa
of the army and his provisional government. This régime reversed previous policy in favour of closer ties with the Soviet Union
.
On 5 February 1975, Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava
became the President of Madagascar. After six days as head of the country, he died in an assassination while driving from the presidential palace to his home. Political power passed to Gilles Andriamahazo
.
On 15 June 1975 Lieutenant-Commander Didier Ratsiraka
(who had previously served as foreign minister) came to power in a coup. Elected president for a seven-year term, Ratsiraka moved further towards socialism
, nationalising much of the economy and cutting all ties with France.
These policies hastened the decline in the Madagascan economy that had begun after independence as French immigrants left the country, leaving a shortage of skills and technology behind.
Ratsiraka's original seven-year term as President continued after his party (Avant-garde de la Révolution Malgache or AREMA) became the only legal party in the 1977 elections.
In the 1980s Madagascar moved back towards France, abandoning many of its communist-inspired policies in favour of a market economy
, though Ratsiraka still kept hold of power.
Eventually opposition — both in Madagascar and internationally — forced him to reconsider his position, and in 1992 the country adopted a new and democratic constitution.
The first multi-party elections came in 1993, with Albert Zafy
defeating Ratsiraka.
Zafy failed to re-unite the country and suffered impeachment
in 1996.
The ensuing elections saw a turnout of less than 50% and unexpectedly resulted in the re-election of Didier Ratsiraka.
He moved further towards capitalism
. The influence of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and World Bank
led to widespread privatisation.
Opposition to Ratsiraka began to grow again. Opposition parties boycotted provincial elections in 2000, and the 2001 presidential election
produced more controversy. The opposition candidate Marc Ravalomanana
claimed victory after the first round (in December) but the incumbent rejected this position. In early 2002 supporters of the two sides took to the streets and violent clashes took place. Ravalomanana claimed that fraud had occurred in the polls. After an April recount the High Constitutional Court declared Ravalomanana president. Ratsiraka continued to dispute the result but his opponent gained international recognition, and Ratsiraka had to go into exile in France, though forces loyal to him continued activities in Madagascar.
Ravlomanana's I Love Madagascar party achieved overwhelming electoral success in December 2001 and he survived an attempted coup in January 2003. He used his mandate to work closely with the IMF and the World Bank to reform the economy, to end corruption and to realise the country's potential.
Ratsiraka went on trial (in absentia) for embezzlement
(the authorities charged him with taking $8m of public money with him into exile) and the court sentenced him to ten years' hard labour.
Ravalomanana is credited with improving the country's infrastructure, such as roads, along with making improvements in education and health, but has faced criticism for his lack of progress against poverty; purchasing power
is said to have declined during his time in office. On November 18, 2006, his plane was forced to divert from Madagascar's capital during a return trip from Europe following reports of a coup
underway in Antananarivo and shooting near the airport; however, this alleged coup attempt was unsuccessful.
Ravalomanana ran for a second term in the presidential election
held on December 3, 2006. According to official results, he won the election with 54.79% of the vote in the first round; his best results were in Antananarivo Province
, where he received the support of 75.39% of voters. He was sworn in for his second term on January 19, 2007.
Ravalomanana dissolved the National Assembly in July 2007, prior to the end of its term, following a constitutional referendum
earlier in the year. Ravalomanana said that a new election
needed to be held so that the National Assembly would reflect the changes made in this referendum.
He is currently involved in a political standoff after he closed the TV station belonging to Antananarivo
mayor Andry Rajoelina
.
In January 2009 protests which then turned violent
were organized and spearheaded by Andry Rajoelina
, the mayor of the capital city of Antananarivo
and a prominent opponent of President Ravalomanana.
The situation has fundamentally changed on March 10, 2009 when army leaders forced the recently appointed defence secretary to resign (the previous one had decided to resign after the killings by the presidential guard on February 7, 2009). They also announced that they gave the opponents 72 hours to dialogue and find a solution to the crisis before they would take further action. This move came after the leaders of the main military camp had announced a day earlier that they would not execute orders coming from the presidency any more since their duty was to protect the people, and not to oppress them, as groups of the military had done over the last few days.
On the 16th of March the army seized the presidential palace in the centre of Antananarivo. Ravalomanana was not in the palace at the time. He finally handed his resignation to the army. However, the army have decided to hand over power to his fierce political rival.
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
is distinguished by the early isolation of the landmass from the ancient supercontinents containing Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and by the island's late colonization by human settlers arriving in outrigger canoes from the Sunda islands
Islands of Indonesia
This is a list of islands of Indonesian Archipelago. Indonesia comprises 17,508 - 18,306 islands and 8,844 that have been named according to estimates made by the Government of Indonesia, with 922 of those permanently inhabited. The islands span eastward from Sabang in northern Sumatra to Merauke...
between 200 BC and 500 AD. These two factors facilitated the evolution and survival of thousands of endemic plant and animal species, some of which have gone extinct or are currently threatened with extinction due to the pressures of a growing human population. Over the past two thousand years the island has received waves of settlers of diverse origins including Austronesian, Bantu, Arab, South Asian, Chinese and European populations.
The majority of the population of Madagascar today is a mixture of Austronesian, North Indian, Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
and Bantu settlers from Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, Gujarat, the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
and East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, respectively. Years of intermarriages created the Malagasy people
Malagasy people
The Malagasy ethnic group forms nearly the entire population of Madagascar. They are divided into two subgroups: the "Highlander" Merina, Sihanaka and Betsileo of the central plateau around Antananarivo, Alaotra and Fianarantsoa, and the côtiers elsewhere in the country. This division has its...
, who primarily speak Malagasy
Malagasy language
Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar, a member of the Austronesian family of languages. Most people in Madagascar speak it as a first language as do some people of Malagasy descent elsewhere.-History:...
, an Austronesian language with Bantu
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
influences. Most of the genetic makeup of the average Malagasy, however, reflects an almost equal blend of Austronesian and Bantu influences (especially on coastal regions). Other populations often intermixed with the existent population to a more limited degree or have sought to preserve a separate community from the majority Malagasy.
By the European Middle Ages, over a dozen predominant ethic identities had emerged on the island, typified by rule under a local chieftain. Among some communities, such as the Sakalava, Merina and Betsimisaraka, leaders seized the opportunity to unite these disparate communities and establish true kingdoms under their rule. These kingdoms increased their wealth and power through exchanges with European, Arab and other seafaring traders, whether they were legitimate vessels or pirates. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, pirate activity in the coastal areas of Madagascar was common and the celebrated free pirate colony of Libertatia was established on Saint Mary's Island, originally populated by local Malagasy. The Sakalava and Merina kingdoms in particular exploited European trade to strengthen the power of their kingdoms, trading Malagasy slaves in exchange for European firearms and other goods. By the turn of the 19th century, the highly populous Kingdom of Imerina, located in the central highlands with its capital at Antananarivo, began to exert its authority over the island's other polities and populations. A series of Merina monarchs ruled over the Kingdom of Madagascar throughout the 19th century and engaged in the process of modernization through close diplomatic ties to Britain that led to the establishment of European-style schools, government institutions and infrastructure.
From the 17th century through to the Scramble for Africa
Scramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa or Partition of Africa was a process of invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914...
, the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and French colonial empires
French colonial empires
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
competed for influence in Madagascar. After a brief de facto protectorate period beginning in 1885 the island became a full formal French protectorate
Malagasy Protectorate
The Malagasy Protectorate was a French protectorate in what is now Madagascar. Its status was to protect the Kingdom of Imerina. It ended in 1897 as Madagascar became a French colony....
in 1890, then a colony in 1896, and gained full independence from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1960 in the wake of decolonization
Decolonization
Decolonization refers to the undoing of colonialism, the unequal relation of polities whereby one people or nation establishes and maintains dependent Territory over another...
. Under the leadership of President Philibert Tsiranana, Madagascar's First Republic (1960–1972) was established as a democratic system modeled on that of France. This period was characterized by continued economic and cultural dependence upon France, provoking resentment and sparking popular movements among farmers and students that ultimately ushered in the socialist Second Republic under Admiral Didier Ratsiraka (1975–1992) distinguished by economic isolationism and political alliances with pro-Soviet states. As Madagascar's economy quickly unraveled, standards of living declined dramatically and growing social unrest was increasingly met with violent repression on the part of the Ratsiraka government. Tension over popular dissatisfaction with Ratsiraka's rule was brought to a head when presidential guards were ordered to open fire on unarmed pro-democracy protesters in 1989. By 1992, free and fair multiparty elections were held, ushering in the democratic Third Republic (1992–2009). Under the new constitution, the Malagasy public elected President Albert Zafy, President Didier Ratsiraka, and most recently President Marc Ravalomanana. This latter was ousted in March 2009 by a popular movement under the leadership of Andry Rajoelina, then-mayor of Antananarivo, in what has been widely characterized as a coup d'état. Rajoelina has since ushered in a Fourth Republic and rules Madagascar as the President of the High Transitional Authority without recognition from the international community.
A common austronesian origin : The Vahoaka Ntaolo
Factual information about the peopling of Madagascar remains incomplete. But many recent multidisciplinary researches and works in archaeologyArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
genetic
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
,,), and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
- confirm that Malagasy people is originally and overwhelmingly Austronesian, native of Indonesian archipelago
Sunda Islands
The Sunda Islands are a group of islands that form part of the Malay archipelago.They are further divided into the Greater Sunda Islands and the Lesser Sunda Islands.-Administration:...
