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Madagascar Precolonial Era, Prior to 1894
The ruins of fortifications built by Arab traders as
far back
as the ninth century underscore Madagascar's historical
role as a
destination for travelers from the Middle East, Asia, and
Africa.
Not until the beginning of the sixteenth century, however,
did
European ships flying Portuguese, Dutch, English, and
French
flags explore Madagascar's shoreline. Beginning in 1643,
several
French settlements emerged; the best known of these,
Tolagnaro
(formerly Faradofay) on the southeast coast, lasted for
more than
thirty years. The settlement survived in part because the
colonists had taken pains to establish cordial relations
with the
Antanosy, the ethnic group inhabiting the area. Relations
deteriorated later, however, and in 1674 a massacre of
nearly all
the inhabitants ended French colonization endeavors for
more than
a century; survivors fled by sea to the neighboring
territory of
Reunion.
This early checking of French imperial designs
coincided with
the spread of piracy into the Indian Ocean. In the absence
of a
significant naval power in waters remote from Europe,
privateer
vessels attacked ships of many nations for nearly forty
years.
The favorite hunting grounds were in the north in the
Arabian Sea
and Red Sea areas, but Madagascar was a popular hiding
place
where crews could recuperate and replenish supplies for
another
attack. By this time, the institution of slavery also had
been
implanted on the island. Madagascar became a source of
slaves,
not only for the neighboring islands of Mauritius and
Rodrigues,
but also for more distant points, including the Western
Hemisphere.
Madagascar's social and political structure facilitated
the
slave trade. Within several small coastal kingdoms,
stratified
societies of nobles, commoners, and slaves gave allegiance
to a
single king or queen. For example, the Sakalava ethnic
group
dominated the western and northern portions of Madagascar
in two
separate kingdoms. Menabe, on the barren western
grasslands, had
its first capital at Toliara; Boina, in the northwest,
included
the port of Mahajanga. The towns became centers of trade
where
cattle and slaves, taken in war, were exchanged with
European
merchants for guns and other manufactured goods. These
political
domains were complemented by the Betsimisaraka kingdom
along the
east coast, and the southern coastal kingdoms dominated by
the
Mahafaly and the Antandroy ethnic groups.
The most powerful of Madagascar's kingdoms--the one
that
eventually established hegemony over a great portion of
the
island--was that developed by the Merina ethnic group.
Before the
Merina emerged as the dominant political power on the
island in
the nineteenth century, they alternated between periods of
political unity and periods in which the kingdom separated
into
smaller political units. The location of the Merina in the
central highlands afforded them some protection from the
ravages
of warfare that recurred among the coastal kingdoms. The
distinction, recognized both locally and internationally,
between
the central highlanders (the Merina) and the
côtiers
(inhabitants of the coastal areas) would soon exert a
major
impact on Madagascar's political system
(see Population and Ethnicity
, this ch.). Organized like the coastal kingdoms
in a
hierarchy of nobles, commoners, and slaves, the Merina
developed
a unique political institution known as the
fokonolona
(village council). Through the fokonolona, village
elders
and other local notables were able to enact regulations
and exert
a measure of local control in such matters as public works
and
security.
Two monarchs played key roles in establishing Merina
political dominance over Madagascar. The first, who ruled
under
the name of Andrianampoinimerina (r. 1797-1810), seized
the
throne of one of the Merina kingdoms in 1787. By 1806 he
had
conquered the remaining three kingdoms and united them
within the
former boundaries of Imerina, the capital established at
the
fortified city of Antananarivo. Radama I (r. 1816-28), an
able
and forward-looking monarch, succeeded to the throne in
1810 upon
the death of his father. By adroitly playing off competing
British and French interests in the island, he was able to
extend
Merina authority over nearly the entire island of
Madagascar.
Radama I first conquered the Betsileo ethnic group in the
southern part of the central highlands and subsequently
overpowered the Sakalava, an ethnic group that also sought
at
times to assert its hegemony over other groups. With the
help of
the British, who wanted a strong kingdom to offset French
influence, Radama I modernized the armed forces. In 1817
the
peoples of the east coast, facing an army of 35,000
soldiers,
submitted with little or no protest; Radama then conquered
the
entire southeast as far as Tolagnaro. Particularly barren
or
impenetrable parts of the island escaped conquest,
especially in
the extreme south, but before his death Radama I succeeded
in
bringing the major and more hospitable portions of the
country
under Merina rule.
Radama I's interest in modernization along Western
lines
extended to social and political matters. He organized a
cabinet
and encouraged the Protestant London Missionary Society to
establish schools and churches and to introduce the
printing
press--a move that was to have far-reaching implications
for the
country. The society made nearly half a million converts,
and its
teachers devised a written form of the local language,
Malagasy,
using the Latin alphabet. By 1828 several thousand
persons,
primarily Merina, had become literate, and a few young
persons
were being sent to Britain for schooling. Later the Merina
dialect of Malagasy became the official language.
Malagasylanguage publications were established and circulated
among the
Merina-educated elite; by 1896 some 164,000 children,
mainly
Merina and Betsileo, another ethnic group, attended the
mission's
primary schools. Along with new ideas came some
development of
local manufacturing. Much productive time was spent,
however, in
military campaigns to expand territory and acquire slaves
for
trade.
The reign of Radama I's wife and successor, Queen
Ranavalona
I (r. 1828-61), was essentially reactionary, reflecting
her
distrust of foreign influence. Under the oligarchy that
ruled in
her name, rivals were slain, numerous Protestant converts
were
persecuted and killed, and many Europeans fled the island.
The
ruling elite held all the land and monopolized commerce,
except
for the handful of Europeans allowed to deal in cattle,
rice, and
other commodities. Remunerations to the queen provided the
French
traders a supply of slaves and a monopoly in the slave
trade.
Enjoying particular favor owing to his remarkable
accomplishments
was French artisan Jean Laborde, who established at
Mantasoa,
near Antananarivo, a manufacturing complex and
agricultural
research station where he manufactured commodities ranging
from
silk and soap to guns, tools, and cement.
During the reign of Radama II (r. 1861-63), the
pendulum once
again swung toward modernization and cordial relations
with
Western nations, particularly France. Radama II made a
treaty of
perpetual friendship with France, but his brief rule ended
with
his assassination by a group of nobles alarmed by his
pro-French
stance. He was succeeded by his widow, who ruled until
1868,
during which time she annulled the treaty with France and
the
charter of Laborde's company.
After 1868 a Merina leader, Rainilaiarivony, ruled the
monarchy. To avoid giving either the French or the British
a
pretext for intervention, Rainilaiarivony emphasized
modernization of the society and tried to curry British
favor
without giving offense to the French. He made concessions
to both
countries, signing a commercial treaty with France in 1868
and
with Britain in 1877. Important social developments under
his
leadership included the outlawing of polygamy and the
slave
trade; promulgation of new legal codes; the spread of
education,
especially among the Merina; and the conversion of the
monarchy
in 1869 to Protestantism.
Data as of August 1994
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