Ranavalona I (born Rabodonandrianampoinimerina; 177816 August 1861), also known as Ramavo or Ranavalo-Manjaka I or Ranavalona reniny, was the sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. After positioning herself as queen following the death of her young husband Radama I, she pursued a policy of isolationism and self-sufficiency. She sought reduced economic and political ties with European powers and took vigorous measures to eradicate the small but growing Malagasy Christian movement initiated under Radama I by members of the London Missionary Society.
Ranavalona used the traditional practice of fanompoana (forced labor as tax payment) to complete public works projects and develop an army. She had a standing army of between 20,000 and 30,000 Merina soldiers, whom she deployed to pacify outlying regions of the island and expand the realm. The combination of regular warfare, slavery, disease, difficult forced labor and the practice of tangena (a harsh trial by ordeal using a poisonous nut from the Cerbera manghas tree) resulted in a high mortality rate among both soldiers and civilians during her 33-year reign; by some estimates, the country's population may have declined by as much as half.
Although greatly obstructed by Ranavalona's policies, foreign political interests in Madagascar remained undiminished. Divisions between traditionalist and pro-European factions at the queen's court created opportunities that European intermediaries leveraged in an attempt to hasten the succession of her son Radama II. The young prince disagreed with many of his mother's policies and was amenable to French proposals for the exploitation of the island's resources, as expressed in the Lambert Charter he concluded with a French representative in 1855. However, these plans were not successful and Radama II did not take the throne until Ranavalona's death in 1861 at the age of 83.
Ranavalona's European contemporaries generally condemned her policies and characterized her as a tyrant at best and insane at worst. These negative characterizations, earning her the epithet of the "Mad Monarch of Madagascar", persisted in Western scholarly literature until the mid-1970s. Later academic research recast Ranavalona's actions as those of a queen attempting to expand her empire while protecting Malagasy sovereignty against the encroachment of European cultural and political influence. In present-day Madagascar, she remains a controversial figure and is largely viewed negatively.
Early life Princess Ramavo was born in 1778 at the royal residence at Ambatomanoina,Campbell (2012), p. 713 about east of Antananarivo,Campbell (2012), p. 1078 to Prince Andriantsalamanjaka and Princess Rabodonandriantompo.Académie malgache (1958), p. 375 When Ramavo was still a young girl, her father alerted King Andrianampoinimerina to an assassination plot planned by Andrianjafy, the king's uncle, whom Andrianampoinimerina had forced from the throne at the royal city of Ambohimanga. In return for saving his life, Andrianampoinimerina betrothed Ramavo to his son, Prince Radama, whom the king designated as his heir. He furthermore declared that any child from this union would be first in the line of succession after Radama.
Despite her elevated rank among the royal wives, Ramavo was not the preferred wife of Radama and did not bear him any children. Upon Andrianampoinimerina's death in 1810, Radama succeeded his father as king and followed royal custom by executing a number of potential opponents among Ramavo's relatives, an act that may have strained their relationship. Unable to find satisfaction in her loveless marriage, the neglected Ramavo and other court ladies spent most days socializing and drinking rum with David Griffiths and his fellow missionaries in Griffiths' home. These visits established a deep friendship between Ramavo and Griffiths that endured for three decades.Campbell (2012), p. 51
Accession to the throne When Radama died without leaving any descendants on 27 July 1828, according to local custom, the rightful heir was Rakotobe, the eldest son of Radama's eldest sister. An intelligent and amiable young man, Rakotobe was the first pupil to have studied at the first school established by the London Missionary Society in Antananarivo on the grounds of the royal palace. Radama died in the company of two trusted courtiers who were favorable to the succession of Rakotobe. However, they hesitated to report the news of Radama's death for several days, fearing possible reprisals against them for having been involved in denouncing one of the king's rivals, whose family had a stake in the succession after Radama.Freeman and Johns (1840), pp. 7–17Oliver (1886), pp. 42–45 During this time, another courtier, a high-ranking military officer named Andriamamba, discovered the truth and collaborated with other powerful officers – Andriamihaja, Rainijohary and Ravalontsalama – to support Ramavo's claim to the throne.
