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·
Radama I
(1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
Radama I "the Great" (
1793
–1828), the first king of greater
Madagascar
from 1810 to 1828, united two-thirds of the island under his rule. He had twelve Great Wives, one of them his adopted sister
Ranavalona I
who would emerge victorious in the struggle for succession after his premature death.
Reign
In 1810, at the age of 17, Radama succeeded his father
Andrianampoinimerina
as king of
Imerina
, (
Ruling between 1787–1810)
a growing kingdom in the central plateau of the island around
Antananarivo
.
[1]
Several of the principalities conquered by his father revolted upon news of Andrianampoinimerina's death, immediately obliging the young ruler to embark on military campaigns to put down the rebellions and secure his position. He successfully expanded his realm to the Indian Ocean in 1817 after seizing the eastern port town of
Antsiranana
with an army of 30,000 soldiers.
[1]
A shrewd diplomat, he successfully played off competing
British
and
French
interests while opening Madagascar to exchanges with foreign powers.
[1]
The British were interested in securing the passage to
India
and preventing the French from taking Madagascar. Although the French had been weakened by losing
Réunion
and
Mauritius
to the British in 1810, the British at the time did not have enough available resources to possess Madagascar themselves. They settled on an alliance with Radama that supported his rule and ensured a privileged position for the British in regards to trade. British Governor
Robert Townsend Farquhar
, based in Mauritius, committed to training and supporting Radama's army.
[1]
The Anglo-Merina treaty of friendship was sealed by a blood oath between Radama and the British envoy Captain Le Sage in 1817. As part of the treaty Radama agreed to put an end to the profitable
slave trade
; nevertheless slave-dealing continued clandestinely at a reduced level.
As a result of the treaty social and political changes occurred: Radama organized a
cabinet
, and invited the Protestant
London Missionary Society
(LMS) to
establish schools and churches
. The LMS also brought a
printing press
and Welshmen
David Jones
and
David Griffiths
adapted the
Latin alphabet
for the
Malagasy language
, replacing the
Arabico-Malagasy script
previously in use. It was under Radama's rule that LMS missionaries(with notable contributions from
Scottsman
James Cameron
) set up craft industries in wood, metal, leather, and cotton, transcribed the Malagasy language using the
Latin script
, introduced the first printing press, translated and printed
Bibles
in the Malagasy language and oversaw Radama's plan to establish dozens of schools offering compulsory literacy courses and basic education for the
nobles of Imerina
.
During this time and with the help of the British support, Radama’s military became the dominant force allowing him to unify by force the island. Expanding the boundaries of the kingdom, he first took over the area of the
Betsileo
tribe in the southern part of the island. His army took key eastern territories and several in the west. In 1825 he conquered the French settlement of
Fort Dauphin
at the southern end of the island, establishing the sovereignty of the island and securing his position as its rightful ruler. In each newly conquered territory, administrative posts were built within fortified garrisons (
rova
) on the model of the original
Rova of Antananarivo
. These were staffed with Merina colonists called
voanjo
("peanuts"). Marriages of alliance were often contracted between Radama and key female nobles in the territories he brought under his rule. By the time of his death in 1828, the only parts of the island not under his control were the southern lands of the
Mahafaly
,
Antandroy
and
Bara
.
[1]
Death
Radama was a conqueror. He was a drunkard. Andrianampoinimerina, the Prince Worthy of the Highland People Under the Sun, made his son into an alcoholic and, in effect, cut the young man's throat.
—
The Great Red Island,
Arthur Stratton
[2]
Radama died prematurely on July 27, 1828, at his residence (the
Tranovola
).
[3]
Historical sources provide conflicting accounts regarding his cause of death. Radama was prone to drinking heavily, and shortly before his death he displayed
symptoms
of advanced
alcoholism
as his health rapidly declined. Explanations include the emotional strain caused by years of warfare
[1]
and pressure to live up to his celebrated father, King Andrianampoinimerina.
[2]
He may have simply fallen victim to the disease. However, the king had recently struggled with an acute affliction of the throat, and it was rumored that his corpse had been discovered with its throat slashed by a dagger. This in turn gave rise to speculation whether he had inadvertently or deliberately killed himself in a drunken fit of
delerium tremens
, or whether his own wife and future queen
Ranavalona I
may have arranged or even committed the murder of the king herself.
[4]
While the exact circumstances of his death remain unclear, his death was officially declared to be the consequence of heavy intoxication.
[1]
Radama was buried in a stone tomb on the grounds of the
Rova of Antananarivo
. Per
Malagasy architectural norms
, his tomb was topped with a
trano masina
("sacred house") symbolic of royalty. Like his father
Andrianampoinimerina
and other
Merina sovereigns
that would follow him, he was laid to rest in a silver coffin, and it is said the funerary goods buried with him were the most extensive and richest of any tomb in Madagascar. These included a deep red silk
lamba mena
, imported paintings of European royalty, thousands of coins, eighty articles of clothing, swords, jewels, gold vases, containers of silver and so forth. Alongside each interior wall of the
trano masina
were a mirror, bed, several chairs and a table upon which were placed two porcelain water vessels and one bottle each of water and rum that were replenished annually during the
fandroana
(festival of the royal bath).
[5]
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