. Probably arrived on the west coast of Madagascar with outrigger canoe (waka)
Outrigger canoe
The outrigger canoe is a type of canoe featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull...
at the beginning of our era - or 300 years sooner according to archaeologists, and perhaps even earlier under certain geneticists assumptions - these pioneers are known to the Malagasy oral tradition under the name of Ntaolo (from *tau - *ulu - litt. "man first", of *tau -"man" and *ulu -"head", "first", "origin", "beginning" in proto- Malayo-Polynesian (MP)
Malayo-Polynesian languages
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...
). It is also likely that those ancients called themselves the Vahoaka (from *va-*waka -"people of canoes" or "people of the sea", of * waka-"canoe (outrigger)" in proto-MP
Proto-Polynesian language
Proto-Polynesian, , is the hypothetical proto-language from which all the modern Polynesian languages descend. Historical linguists have reconstructed the language using the comparative method, in much the same manner as with Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Afro-Asiatic...
), today a term meaning simply "people" in Malagasy.
Morphologically / phenotypically, this Southeast Asian origin of the first Malagasy explains, for example regarding the eyes, the epicanthic fold common among all Malagasy whether coastal or highlands, whether pale, dark or copper skinned.
This original people (vahoaka ntaolo in Malagasy) that can be called the "protomalagasy" (from the Greek protos- "first") is the source of:
- the Malagasy language, common to the whole island, which shares the same ancient common basis with the DayakDayak languagesThe term Dayak is used for the languages of the Dayak people; that is, those languages of Borneo apart from varieties of Malay and language of Chinese, Indian, and European origin...
current languages of BaritoBarito languagesThe Barito languages are a score of Dayak languages of Borneo, and most famously Malagasy, the national language of Madagascar. They are named after the Barito River....
in South BorneoSouth KalimantanSouth Kalimantan/South Borneo is one of the thirty-three Provinces of Indonesia and one of four Indonesian provinces in the Indonesian part of Borneo. The provincial capital is Banjarmasin...
, such as ma'anyanMa'anyan languageMa'anyan or Ma'anjan or Maanyak Dayak is an Austronesian language belonging to the East Barito languages. It is spoken by about 150,000 Ma'anyan people living in the central Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is closely related to Malagasy languages spoken in Madagascar...
, and which belongs to the Austronesian tronc, of the Malayo-Polynesian (proto-MPMalayo-Polynesian languagesThe Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...
) branch, and of the BorneanBornean languagesThe Bornean languages are the Austronesian language families indigenous to the island of Borneo, with the exclusion of Ibanic and other Malayic languages....
sub-branch - the Malagasy cultural background, common to all Autronésians of Taiwan, the Pacific Islands, Indonesia, New Zealand, and the Philippines: ancient customs (such as burying the dead within a canoe in the sea or in a lake), former agriculture (the cultivation of taro-saonjo, banana, coconut, and sugar cane), traditional architecture (house plant based on square pilot), music (instruments such as the Antsiva conch, the hazolahy drum, the atranatrana xylophone, sodinaSodinaA Sodina is a woodwind instrument commonly played in Malagasy music and a member of the aerophone family of instruments. Similar in structure and sound to a flute, the sodina is made out of bamboo, lightwood, plastic, or reed and varies in size depending upon the region it is being played...
flute, or the valihaValihaThe valiha is a tube zither from Madagascar made from a species of local bamboo. It is played by plucking the strings, which may be made of metal or the bamboo skin which is pried up in long strands and propped up by small bridges made of pieces of dried gourd...
tube zither), and dance (including the "bird dance" found both in central and southern regions).
As for the cause of the coming of these Austronesians, the history of the Indian Ocean from the early first millennium AD is still poorly understood. One can only assume that the island of Madagascar played an important role in trade, particularly that of spice trade (especially the cinnamon
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...
) and timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
between Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
and Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, directly or through the African coast and Madagascar.
Settlement : the Vazimba and the Vezo
The first concentrated population of human settlers emerged along the southeastern coast of the island, although the first landfall may have been made on the northern coast. Upon arrival, early settlers practiced tavy (swidden, "slash-and-burnSlash and burn
Slash-and-burn is an agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields. It is subsistence agriculture that typically uses little technology or other tools. It is typically part of shifting cultivation agriculture, and of transhumance livestock...
" agriculture) to clear the virgin coastal rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
s for the cultivation of their crops. The first settlers encountered Madagascar's wealth of megafauna, including giant lemurs
Subfossil lemur
Subfossil lemurs are lemurs from Madagascar that are represented by recent remains dating from nearly 26,000 years ago to approximately 560 years ago. They include both living and extinct species, although the term more frequently refers to the extinct giant lemurs...
, elephant bird
Elephant bird
Elephant birds are an extinct family of flightless birds found only on the island of Madagascar and comprising the genera Aepyornis and Mullerornis.-Description:...
s, giant fossa and the Malagasy hippopotamus
Malagasy Hippopotamus
Several species of Malagasy Hippopotamus lived on the island of Madagascar but are now believed to be extinct. The animals were very similar to the extant Hippopotamus and Pygmy Hippopotamus...
, which have since become extinct due to hunting and habitat destruction.
By 600 CE groups of these early settlers had moved inland and began clearing the forests of the central Highlands where they particularly planted taro
Taro
Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...
(saonjo) and probably rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
(vary). These Vahoaka Ntaolo, hunters-gatherers and farmers, who decided to settle "in the forest", especially in the forests of the central highlands are known by the tradition
as the Vazimba
Vazimba
The Vazimba , according to popular belief, were the first inhabitants of Madagascar. While beliefs about the physical appearance of the Vazimba reflect regional variation, they are generally described as smaller in stature than the average person, leading some scientists to speculate that they may...
(from * ba /va- yimba- " those of the forest ", from *yimba -" forest "in proto Southeast Barito, today barimba or orang rimba in Malay). Rafandrana, an ancestor of the Merina
Merina
The Merina are an ethnic group from Madagascar. The Merina are concentrated in the Highlands and speak the official dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in southern Borneo. Their ancestors, the...
royal dynasty, for example, is known to have been a Vazimba. Rafohy
Rafohy
Queen Rafohy was a Vazimba queen who ruled at Alasora in the central Highlands of Madagascar until her death. Her name means "The Short One." She succeeded upon the death of Vazimba Queen Rangita, who by different accounts was either her mother or her adoptive sister...
and Rangita
Rangita
Queen Rangita , also known as Rangitamanjakatrimovavy, was a Vazimba sovereign who ruled at Merimanjaka in the central highlands of Madagascar after her father, King Andrianmpandramanenitra . She was succeeded upon her death by her daughter , Queen Rafohy...
, the two founding queens of the Merina royalty, were also called Vazimbas.
Vezo
The Vezo is the term the semi-nomadic coastal people of southern Madagascar use to refer to people that have become accustomed to live from sea fishing. The Vezo speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages,...
(from *ba/va/ be/ve-jau – "those of the coast", borrowed from Proto-Malayo-Javanese, today veju in Bugis, bejau in Malay, and bajo in Javanese), which today is still the name of a Southwestern tribe.
A point is still debated among the researchers community about the Vazimba : as it is an Austronesian qualifier designating "forest dwellers" in general (including the Austronesians Vahoaka Ntaolo themselves settled in the forests ), it can not be excluded that other hominids vazimba natives like Flores Man, for example, have inhabited the forests of Madagascar dozens-even hundreds-of thousands of years before the arrival of the Austronesians Vahoaka Ntaolo. Some may have even existed at the arrival of these Austronesians in the first millennium BC. This could explain the myth of the "little people/dwarfs primary forest aborigens" that the Vahoaka Ntaolo - ancestor of the majority of present Malagasys - have met (and either integrated or wiped out) when they arrived. The compelling evidence behind this myth is still missing today. Only archeology and genetics can bring. It is, finally, not excluded that the myth of these "little/dwarf men vazimba " was led by the Austronesian from Sunda Islands
Sunda Islands
The Sunda Islands are a group of islands that form part of the Malay archipelago.They are further divided into the Greater Sunda Islands and the Lesser Sunda Islands.-Administration:...
where they lived before, in which case this myth could actually relate to the Flores hominid type or, more probably, the Negrito
Negrito
The Negrito are a class of several ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia.Their current populations include 12 Andamanese peoples of the Andaman Islands, six Semang peoples of Malaysia, the Mani of Thailand, and the Aeta, Agta, Ati, and 30 other peoples of the Philippines....
s (Orang Asli
Orang Asli
Orang Asli , is a generic Malaysian term used for people indigenous to Peninsular Malaysia...
in Malay). The latter have in fact lived in the forests of the Sunda Islands before before the arrival of Austronesians and are there considered to be the aboriginal peoples. We know, for example, that the malagasy myth of the ogre Trimo be – "eater of children" is a story brought by the Austronesians and in fact is about the tiger (from * (t) rimau, "tiger" in proto-MP) who lives in the forests of the Sunda Islands. The myth of the "dwarfs" vazimba could have been brought in a similar trip.
After the arrival of the Middle Age newcommers (see below), as growing population density necessitated higher crop yields, irrigated rice paddies emerged in Betsileo
Betsileo
The Betsileo are a highland ethnic group of Madagascar, the third largest in terms of population, numbering around 1.5 million and making up about 12.1 percent of the population. Their name means "The Many Invincible Ones" which they chose for themselves after the failed invasion of Ramitraho...
country by 1600 and were complemented with terraced paddies throughout Imerina a century later. Zebu
Zebu
Zebu , sometimes known as humped cattle, indicus cattle, Cebu or Brahmin cattle are a type of domestic cattle originating in South Asia, particularly the Indian subcontinent. They are characterised by a fatty hump on their shoulders, drooping ears and a large dewlap...
were introduced around 1000 CE by Bantu
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages constitute a traditional sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages. There are about 250 Bantu languages by the criterion of mutual intelligibility, though the distinction between language and dialect is often unclear, and Ethnologue counts 535 languages...
