Rainiharo was from 1833 to 1852 Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Madagascar

Madagascar

The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...

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Biography

Rainiharo was born into the Hova (freeman) class 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...

 people. His father served as an adviser to the great king 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...

. After distinguishing himself as a military officer in a series of campaigns of pacification in the southeastern part of the island, he was chosen as a spouse by Queen Ranavalona I

Ranavalona I

Ranavalona I , also known as Ranavalo-Manjaka I, was a sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861...

 following the death of her first husband in 1833, and was thereupon promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the military and Prime Minister of Madagascar. He retained these roles until his death in 1853, when he was interred in a distinctive tomb constructed in central Antananarivo

Antananarivo

Antananarivo , formerly Tananarive , is the capital and largest city in Madagascar. It is also known by its French colonial shorthand form Tana....

 by Frenchman 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...

. This tomb would later hold the bodies of Rainiharo's two sons, 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...

 and 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...

, who would each succeed him as Commander-in-Chief, Prime Minister and consort.