These officers hid Ramavo and one of her friends in a safe location, then secured the support of several influential power-brokers, including judges and the keepers of the sampy (royal idols). The officers then rallied the army behind Ramavo, so that on 11 August 1828, when she declared herself the successor to Radama on the pretence that he himself had decreed it, there could be no immediate resistance. Ramavo took the throne name Ranavalona ("folded", "kept aside"), then followed royal custom by systematically capturing and putting to death her political rivals, including Rakotobe, his family, and other members of Radama's family, much as Radama had done to the queen's own family upon his succession to the throne. Her coronation ceremony took place on 12 June 1829.Ellis (1838), pp. 421–422
By succeeding her husband, Ranavalona became the first female sovereign of the Kingdom of Imerina since its founding in 1540. Her rise to power occurred in a cultural milieu that favored men over women in the political sphere. In the traditional culture of Imerina, rulers were specially endowed with the power to innovate in circumvention of established norms and customs. Sovereigns often mobilized innovation through the creation of new forms of kinship, the traditional basis of the political order. Women, however, were associated with the household, a rigid kinship unit in opposition to the innovating role and power of the sovereign, and so were not viewed as suited to rule. Although female rulers had once been common among the Vazimba, described in oral histories as the original inhabitants of Madagascar, this tradition ended in the central highlands with the reign of Andriamanelo (1540–1575), founder of the Kingdom of Imerina and successor to his Vazimba mother, Queen Rafohy (1530–1540).Bloch (1986), p. 106
Reign
Ranavalona's 33-year reign was characterized by her effort to strengthen the domestic authority of the Kingdom of Imerina over subjugated provinces and preserve the political and cultural sovereignty of Madagascar. These policies were enacted in a context of increasing European influence within her kingdom and competing European bids for domination over the island. Early in her reign, the queen took incremental steps to distance Madagascar from the purview of European powers, first putting an end to a friendship treaty with Britain, then placing increasing restrictions on the activities of the missionaries of the London Missionary Society, who operated schools where basic education and trade skills were taught in addition to the Christian religion. In 1835 she forbade the practice of Christianity among the Malagasy population, and within a year nearly all foreigners had left her territory.
Putting an end to most foreign trade relationships, the queen pursued a policy of self-reliance, made possible through frequent use of the long-standing tradition of fanompoana—forced labor in lieu of tax payments in money or goods. Ranavalona continued the wars of expansion conducted by her predecessor, Radama I, in an effort to extend her realm over the entire island, and imposed strict punishments on those who were judged as having acted in opposition to her will. Due in large part to loss of life throughout the years of military campaigns, high death rates among fanompoana workers, and harsh traditions of justice under her rule, the population of Madagascar is estimated to have declined by as much as half during her reign, leaving the country with close to net-zero population growth over the entire century. These statistics have contributed to a strongly unfavorable view of Ranavalona's rule in historical accounts.Laidler (2005)
Government
In the tradition of many of her royal Merina predecessors,L'habitation à Madagascar (1898), pp. 920–923 the queen ruled from the royal Rova compound in Antananarivo. Between 1839 and 1842, Jean Laborde built the queen a new residence called Manjakamiadana, which became the largest structure on the Rova grounds. The residence was made entirely from wood and bore most of the features of a traditional home of the Merina andriana (aristocratic class), including a central pillar (andry) to support the roof. In other ways it showcased distinctly European innovations, as it contained three floors entirely surrounded by wooden verandas and incorporated dormers in the shingled roof. The palace was eventually encased in stone in 1867 by James Cameron of the London Missionary Society during the reign of Ranavalona II. The original wooden palace of Ranavalona and virtually all other structures of the historic Rova compound were destroyed in a 1995 fire, leaving only the stone shell to mark where her palace had once stood.Frémigacci (1999), p. 427
In many respects, Ranavalona's rule was a continuation of precedent established under Radama I. Both monarchs encouraged the introduction of new technologies and forms of knowledge from abroad, supported the establishment of an industrialized economy, and adopted measures to professionalize the army. Both viewed foreigners with ambivalence, establishing close personal relationships and drawing upon their expertise while enforcing restrictions on their activities to avert destabilizing changes to existing cultural and political systems. In addition, both contributed to the further development of a complex political bureaucracy that enabled the Merina court to govern remote provinces across an island larger than metropolitan France.
Ranavalona maintained the tradition of ruling with the support of advisers drawn largely from the aristocratic class. The queen's most powerful ministers were also her consorts. Her first chief adviser was a young army officer from Namehana named Andriamihaja, who served as first minister from 1829 to 1830. Major-General Andriamihaja most likely fathered the queen's only son, Prince Rakoto (later King Radama II), who was born eleven months after the death of his official father, King Radama I.Oliver (1886), pp. 45–47 In the early years of Ranavalona's reign, Andriamihaja was the leader of her court's progressive faction, who favored maintaining the relations with Europe initiated under Radama. The conservative faction was led by the brothers Rainimaharo and Rainiharo, the latter being the official guardian of one of the most powerful royal sampy. These talismans were believed to embody and channel the supernatural powers of the kingship and had played a major role in the spiritual life of the Merina people since at least the 16th century reign of Ralambo. The conservative faction conspired to reduce Andriamahaja's progressive influence over the queen, and in September 1830 they managed to persuade her while highly intoxicated to sign his death warrant for charges of witchcraft and treason. He was immediately captured in his home and killed.Freeman and Johns (1840), pp. 17–22Prout (1863), p. 14