-speaking East African migrants (see below) who maintained large herds. The rising intensity of land cultivation and the ever-increasing demand for zebu pasturage in the central highlands had largely transformed the region from a forest ecosystem to barren grassland by the 17th century.
Early history (ca 700-1500) : traders and explorers visits, new immigrations and birth of neo-Vezo and Neo-Vazimba clans
By the mid-first millennium (ca 700) until about 1500, the inner Vazimbas as much as the coastal Vezos clans welcome new visitors and/or immigrants. These goods and/or slave traders from the Middle East (Shirazi Persians, Omanites Arabs, Arabized Jews accompanied with East-Africans Bantus), and from Asia (Gujarat Indians, Malays, Javanese, Bugis) were sometimes integrated within the coastal Vezos and the inner Vazimbas clansOmani Arabs and Shirazi Persians (from the 7th century)
The written history of Madagascar begins in the 7th century when Omani ArabArab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s and Shirazi Persians
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
established trading posts along the northwest coast and introduced Islam, the Arabic script (used to transcribe the Malagasy language in a form of writing known as sorabe
Sorabe
Sorabe, or Sora-be, is an alphabet based on Arabic used to transcribe the Malagasy language and the Antemoro Malagasy dialect in particular dating from the 15th century ....
), Arab astrology and other cultural elements. During this early period, Madagascar served as an important transoceanic trading port for the east African coast that gave Africa a trade route to the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
and served simultaneously as a port for incoming ships.
According to the traditions of some Malagasy peoples, the first Bantus and Arabs to settle in Madagascar came as refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
s from the civil wars
Succession to Muhammad
The Succession to Muhammad concerns the various aspects of successorship of Muhammad after his death, comprising who might be considered as his successor to lead the Muslims, how that person should be elected, the conditions of legitimacy, and the role of successor...
that followed the death of Mohammed in 632.
Beginning in the tenth or eleventh century, Arabic and Zanzibari slave-traders worked their way down the east coast of Africa in their dhow
Dhow
Dhow is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with lateen sails used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Some historians believe the dhow was invented by Arabs but this is disputed by some others. Dhows typically weigh 300 to 500 tons, and have a...
s and established settlements on the west coast of Madagascar. Notably they included the Zafiraminia, traditional ancestors of the Antemoro, Antanosy and other east-coast ethnicities. The last wave of Arab immigrants, the Antalaotra, immigrated from eastern African colonies. They settled the north-west of the island (Majunga area) and introduced, for the first time, Islam to Madagascar
Islam in Madagascar
Islam has been well-established in what is now known as Madagascar for centuries and today Muslims represent 7 percent of the population. Muslims mainly consist of Sunni Muslims.-Settlement of Arabs:...
.
Arab immigrants, though few in number compared to the native Austronesians and Bantus, nevertheless left a lasting impression. The Malagasy names for seasons, months, days, and coins in certain regions come from Arabic origins, as do cultural features such as the practice of circumcision
Circumcision
Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....
, the communal grain-pool, and different forms of salutation (such as "salama"-"hello" in malagasy).
Neo-Austronesians : Malays, Javanese, BugisBugisThe Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...
, and Orang LautOrang LautThe Orang Laut, or Bajau Laut are a group of Malay people living in the Riau Islands of Indonesia. It also may refer to any Malay origin people living on coastal islands, including those of Andaman Sea islands in Thailand and Burma, commonly known as Moken.-Etymology:The Malay term orang laut...
(from the 8th century)
According to oral tradition, new Austronesian clans (Malays, Javanese, BugisBugis
The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...
, and Orang Laut
Orang Laut
The Orang Laut, or Bajau Laut are a group of Malay people living in the Riau Islands of Indonesia. It also may refer to any Malay origin people living on coastal islands, including those of Andaman Sea islands in Thailand and Burma, commonly known as Moken.-Etymology:The Malay term orang laut...
), historically and globally - regardless of their native island- referred to as the Hova (of uwa-"commoner", in old Bugis]), have landed in the North West and East coast of the island. Linguists observations about Old Malay (sanscritised), Old Javanese (sanscritised) and Old Bugi borrowings in the initial proto-SEB languages, point out that the first hova vawes came probably in the eighth century at the earliest.
These Hova were probably derived from Indonesian thalassocracies. Their leaders, known as the diana in the Southeast, andriana
Andriana
Andriana is a title of nobility in Madagascar and often traditionally formed part of the names of noblemen, princes and kings. Historically, many Malagasy ethnic groups lived in highly stratified caste-based social orders in which the andriana were the political and/or spiritual leaders...
or raondriana in the center and the West
(from (ra)-hadi-an -"lord" or "master" in Old Javanese, today raden in Java, also found in the Bugis nobility title andi), had for the most part, allied with vazimba clans
- (1) In the Northwest area of the current Ankoala (from kuala-"Estuary" in malay / indonesian) where the Hova Orang Laut (Antalaotra in Malagasy) had probably established their base for their Indian Ocean operations.
- (2) On the East Coast (Betsimisaraka) where the Hova leaders were also calledFilo (ha) be by the "neo-Vezo" clans.
- (3) In the Southeast where the leaders ("Diana") of the Zafiraminia and Zafikazimambo clans allied with the "neo-Vezo" and founded the later Antaisaka Antaimoro AntambahoakaAntambahoakaThe Antambahoaka are the least numerous ethnic group in Madagascar. They inhabit a small region along the southeastern coast of Madagascar near Mananjary and share their origins with the partially Arab Antaimoro people....
, kingdoms.. - (4) In the West: the dynasty Maroserana (na) who founded the kingdom SakalavaSakalavaThe Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar numbering approximately 700,000 in population. Their name means "people of the long valleys." They occupy the Western edge of the island from Toliara in the south to Sambirano in the north. The Sakalava denominate a number of smaller ethnic groups...
is itself a result of Zafiraminia East Coast. - (5) In the Centre where repeated alliances among the Hova leaders (the andriana) (such as Andrianerinerina, Andriantomara and their descendants) with the chiefs of vazimba clans (such Rafandrana and his descendants) led to the United MerinaMerinaThe Merina are an ethnic group from Madagascar. The Merina are concentrated in the Highlands and speak the official dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in southern Borneo. Their ancestors, the...
and BetsileoBetsileoThe Betsileo are a highland ethnic group of Madagascar, the third largest in terms of population, numbering around 1.5 million and making up about 12.1 percent of the population. Their name means "The Many Invincible Ones" which they chose for themselves after the failed invasion of Ramitraho...
kingdoms.
With the arrival of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, in fact, Persians and Arabs traders quickly supplant the Indonesian coast of Africa and eventually extend their control over the islands Comoros
Comoro Islands
The Comoros Islands form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the south-east coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and north-west of Madagascar. They are divided between the sovereign state of Comoros and the French overseas department of Mayotte...
and parts coast of Madagascar. Meanwhile, competition in the new joint Chinese naval powers (Song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
) and South Indian (Chola), the thalassocracy
Thalassocracy
The term thalassocracy refers to a state with primarily maritime realms—an empire at sea, such as Athens or the Phoenician network of merchant cities...
s in Indonesia are in rapid decline, although the Portuguese are still Javanese sailors in Madagascar when they deal with the .
East-Africans (from the 9th century)
The mixing with the East Africans agro-pastoralists brought by the Persians, Arabs and Neo-austronesians slave-traders in the Middle Ages explains the many (proto-)SwahiliSwahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
substratum
Substratum
In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which has lower power or prestige than another, while a superstratum is the language that has higher power or prestige. Both substratum and superstratum...
in the initial proto-SEB malagasy language. This substratum is especially significantly present in the domestic and agricultural vocabulary (eg the beef omby or aombe of Swahili Ngumbe, the onion tongolo of Swahili kitunguu, the Malagasy pot Nongo from nunggu in Swahili)
Europeans (from 1500)
European contact began in 1500, when the PortuguesePortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
sea captain Diogo Dias
Diogo Dias
Diogo Dias, also known as Diogo Gomes, was a 15th-century Portuguese explorer. He was the brother of Bartolomeu Dias and discovered some of the Cape Verde islands together with António Noli....
sighted the island after his ship separated from a fleet going to India. The Portuguese continued trading with the islanders and named the island São Lourenço (St. Lawrence). In 1666, François Caron
François Caron
François Caron was a French Huguenot refugee to the Netherlands who served the Dutch East India Company for 30 years, rising from cabin boy to Director-General at Batavia , only one grade below Governor-General...
, the director general of the newly formed French East India Company
French East India Company
The French East India Company was a commercial enterprise, founded in 1664 to compete with the British and Dutch East India companies in colonial India....
, sailed to Madagascar. The company failed to establish a colony on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Ile-de-France (today's Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
and Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
). In the late 17th century, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
established trading posts along the east coast. On Nosy Boraha, a small island off the northeastern coast of Madagascar, Captain Misson and his pirate crew allegedly founded the famous pirate utopia
Pirate utopia
Pirate utopias were described by anarchist writer Peter Lamborn Wilson in his 1995 book Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes as secret islands once used for supply purposes by pirates...
of Libertalia in the late 17th century. From about 1774 to 1824, Madagascar was a favorite haunt for pirates. Many European sailors were shipwrecked on the coasts of the island, among them Robert Drury
Robert Drury (sailor)
Robert Drury was an English sailor on the Degrave who was shipwrecked at the age of 17 on the island of Madagascar. He would be trapped there for fifteen years. Upon returning to England a book allegedly recounting his memoirs would be published in his name in 1729...
, whose journal is one of the few written depictions of life in southern Madagascar during the 18th century. Sailors sometimes called Madagascar "Island of the Moon".
European settlements
By the fifteenth century Europeans had wrested control of the spice-tradeSpice trade
Civilizations of Asia were involved in spice trade from the ancient times, and the Greco-Roman world soon followed by trading along the Incense route and the Roman-India routes...
from the Muslims. They did this by bypassing the Middle East and sending their cargo-ships around the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
to India. The Portuguese mariner Diego Dias became the first European to set foot on Madagascar when his ship, bound for India, blew off course in 1500. In the ensuing two-hundred years, the English and French tried (and failed) to establish settlements on the island.
Fever, dysentery, hostile Malagasy, and the trying arid climate of southern Madagascar soon terminated the English settlement near Toliary
Toliara
-References:...
(Tuléar) in 1646. Another English settlement in the north in Nosy Bé
Nosy Be
Nosy Be is an island located off the northwest coast of Madagascar. Nosy Be is Madagascar's largest and busiest tourist resort. It has an area of 312 km2 and its population was officially estimated at 36,636 in 2001....
came to an end in 1649. The French colony at Taolañaro
Tôlanaro
Tôlanaro or Tolagnaro is a city in Madagascar. It is the capital of Anosy Region and of Tôlanaro District. It has a port of local importance, and a new port has been built at Ehoala...
(Fort Dauphin) fared a little better: it lasted thirty years. On Christmas night 1672, local Antanosy tribesmen, perhaps angry because fourteen French soldiers in the fort had recently divorced their Malagasy wives to marry fourteen French orphan-women sent out to the colony, massacred the fourteen grooms and thirteen of the fourteen brides. The Antanosy then besieged the stockade at Taolañaro for eighteen months. A ship of the French East India Company rescued the surviving thirty men and one widow in 1674.
In 1665, François Caron
François Caron
François Caron was a French Huguenot refugee to the Netherlands who served the Dutch East India Company for 30 years, rising from cabin boy to Director-General at Batavia , only one grade below Governor-General...
, the Director General of the newly formed French East India Company
French East India Company
The French East India Company was a commercial enterprise, founded in 1664 to compete with the British and Dutch East India companies in colonial India....
, sailed to Madagascar. The Company failed to found a colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
on Madagascar but established ports on the nearby islands of Bourbon and Île-de-France (today's Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
and Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
respectively). In the late 17th century, the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
established trading-posts along the east coast.
Pirates and slave-traders
Between 1680 and 1725, Madagascar became a pirate stronghold. Many unfortunate sailors became shipwrecked and stranded on the island. Those who survived settled down with the natives, or more often, found French or English colonies on the island or even pirate havens and thus became pirates themselves. One such case, that of Robert DruryRobert Drury (sailor)
Robert Drury was an English sailor on the Degrave who was shipwrecked at the age of 17 on the island of Madagascar. He would be trapped there for fifteen years. Upon returning to England a book allegedly recounting his memoirs would be published in his name in 1729...
,
resulted in a journal giving one of the few written depictions of southern Madagascar in the 18th century.
Pirate luminaries such as William Kidd, Henry Every
Henry Every
Henry Every, also Avery or Avary, , sometimes given as John Avery, was an English pirate who operated in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans in the mid-1690s. He likely used several aliases throughout his career, including Benjamin Bridgeman, and was known as Long Ben to his crewmen and associates...
, John Bowen
John Bowen (pirate)
John Bowen was a pirate of Créole origin active during the Golden Age of Piracy. He sailed with other famous contemporaries, including Nathaniel North and George Booth, who was his captain when he served under him as a crewman aboard the Speaker...
, and Thomas Tew
Thomas Tew
Thomas Tew , also known as the Rhode Island Pirate, was a 17th century English privateer-turned-pirate. Although he embarked on only two major piratical voyages, and met a bloody death on the latter journey, Tew pioneered the route which became known as the Pirate Round. Many other famous pirates,...
made Antongil Bay and Nosy Boraha (St. Mary’s Island)
Île Sainte-Marie
Île Sainte-Marie, known as Nosy Boraha , is an island off the east coast of Madagascar. The main town is Ambodifotatra. The city covers an area of 222 km2, and had a population estimated at 16,325 in 2001.- City :...
(a small island 12 miles off the north-east coast of Madagascar) their bases of operations. The pirates plundered merchant ships in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
, the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
, and the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. They deprived Europe-bound ships of their silks, cloth, spices, and jewels. Vessels captured going in the opposite direction (to India) lost their coin, gold, and silver. The pirates robbed the Indian cargo ships that traded between ports in the Indian Ocean as well as ships commissioned by the East India Companies
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
of France, England, and the Netherlands. The pilgrim fleet sailing between Surat in India and Mocha on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula provided a favorite target, because the wealthy Muslim pilgrims often carried jewels and other finery with them to Mecca. Merchants in India, various ports of Africa, and Réunion Island showed willingness to fence
Fence (criminal)
A fence is an individual who knowingly buys stolen property for later resale, sometimes in a legitimate market. The fence thus acts as a middleman between thieves and the eventual buyers of stolen goods who may or may not be aware that the goods are stolen. As a verb, the word describes the...
the pirates' stolen goods. The low-paid seamen who manned merchant ships in the Indian Ocean hardly put up a fight, seeing as they had little reason or motivation to risk their lives. The pirates often recruited crewmen from the ships they plundered.
With regard to piracy in Malagasy waters, note the (semi-)legendary accounts of the alleged pirate-state of Libertalia.
Prior to the arrival of the Europeans, certain Malagasy tribes occasionally waged wars to capture and enslave prisoners. They either sold the slaves to Arab traders or kept them on-hand as laborers. Following the arrival of European slavers, human slaves became more valuable, and the coastal tribes of Madagascar took to warring with each other to obtain prisoners for the lucrative slave-trade. Instead of spears and cutlasses, the tribesmen fought with muskets, musket-balls, and gunpowder that they obtained from the Europeans, conducting fierce and brutal wars. On account of their relationship to the pirates on Nosy Boraha, the Betsimisaraka in eastern Madagascar had more firearms than anyone else. They overpowered their neighbors the Antakarana and Tsimihety
Tsimihety
The Tsimihety are a Malagasy ethnic group located near the north-central coast of Madagascar. Their name means "those who do not cut their hair," in reference to their refusal to adhere to the customs imposed by the rule of Merina King Radama I., numbering around one million The Tsimihety are a...
and even raided the Comoros Islands. As the tribe on the west coast with the most connections to the slave-trade, the Sakalava
Sakalava
The Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar numbering approximately 700,000 in population. Their name means "people of the long valleys." They occupy the Western edge of the island from Toliara in the south to Sambirano in the north. The Sakalava denominate a number of smaller ethnic groups...
also had access to guns and powder. They subdued the other tribes on the west coast. Tribal chiefs who failed to capture prisoners for the slave-trade sometimes did the previously unthinkable -— they sold their own people into slavery.
Today, the people of Madagascar can be considered as the product of mixing between the first occupants, the vahoaka ntaolo Austronesians (Vazimbaand Vezo) and those arrived later (Hova neo-Austronesians, Persians, Arabs, Africans and Europeans).
Genotypically
Genotype
The genotype is the genetic makeup of a cell, an organism, or an individual usually with reference to a specific character under consideration...
, the original Austronesian heritage is more or less evenly distributed throughout the island. Researchers have noticed the "Polynesian motif" everywhere: an old marker of Austronesian populations from before the great immigration to the islands of Polynesia and Melanesia. This fact would require a starting common home among the proto malagasy vahoaka ntaolo (gone west to Madagascar) and the ancestors of the current Polynesians (left for the Pacific Islands in the East) between 500 BC – 0.
phenotypically
Phenotype
A phenotype is an organism's observable characteristics or traits: such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, behavior, and products of behavior...
, it is among the malagasy populations of the highlands (Merina, Betsileo, Bezanozano, Sihanaka), more endogamous
Endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such basis as being unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. A Greek Orthodox Christian endogamist, for example, would require that a marriage be only with another...
, that the / # Asian_people Physical_features Austronesian Sundadont Mongoloid phenotype is more significant. One can also note some Australoid' and Negrito phenotype everywhere (including in the highlands). Unlike the East African Bantu phenotype, the Austronesian "Negrito" phenotype is characterized by its small size.
The feudal era (1500 - 1895): the rise of the great kingdoms
Those new immigrants of the middle age were a minority in numbers, yet their cultural contributions, political and technological to the neo-Vazimba and neo-Vezo world substantially altered their society and is the cause of the major upheavals of the sixteenth that led to the malagasy feudal era.On the coasts, the integration of the Orientals, Middle Easterns, East Africans (Bantus) and Europeans (Portuguese) gave birth to Antakarana Boina
Boina Kingdom
The Kingdom of Boina was a traditional state situated in what is now Madagascar.The Kingdom was founded ca. 1690 by King Andriamandisoarivo. It was centered around Boina Bay in north-west Madagascar. Some time after 1832 it was occupied by Imerina and was annexed by Madagascar in 1840...
Menabe
Menabe
Menabe is a region in western Madagascar. It is named for the 18th century Sakalava kingdom of Menabe. The capital is Morondava.-History:Menabe is the southern part of the Sakalava territory. Tradition holds that it was founded by Adriamandazoala . Its territory was increased under the legendary...
and Vezo
Vezo
The Vezo is the term the semi-nomadic coastal people of southern Madagascar use to refer to people that have become accustomed to live from sea fishing. The Vezo speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages,...
(West Coast), Mahafaly
Mahafaly
The Mahafaly are an ethnic group of Madagascar that inhabit the plains of the Betioky-Ampamihy area. Their name means either "those who make taboos" or "those who make happy", although the former is considered more likely by linguists...
and Antandroy
Antandroy
The Antandroy are a traditionally nomadic ethnic group of Madagascar inhabiting the arid southern part of the island called Androy roughly located between Amboasary and Beloha and between the ocean and Bekily. Their name means "people of the thorns" in reference to the spiny thickets of endemic...
(South), Antesaka Antambahoaka
Antambahoaka
The Antambahoaka are the least numerous ethnic group in Madagascar. They inhabit a small region along the southeastern coast of Madagascar near Mananjary and share their origins with the partially Arab Antaimoro people....
Antemoro Antanala
Tanala
The Tanala are a Malagasy ethnic group that inhabit a forested region of south-east Madagascar. Their name means "people of the forest." The Tanala speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in...
Betsimisaraka (East Coast) kingdoms/tribes .
In the interior, the struggle for hegemony between the different Neo-Vazimba clans of central highlands (called the Hova by the coastal Neo-Vezo clans) led to the birth of the Merina
Merina
The Merina are an ethnic group from Madagascar. The Merina are concentrated in the Highlands and speak the official dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in southern Borneo. Their ancestors, the...
Betsileo
Betsileo
The Betsileo are a highland ethnic group of Madagascar, the third largest in terms of population, numbering around 1.5 million and making up about 12.1 percent of the population. Their name means "The Many Invincible Ones" which they chose for themselves after the failed invasion of Ramitraho...
Bezanozano
Bezanozano
The Bezanozano are believed to be one of the earliest Malagasy ethnic groups to establish themselves in Madagascar, where they inhabit an inland area between the Betsimisaraka lowlands and the Merina highlands...
Sihanaka
Sihanaka
The Sihanaka are an ethnic group in Madagascar concentrated around Lake Alaotra and the town of Ambatondrazaka. Their name means the "people of the swamps" in reference to the marshlands around Lake Alaotra that they inhabit...
Tsimihety
Tsimihety
The Tsimihety are a Malagasy ethnic group located near the north-central coast of Madagascar. Their name means "those who do not cut their hair," in reference to their refusal to adhere to the customs imposed by the rule of Merina King Radama I., numbering around one million The Tsimihety are a...
and Bara
Bara people
The Bara people are a Malagasy ethnic group living in the southern part of the central plateaus of Madagascar, in the Toliara Province, especially in the Ihosy-Betroka area. They are estimated to account for 3% of the overall malagasy population. Along with Sakalava, Bara are one of the two...
kingdoms/tribes.
The birth of these kingdoms/tribes essentially altered the political structure of the ancient world of the Vahoaka Ntaolo, but the vast majority of other categories remained intact in these new realms: the common language, customs, traditions, the sacred, the economy, the art of the olds remained preserved in the vast majority of forms with variations by region.
Among the Central Kingdoms, the most important were in the south, the Betsileo
Betsileo
The Betsileo are a highland ethnic group of Madagascar, the third largest in terms of population, numbering around 1.5 million and making up about 12.1 percent of the population. Their name means "The Many Invincible Ones" which they chose for themselves after the failed invasion of Ramitraho...
kingdom and to the north, the Merina
Merina
The Merina are an ethnic group from Madagascar. The Merina are concentrated in the Highlands and speak the official dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in southern Borneo. Their ancestors, the...
kingdom. These were definitely unified in the early nineteenth century by Andrianampoinimerina
Andrianampoinimerina
Ruling between 1787–1810, Andrianampoinimerina , born Ramboasalama or Ramboasalamarazaka at Ambohimanga around 1745 , initiated the unification of Madagascar under Merina rule and is considered one of the greatest military and political...
. Then, his son and successor Radama I (reigning 1810–1828) opened his country to European influence exerted mainly by the British. With their support, he extends its authority over much of the island. Thus, starting from 1817, the central Merina kingdoms, betsileo, Bezanozano, and Sihanaka, unified by Radama I get to the outside world, the Kingdom of Madagascar.
The Sakalava
The island's West clan chiefs began to extend their power through trade with their Indian Ocean neighbors, first with Arab, PersianPersian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
and Somali
Somali people
Somalis are an ethnic group located in the Horn of Africa, also known as the Somali Peninsula. The overwhelming majority of Somalis speak the Somali language, which is part of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family...
traders who connected Madagascar with East Africa, the Middle East and India, and later with European slave traders. The wealth created in Madagascar through trade created a state system ruled by powerful regional monarchs known as the Maroserana. These monarchs adopted the cultural traditions of subjects in their territories and expanded their kingdoms. They took on divine status, and new nobility and artisan classes were created. Madagascar functioned as a contact port for the other Swahili seaport city-states such as Sofala
Sofala
Sofala, at present known as Nova Sofala, used to be the chief seaport of the Monomotapa Kingdom, whose capital was at Mount Fura. It is located on the Sofala Bank in Sofala Province of Mozambique.-History:...
, Kilwa
Kilwa Kisiwani
Kilwa Kisiwani is a community on an island off the coast of East Africa, in present day Tanzania.- History :A document written around AD 1200 called al-Maqama al Kilwiyya discovered in Oman, gives details of a mission to reconvert Kilwa to Ibadism, as it had recently been effected by the Ghurabiyya...
, Mombasa
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
and Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
. By the Middle Ages, large chiefdom
Chiefdom
A chiefdom is a political economy that organizes regional populations through a hierarchy of the chief.In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band...
s began to dominate considerable areas of the island. Among these were the Betsimisaraka alliance of the eastern coast and the Sakalava
Sakalava
The Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar numbering approximately 700,000 in population. Their name means "people of the long valleys." They occupy the Western edge of the island from Toliara in the south to Sambirano in the north. The Sakalava denominate a number of smaller ethnic groups...
chiefdoms of the Menabe
Menabe
Menabe is a region in western Madagascar. It is named for the 18th century Sakalava kingdom of Menabe. The capital is Morondava.-History:Menabe is the southern part of the Sakalava territory. Tradition holds that it was founded by Adriamandazoala . Its territory was increased under the legendary...
(centered in what is now the town of Morondava
Morondava
Morondava is a city located in Menabe Region, of which it is the capital, in Madagascar. It is located in the delta of the Morandava River at .-Communication:...
) and of Boina
Boina Kingdom
The Kingdom of Boina was a traditional state situated in what is now Madagascar.The Kingdom was founded ca. 1690 by King Andriamandisoarivo. It was centered around Boina Bay in north-west Madagascar. Some time after 1832 it was occupied by Imerina and was annexed by Madagascar in 1840...
(centered in what is now the provincial capital of Mahajanga
Mahajanga
Mahajanga is a city and a district on the north-west coast of Madagascar.- City :The City of Mahajanga is the capital of the Boeny region. Population: 135,660 ....
). The influence of the Sakalava extended across what are now the provinces of Antsiranana
Antsiranana
Antsiranana , named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975, is a city at the northern tip of Madagascar.Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region.-Transports:...
, Mahajanga
Mahajanga
Mahajanga is a city and a district on the north-west coast of Madagascar.- City :The City of Mahajanga is the capital of the Boeny region. Population: 135,660 ....
and Toliara
Toliara
-References:...
.
The island's chiefs began to extend their power through trade with their Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
neighbours, notably East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Large chiefdoms began to dominate considerable areas of the island. Among these were the Sakalava
Sakalava
The Sakalava are an ethnic group of Madagascar numbering approximately 700,000 in population. Their name means "people of the long valleys." They occupy the Western edge of the island from Toliara in the south to Sambirano in the north. The Sakalava denominate a number of smaller ethnic groups...
chiefdoms of the Menabe
Menabe
Menabe is a region in western Madagascar. It is named for the 18th century Sakalava kingdom of Menabe. The capital is Morondava.-History:Menabe is the southern part of the Sakalava territory. Tradition holds that it was founded by Adriamandazoala . Its territory was increased under the legendary...
, centred in what is now the town of Morondava
Morondava
Morondava is a city located in Menabe Region, of which it is the capital, in Madagascar. It is located in the delta of the Morandava River at .-Communication:...
, and of Boina
Boina Kingdom
The Kingdom of Boina was a traditional state situated in what is now Madagascar.The Kingdom was founded ca. 1690 by King Andriamandisoarivo. It was centered around Boina Bay in north-west Madagascar. Some time after 1832 it was occupied by Imerina and was annexed by Madagascar in 1840...
, centered in what is now the provincial capital of Mahajanga
Mahajanga
Mahajanga is a city and a district on the north-west coast of Madagascar.- City :The City of Mahajanga is the capital of the Boeny region. Population: 135,660 ....
(Majunga). The influence of the Sakalava extended across what are now the provinces of Antsiranana
Antsiranana
Antsiranana , named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975, is a city at the northern tip of Madagascar.Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region.-Transports:...
, Mahajanga and Toliara.
According to local tradition, the founders of the Sakalava kingdom were Maroseraña (or Maroseranana, "those who owned many ports") princes, from the Fiherenana (now Toliara
Toliara
-References:...
). They quickly subdued the neighbouring princes, starting with the southern ones, in the Mahafaly area. The true founder of Sakalava dominance was Andriamisara; his son Andriandahifotsy (c1610-1658) then extended his authority northwards, past the Mangoky River
Mangoky River
The Mangoky River is a 564-kilometer-long river in Madagascar. It rises in the Central Highlands of Madagascar just east of the city of Fianarantsoa...
. His two sons, Andriamanetiarivo and Andriamandisoarivo, extended gains further up to the Tsongay region (now Mahajanga). At about that time, the empire's unity starts to split, resulting in a southern kingdom (Menabe) and a northern kingdom (Boina). Further splits resulted, despite continued extension of the Boina princes' reach into the extreme north, in Antankarana country.
The Sakalava rulers of this period are known through the memoirs of Europeans such as Robert Drury
Robert Drury (sailor)
Robert Drury was an English sailor on the Degrave who was shipwrecked at the age of 17 on the island of Madagascar. He would be trapped there for fifteen years. Upon returning to England a book allegedly recounting his memoirs would be published in his name in 1729...
, James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
, Barnvelt (1719), Valentyn (1726).
The Merina monarchy
King AndrianampoinimerinaAndrianampoinimerina
Ruling between 1787–1810, Andrianampoinimerina , born Ramboasalama or Ramboasalamarazaka at Ambohimanga around 1745 , initiated the unification of Madagascar under Merina rule and is considered one of the greatest military and political...
(1785–1810) and his son, Radama I (1810–1828) succeeded in uniting nearly all of Madagascar under Merina
Merina
The Merina are an ethnic group from Madagascar. The Merina are concentrated in the Highlands and speak the official dialect of the Malagasy language, which is a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language group derived from the Barito languages, spoken in southern Borneo. Their ancestors, the...
rule. These kings and their successors descended from a line of ancient Merina royalty who ruled the lands of Imerina in the central Highlands of Madagascar since at least the 16th century. Even prior to their eventual domination and unification of the entire island, the political and cultural activities of Merina royalty were to leave an indelible mark on contemporary Malagasy identity.
With the establishment of dominion over the greater part of the Highlands, Andrianampoinimerina became the first Merina monarch to be considered a king of Madagascar. The island continued to be ruled by a succession of Merina monarchs until the last of them, Ranavalona III, was deposed and exiled to Algeria by French forces who conquered and colonized the island in 1895. The monarchs of a united Madagascar are listed below.
King Andrianampoinimerina
Andrianampoinimerina, grandson of King AndriambelomasinaAndriambelomasina
Andriambelomasina , born Rakotomavo , also known as Andriana-velona-masina and Andriamaheritsialainolotany was a Merina King of Imerina Avaradrano, the northern part of the central highlands of Madagascar...
and successor to his uncle King Andrianjafy
Andrianjafy
King Andrianjafy also known as Andrianjafinandriamanitra and Andrianjafinjanahary, was the king of Imerina Avaradrano, the northern part of the central highlands of Madagascar with its capital at Ambohimanga....
, successfully reunited the fragmented Merina kingdom through a combination of diplomacy, strategic political marriages and successful military campaigns against rival princes. Andrianampoinimerina distinguished himself from other kings by codifying laws and supervising the building of dikes and trenches to increase the amount of arable land around his capital at Antananarivo in a successful bid to end the famines that had wracked Imerina for decades. The king ambitiously proclaimed: Ny ranomasina no valapariako (“the sea is the boundary of my rice-field”), and by the time of his death in 1810 he had conquered the Bara and Betsileo highland tribes, laying the groundwork for expansion of his kingdom to the shores of the island.
King Radama I (1810–1828)
Andrianampoinimerina's son Radama I (Radama the Great) assumed the throne during a turning-point in European history that had repercussions for Madagascar. With the defeat of NapoléonNapoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
in 1814/1815, the balance of power in Europe and in the European colonies shifted in Britain's favor. The British, eager to exert control over the trade routes of the Indian Ocean, had captured the islands of Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
and Mauritius
Mauritius
Mauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar...
from the French in 1810. Although they returned Réunion to France, they kept Mauritius as a base for expanding the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. Mauritius’s governor, to woo Madagascar from French control, recognized Radama I as King of Madagascar, a diplomatic maneuver meant to underscore the idea of the sovereignty of the island and thus to preclude claims by any European powers.
Radama I signed treaties with the United Kingdom outlawing the slave trade and admitting Protestant missionaries into Madagascar. On the face of it, the terms of these treaties seem innocuous enough, but Protestant missionaries would spread British influence; and outlawing the slave trade would weaken Réunion's economy by depriving that island of slave laborers for France's sugar plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
s. In return for outlawing the slave trade, Madagascar received what the treaty called "The Equivalent": an annual sum of a thousand dollars in gold, another thousand in silver, stated amounts of gunpowder, flints, and muskets, plus 400 surplus British Army uniforms. The governor of Mauritius also sent military advisers who accompanied and sometimes led Merina soldiers in their battles against the Sakalava and Betsimisaraka. In 1824, having defeated the Betsimisaraka, Radama I declared, “Today, the whole island is mine! Madagascar has but one master.” The king died in 1828 while leading his army on a punitive expedition against the Betsimisaraka.
Queen Ranavalona I (1828–1861)
The 33-year reign of Queen Ranavalona IRanavalona I
Ranavalona I , also known as Ranavalo-Manjaka I, was a sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861...
, the widow of Radama I, was characterized by a struggle to preserve the cultural and political sovereignty of Madagascar from French and English colonial designs. The queen repudiated the treaties that Radama I had signed with Britain and in 1835 after issuing a royal edict prohibiting the practice of Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in Madagascar, she expelled British missionaries from the island and began persecuting Christian converts who would not renounce their religion. Malagasy Christians would remember this period as ny tany maizina, or "the time when the land was dark".
Unbeknownst to the queen, her son and heir, the crown-prince (the future Radama II
Radama II of Madagascar
Radama II was the son and heir of Queen Ranavalona I and ruled from 1861 to 1863 over the Kingdom of Madagascar, which controlled virtually the entire island. Radama's rule, although brief, was a pivotal period in the history of the Kingdom of Madagascar...
), attended Roman Catholic masses in secret. The young man grew up under the influence of French nationals in Antananarivo. In 1854, he wrote a letter to Napoléon III
Napoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...
inviting France to invade and uplift Madagascar. On June 28, 1855 he signed the Lambert Charter. This document gave Joseph-François Lambert, an enterprising French businessman who had arrived in Madagascar only three weeks before, the exclusive right to develop all minerals, forests, and unoccupied land in Madagascar in exchange for a 10-percent royalty payable to the Merina monarchy. In years to come, the French would show the Lambert Charter and the prince’s letter to Napoléon III to explain the Franco-Hova Wars and the annexation of Madagascar as a colony. In 1857, the queen uncovered a plot by her son (the future Radama II) and French nationals in the capital to remove her from power. She immediately expelled all foreigners from Madagascar, sparing her son. Ranavalona died in 1861.
King Radama II (1861–1863)
In his brief two years on the throne, King Radama IIRadama II of Madagascar
Radama II was the son and heir of Queen Ranavalona I and ruled from 1861 to 1863 over the Kingdom of Madagascar, which controlled virtually the entire island. Radama's rule, although brief, was a pivotal period in the history of the Kingdom of Madagascar...
re-opened trade with Mauritius and Réunion, invited Christian missionaries and foreigners to return to Madagascar, and re-instated most of Radama I’s reforms. His liberal policies angered the aristocracy, however, and Rainivoninahitriniony
Rainivoninahitriniony
Rainivoninahitriniony , also called Raharo, was Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Madagascar between 1852 and 1865. He was the chief engineer of the Aristocratic Revolution initialized upon the attempted assassination of King Radama II...
, the prime minister, engineered a coup d’état which resulted in the King's death by strangling.
Queen Rasoherina (1863–1868)
A council of princes headed by RainilaiarivonyRainilaiarivony
Rainilaiarivony was the Prime Minister of Madagascar from 1864 to 1895, following his older brother Rainivoninahitriniony who had held the post for thirteen years prior...
approached Rabodo, the widow of Radama II, the day after the death of her husband. They gave her the conditions under which she could succeed to the throne. These conditions included the suppression of trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal
Trial by ordeal is a judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused is determined by subjecting them to an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience...
as well as the monarchy's defense of freedom of religion
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
. Rabodo, crowned queen on May 13, 1863 under the throne name of Rasoherina
Rasoherina of Madagascar
Rasoherina was Queen of Madagascar from 1863 to 1868, succeeding her husband Radama II following his presumed assassination.-Early years:...
, reigned until her death on April 1, 1868.
The Malagasy people remember Queen Rasoherina for sending ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
s to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and for prohibiting Sunday markets. On June 30, 1865, she signed a treaty with the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
giving British citizens the right to rent land and property on the island and to have a resident ambassador. With the United States of America she signed a trade agreement that also limited the importation of weapons and the export of cattle. Finally, with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
the queen signed a peace between her descendants and the descendants of the Emperor of France. Rasoherina married her Prime Minister, Rainivoninahitriniony
Rainivoninahitriniony
Rainivoninahitriniony , also called Raharo, was Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Madagascar between 1852 and 1865. He was the chief engineer of the Aristocratic Revolution initialized upon the attempted assassination of King Radama II...
, but public outcry against his involvement in the murder of Radama II soon forced his resignation and exile to Betsileo
Betsileo
The Betsileo are a highland ethnic group of Madagascar, the third largest in terms of population, numbering around 1.5 million and making up about 12.1 percent of the population. Their name means "The Many Invincible Ones" which they chose for themselves after the failed invasion of Ramitraho...
country south of Imerina. She then married his brother, Rainilaiarivony
Rainilaiarivony
Rainilaiarivony was the Prime Minister of Madagascar from 1864 to 1895, following his older brother Rainivoninahitriniony who had held the post for thirteen years prior...
, head of the army at the time of Radama II's murder who was promoted to the post of Prime Minister upon the resignation and exile of his older brother. Rainilaiarivony would rule Madagascar from behind the scenes for the remaining 32 years of the Merina monarchy, marrying each of the final three queens of Madagascar in succession.
Queen Ranavalona II (1868–1883)
In 1869 Queen Ranavalona IIRanavalona II of Madagascar
Ranavalona II was Queen of Madagascar from 1868 to 1883, succeeding Queen Rasoherina.-Early life:Ranavalona II was born Princess Ramoma in 1829 at Ambatomanoina, near Antananarivo in the central highlands to Razakaratrimo and Rafarasoa Ramasindrazana...
, previously educated by the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
, underwent baptism into the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and subsequently made the Anglican faith the official state religion
State religion
A state religion is a religious body or creed officially endorsed by the state...
of Madagascar.
The queen had all the sampy
Sampy
A sampy is an amulet or idol of spiritual and political importance among numerous ethnic groups in Madagascar. Amulets and idols fashioned from assorted natural materials have occupied an important place among many Malagasy communities for centuries...
(traditional royal idols) burned in a public display. Catholic and Protestant missionaries arrived in numbers to build churches and schools. The reign of Queen Ranavalona II proved the heyday of British influence in Madagascar. British arms and troops arrived on the island by way of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
Queen Ranavalona III (1883–1897)
Her public coronation as queen took place on November 22, 1883 and she took the name Ranavalona III. As her first order of business she confirmed the nomination of RainilaiarivonyRainilaiarivony
Rainilaiarivony was the Prime Minister of Madagascar from 1864 to 1895, following his older brother Rainivoninahitriniony who had held the post for thirteen years prior...
and his entourage in their positions. She also promised to do away with the French threat.
The end of the monarchy
Franco-Hova War
The Franco-Hova Wars consisted of French military interventions in Madagascar between 1883 and 1896 that overthrew the ruling monarchy of the Merina Kingdom, and resulted in Madagascar becoming a French colony...
(Hova as a name referring to the Merina aristocrats). At the war’s end, Madagascar ceded Antsiranana
Antsiranana
Antsiranana , named Diego-Suarez prior to 1975, is a city at the northern tip of Madagascar.Antsiranana is the capital of Diana Region.-Transports:...
(Diégo Suarez) on the northern coast to France and paid 560,000 gold franc
Gold franc
The gold franc was the unit of account for the Bank for International Settlements from 1930 until April 1, 2003. It was replaced with the Special Drawing Right...
s to the heirs of Joseph-François Lambert. In Europe, meanwhile, diplomats partitioning the African continent worked out an agreement whereby Britain, in order to obtain the Sultanate of Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
, ceded its rights over Heligoland
Heligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and renounced all claims to civilize Madagascar in favor of France. The agreement spelled the end of the independent native tribes of Madagascar. Rainilaiarivony
Rainilaiarivony
Rainilaiarivony was the Prime Minister of Madagascar from 1864 to 1895, following his older brother Rainivoninahitriniony who had held the post for thirteen years prior...
had succeeded in playing Great Britain and France against one another, but now France could act without fear of reprisals from Britain.
In 1895, a French flying-column
Flying column
A flying column is a small, independent, military land unit capable of rapid mobility and usually composed of all arms. It is often an ad hoc unit, formed during the course of operations....
landed in Mahajanga
Mahajanga
Mahajanga is a city and a district on the north-west coast of Madagascar.- City :The City of Mahajanga is the capital of the Boeny region. Population: 135,660 ....
(Majunga) and marched by way of the Betsiboka River
Betsiboka River
Betsiboka River is a long river in central-north Madagascar. It flows northwestward and empties to Bombetoka Bay, forming a large delta. The river is distinct for its red-coloured water, which is caused by river sediments. The river carries an enormous amount of reddish-orange silt to the sea...
to the capital, Antananarivo
Antananarivo
Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....
, taking the city’s defenders by surprise. (They had expected an attack from the much closer east coast.) Twenty French soldiers died fighting and 6,000 died of malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and other diseases before the second Franco-Hova War ended. In 1896 the French Parliament voted to annex
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
Madagascar. The 103-year-old Merina monarchy ended with the royal family sent into exile in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
The Kingdom of Madagascar recognized outside (1817 - 1895)
Despite a decline of twenty years under the reign of Ranavalona IRanavalona I
Ranavalona I , also known as Ranavalo-Manjaka I, was a sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861...
(1828 - 1861), the the kingdom of Madagascar created by Radama I continued its transformation throughout the nineteenth century.
Radama I - who wrote the Malagasy in Arabic script - learn the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
in 1820 with David Jones, Welsh missionary of the London Missionary Society': together, they codified the new Malagasy Latin alphabet of 21 letters which replaced the old Arabic alphabet. The Bible is, in 1830, the first book written in this new Malagasy Latin alphabet.
An embryo of industrialization has also took place from 1835 under the direction of the French Jean Laborde
Jean Laborde
Jean Laborde was an adventurer and early industrialist in Madagascar. He became the chief engineer of the Merina monarchy, supervising the creation of a modern manufacturing center under Queen Ranavalona I...
(an ex-foam survivor of a shipwreck off the east coast) , producing soap, porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
, metal tools and firearms (rifles, cannons, etc.)..
In 1864 Antananarivo
Antananarivo
Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....
opened the first hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
and a modern medical school. Two years later appeared the first newspaper. A scientific journal in English (Antananarivo Annual) is even released from 1875. In 1894, on the eve of the establishment of colonial rule, the schools of the kingdom, mainly led by the Protestant missions, are attended by over 200,000 students.
The French colonization
Disagreements on the implementation of this treaty, serve as a pretext for the French invasion of 1895, which first met little resistance. The authority of the Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony
Rainilaiarivony
Rainilaiarivony was the Prime Minister of Madagascar from 1864 to 1895, following his older brother Rainivoninahitriniony who had held the post for thirteen years prior...
, in power since 1864, has indeed became very unpopular with the public.
The intention of the French was to first to establish a simple protectorate
Protectorate
In history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
system, affecting especially the control of the economy and foreign relations of the island. But later, the outbreak of the popular resistance of Menalamba and the arrival of General Gallieni
Joseph Gallieni
Joseph Simon Gallieni was a French soldier, most active as a military commander and administrator in the French colonies and finished his career during the First World War. He was made Marshal of France posthumously in 1921...
responsible "pacify" the country 1896 lead to the annexation and the exile of the queen Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.
The British accepted the imposition of a French protectorate
Malagasy Protectorate
The Malagasy Protectorate was a French protectorate in what is now Madagascar. Its status was to protect the Kingdom of Imerina. It ended in 1897 as Madagascar became a French colony....
over Madagascar in 1890 in return for eventual British control over Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
(subsequently part of Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
) and as part of an overall definition of spheres of influence in the area.
Malagasy troops fought in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After France fell to the Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in 1940, the Vichy
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
government administered Madagascar until 1942, when British Empire troops occupied the strategic island in the Battle of Madagascar
Battle of Madagascar
The Battle of Madagascar was the Allied campaign to capture Vichy-French-controlled Madagascar during World War II. It began on 5 May 1942. Fighting did not cease until 6 November.-Geo-political:...
in order to preclude its seizure by the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese. The United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
handed over control of the island to Free French Forces
Free French Forces
The Free French Forces were French partisans in World War II who decided to continue fighting against the forces of the Axis powers after the surrender of France and subsequent German occupation and, in the case of Vichy France, collaboration with the Germans.-Definition:In many sources, Free...
in 1943.
Madagascar revolt
In 1947, with French prestige at a low ebb, the French government, headed by Prime Minister Paul RamadierPaul Ramadier
Paul Ramadier was a prominent French politician of the Third and Fourth Republics. Mayor of Decazeville starting in 1919, he served as the first Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic in 1947. On 10 July 1940, he voted against the granting of the full powers to Marshal Philippe Pétain, who...
of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) party, suppressed the Madagascar revolt
Madagascar Revolt
The Malagasy Uprising was a rebellion against the colonial rule of France by nationalists on the island of Madagascar in 1947 and 1948. It was crushed by the French government, then headed by Socialist Paul Ramadier. 80,000 to 90,000 people were killed, according to certain sources...
, a nationalist uprising. Between 80,000 to 90,000 Malagasy were killed during a year of bitter fighting.
The French subsequently established reformed institutions in 1956 under the Loi Cadre
Loi Cadre
The loi-cadre was a French legal reform passed by the French National Assembly on 23 June 1956. It marked a turning point in relations between France and its overseas empire...
(Overseas Reform Act), and Madagascar moved peacefully toward independence. The Malagasy Republic, proclaimed on October 14, 1958, became an autonomous state within the French Community
French Community
The French Community was an association of states known in French simply as La Communauté. In 1958 it replaced the French Union, which had itself succeeded the French colonial empire in 1946....
.
The independent Malagasy Republic
A period of provisional government ended with the adoption of a constitution in 1959 and full independence on June 26, 1960, with Philibert TsirananaPhilibert Tsiranana
Philibert Tsiranana was a Malagasy politician and leader, who served as the first President of Madagascar from 1959 to 1972....
as President.
Tsiranana's rule represented continuation, with French settlers (or colons) still in positions of power. Unlike many of France's former colonies, the Malagasy Republic strongly resisted movements towards communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
.
In 1972 protests against these policies came to a head and Tsiranana had to step down. He handed power to General Gabriel Ramanantsoa
Gabriel Ramanantsoa
Gabriel Ramanantsoa was the President and Prime Minister of Madagascar from 1972 to 1975.Ramanantsoa was a member of the Merina ethnic group, and came from a wealthy family. He was a career officer in the French army. After Madagascar became independent, he joined the Madagascar military, rising...
of the army and his provisional government. This régime reversed previous policy in favour of closer ties with the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
.
On 5 February 1975, Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava
Richard Ratsimandrava
Colonel Richard Ratsimandrava was President of Madagascar for six days in February 1975. His assassination in 1975 led to a civil war.- Military career :...
became the President of Madagascar. After six days as head of the country, he died in an assassination while driving from the presidential palace to his home. Political power passed to Gilles Andriamahazo
Gilles Andriamahazo
General Gilles Andriamahazo was a Malagasy general and political figure. Originally he was a Merina and served as the military president of Madagascar between 12 February and 15 June 1975....
.
On 15 June 1975 Lieutenant-Commander Didier Ratsiraka
Didier Ratsiraka
Vice Admiral Didier Ratsiraka is a Malagasy politician who was President of Madagascar from 1975 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2002.-Second Republic:...
(who had previously served as foreign minister) came to power in a coup. Elected president for a seven-year term, Ratsiraka moved further towards socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, nationalising much of the economy and cutting all ties with France.
These policies hastened the decline in the Madagascan economy that had begun after independence as French immigrants left the country, leaving a shortage of skills and technology behind.
Ratsiraka's original seven-year term as President continued after his party (Avant-garde de la Révolution Malgache or AREMA) became the only legal party in the 1977 elections.
In the 1980s Madagascar moved back towards France, abandoning many of its communist-inspired policies in favour of a market economy
Market economy
A market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
, though Ratsiraka still kept hold of power.
Eventually opposition — both in Madagascar and internationally — forced him to reconsider his position, and in 1992 the country adopted a new and democratic constitution.
The first multi-party elections came in 1993, with Albert Zafy
Albert Zafy
Albert Zafy is a Malagasy politician. He was the President of Madagascar from 27 March 1993 to 5 September 1996.-Early life and career:...
defeating Ratsiraka.
Zafy failed to re-unite the country and suffered impeachment
Impeachment
Impeachment is a formal process in which an official is accused of unlawful activity, the outcome of which, depending on the country, may include the removal of that official from office as well as other punishment....
in 1996.
The ensuing elections saw a turnout of less than 50% and unexpectedly resulted in the re-election of Didier Ratsiraka.
He moved further towards capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
. The influence of the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
(IMF) and World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
led to widespread privatisation.
Opposition to Ratsiraka began to grow again. Opposition parties boycotted provincial elections in 2000, and the 2001 presidential election
Malagasy presidential election, 2001
Presidential elections were held in Madagascar on 16 December 2001. Initial results suggested a second round was necessary, with neither of the main candidates, incumbent President Didier Ratsiraka and Marc Ravalomanana. However, Ravalomanana rejected the results and declared himself President in...
produced more controversy. The opposition candidate Marc Ravalomanana
Marc Ravalomanana
Marc Ravalomanana is a Malagasy politician who was the President of Madagascar from 2002 to 2009. A member of the Merina ethnic group, Ravalomanana served as Mayor of Antananarivo before becoming President in 2002...
claimed victory after the first round (in December) but the incumbent rejected this position. In early 2002 supporters of the two sides took to the streets and violent clashes took place. Ravalomanana claimed that fraud had occurred in the polls. After an April recount the High Constitutional Court declared Ravalomanana president. Ratsiraka continued to dispute the result but his opponent gained international recognition, and Ratsiraka had to go into exile in France, though forces loyal to him continued activities in Madagascar.
Ravlomanana's I Love Madagascar party achieved overwhelming electoral success in December 2001 and he survived an attempted coup in January 2003. He used his mandate to work closely with the IMF and the World Bank to reform the economy, to end corruption and to realise the country's potential.
Ratsiraka went on trial (in absentia) for embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
(the authorities charged him with taking $8m of public money with him into exile) and the court sentenced him to ten years' hard labour.
Ravalomanana is credited with improving the country's infrastructure, such as roads, along with making improvements in education and health, but has faced criticism for his lack of progress against poverty; purchasing power
Purchasing power
Purchasing power is the number of goods/services that can be purchased with a unit of currency. For example, if you had taken one dollar to a store in the 1950s, you would have been able to buy a greater number of items than you would today, indicating that you would have had a greater purchasing...
is said to have declined during his time in office. On November 18, 2006, his plane was forced to divert from Madagascar's capital during a return trip from Europe following reports of a coup
2006 Malagasy coup d'état attempt
An alleged coup d'état attempt occurred in Madagascar on November 18, 2006, during the lead-up to the December 3 presidential election, when retired army General Andrianafidisoa, also known as Fidy , declared military rule.According to judicial authorities, Andrianafidisoa was not allowed to run...
underway in Antananarivo and shooting near the airport; however, this alleged coup attempt was unsuccessful.
Ravalomanana ran for a second term in the presidential election
Malagasy presidential election, 2006
Presidential elections were held in Madagascar on 3 December 2006. President Marc Ravalomanana, in office since he prevailed in a dispute over election results in 2002, ran for re-election...
held on December 3, 2006. According to official results, he won the election with 54.79% of the vote in the first round; his best results were in Antananarivo Province
Antananarivo Province
Antananarivo is a former province of Madagascar with an area of 58,283 km². It had a population of 5,370,900 . Its capital was Antananarivo.Except for Antsiranana, Antananarivo Province bordered all of the country's other provinces:*Mahajanga - north...
, where he received the support of 75.39% of voters. He was sworn in for his second term on January 19, 2007.
Ravalomanana dissolved the National Assembly in July 2007, prior to the end of its term, following a constitutional referendum
Malagasy constitutional referendum, 2007
A constitutional referendum was held in Madagascar on 4 April 2007. The proposed changes, which voters were asked to approve or reject as a whole, included:*expansion of presidential powers in cases of emergency...
earlier in the year. Ravalomanana said that a new election
Malagasy parliamentary election, 2007
A parliamentary election was held in Madagascar on 23 September 2007, with the vote to be repeated in two constituencies on 14 November 2007. 637 candidates contested the election, in which the 127 seats in the National Assembly were at stake....
needed to be held so that the National Assembly would reflect the changes made in this referendum.
He is currently involved in a political standoff after he closed the TV station belonging to Antananarivo
Antananarivo
Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....
mayor Andry Rajoelina
Andry Rajoelina
Andry Nirina Rajoelina , born May 30 1974, is the former mayor of Antananarivo who became transitional head of state of Madagascar on March 21, 2009 after the 2009 Malagasy political crisis....
.
In January 2009 protests which then turned violent
2009 Malagasy protests
The 2009 Malagasy political crisis involved a series of anti-government demonstrations in Madagascar in early 2009, culminating in military involvement and the accession of opposition leader Andry Rajoelina to the Presidency. The protests began in January 2009 and were aimed at the government of...
were organized and spearheaded by Andry Rajoelina
Andry Rajoelina
Andry Nirina Rajoelina , born May 30 1974, is the former mayor of Antananarivo who became transitional head of state of Madagascar on March 21, 2009 after the 2009 Malagasy political crisis....
, the mayor of the capital city of Antananarivo
Antananarivo
Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....
and a prominent opponent of President Ravalomanana.
The situation has fundamentally changed on March 10, 2009 when army leaders forced the recently appointed defence secretary to resign (the previous one had decided to resign after the killings by the presidential guard on February 7, 2009). They also announced that they gave the opponents 72 hours to dialogue and find a solution to the crisis before they would take further action. This move came after the leaders of the main military camp had announced a day earlier that they would not execute orders coming from the presidency any more since their duty was to protect the people, and not to oppress them, as groups of the military had done over the last few days.
On the 16th of March the army seized the presidential palace in the centre of Antananarivo. Ravalomanana was not in the palace at the time. He finally handed his resignation to the army. However, the army have decided to hand over power to his fierce political rival.
See also
- Ethnic groups of MadagascarEthnic groups of MadagascarThe number of ethnic groups of Madagascar has long been a point of contention and debate. The island of Madagascar is predominantly populated by people broadly classified as belonging to the broader Malagasy ethnic identity...
- History of AfricaHistory of AfricaThe history of Africa begins with the prehistory of Africa and the emergence of Homo sapiens in East Africa, continuing into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Agriculture began about 10,000 BCE and metallurgy in about 4000 BCE. The history of early...
- History of Southern Africa
- List of Malagasy monarchs
- List of Presidents of Madagascar
- MadagascarMadagascarThe Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
- Politics of MadagascarPolitics of MadagascarPolitics of Madagascar takes place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Madagascar is head of state and the Prime Minister of Madagascar is head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the...