Andriamasinavalona (1675–1710), also known as Andrianjakanavalondambo, was a King of Imerina in the central highlands of Madagascar. He made significant and enduring contributions to the social, political and economic life of Imerina. Chief among these was the expansion of his territories and the pacification and unification of certain principalities that had become locked in violent conflict; Andriamasinavalona established and ruled over the largest extent of the Kingdom of Imerina. He gave the name of Antananarivo to the capital city that was rapidly expanding around the royal palace on the hill of Analamanga, created a large public square at Andohalo outside the gates of the city, and named a series of other locations within the city. He also took possession of a distant hill he renamed Ambohimanga as a lodging for his son Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana; the royal city that developed there has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The innovations of Andriamasinavalona were numerous and enduring. He created two additional noble castes and defined their associated rights, responsibilities and restrictions, and was responsible for introducing the tradition of the red parasol as an indicator of royalty; he also decreed that all women had the right to choose their husbands. Trade with the Sakalava kingdom enabled this king to increase the firearms, cannons and gunpowder available for the defense of the kingdom, and expanded the availability of luxury items like silver piastres and porcelain dishes. The dikes around the Betsimitatatra rice fields of Antananarivo were expanded and raised to help ensure against famine.
In the interest of strengthening the defenses of the kingdom, Andriamasinavalona divided his realm into four quadrants to be ruled by his four favorite sons. This decision had the opposite effect, however; each was interested in expanding his own realm, prompting one son to kidnap the king and hold him hostage for seven years. After the king's eventual release, he famously committed a mock human sacrifice to re-sanctify his authority. Upon his death, Andriamasinavalona's sons launched military campaigns against one another to seize each other's territories, triggering 77 years of civil war in Imerina. In Madagascar today, Andriamasinavalona's reign is remembered as a golden age of justice, harmony and prosperity.
Early life and accession to throne Andriamasinavalona was born Prince Andrianjakanavalondambo in the historic Merina capital of Alasora to his father King Andriantsimitoviaminandriandehibe and mother Rampanambonitany. He was made Prince of Alasora upon his father's death in 1670; his older brother, Andrianjaka Razakatsitakatrandriana, was named king. Andriamasinavalona ascended to the kingship of Imerina upon the deposition of his brother in 1675. The deposed king fled to the Sakalava kingdom to the west and attempted unsuccessfully to secure military support there to regain the throne.Ogot (1992), p. 877
Two enduring royal traditions emerged in Imerina as a consequence of the power struggle between Andriamasinavalona and his older brother. Some versions of oral history describe a combat between their armies at Ambohibato in which Andriamasinavalona emerged victorious. He erected a commemorative stone at the battle site that he named Ankazonorona, designating it the site where newly enthroned kings would stand to receive their first expression of hasina (homage, affirmation of authority) from their subjects.Callet (1908), p. 539 Andriamasinavalona also introduced the practice of gathering his subjects to consult them and obtain their consent before making certain decisions. This practice was continued by subsequent rulers in Imerina.Callet (1908), p. 540
Family and descendants Andriamasinavalona married twelve wives and produced nine sons and one daughter. The children of four of his wives would go on to rule their own kingdoms: Ratompoindroandriana gave birth to Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana at Ambohimanga; Ramananandrianjaka gave birth to Andriantomponimerina at Ambohidratrimo; Ramananimerina had her son Andrianjakanavalona at Antananarivo; and Rasolomanambonitany had Andrianavalonimerina near Ambohitrabiby. The children of four other wives would renounce all claims to the throne: Andriamborosy and Rafaralahimanjaka, born to Renilambo in Ambohidrapeto; Andriantsilavo, born to Ranavalona in Anosimanjaka; Andrianavalona, born to Rakalafohy in Isoraka; and Andriankotofananina, born to Reninandriankotofananina in Anosipatrana. The descendants of Andriamasinavalona's wives who renounced claim to the throne were ennobled by him as the royal Andriamasinavalona class. The remaining four marriages (to wives Ralanimboahangy, Raseranolona, Ranavalotomponimerina and Ramanamabahoaka) would not produce children, but one of these wives - Ralanimboahangy - adopted a girl named Andriamanitrinitany. She was housed with her adoptive mother at Ambohipeno and died without producing children of her own, although she likewise adopted a child named Ramasina, who was most likely the son of her sister.Callet (1908), p. 548
Reign
Andriamasinavalona is remembered in Imerina as a king of significant achievements. He is credited with unifying a number of warring principalities in Imerina and expanding the territory of the kingdom to its largest extent. He created the Andohalo town square outside the gate of Antananarivo, where all successive sovereigns delivered their royal speeches and announcements to the public. Andriamasinavalona gave the city - previously called by the name of its hill, Analamanga - its current name of Antananarivo, and assigned the names of numerous locations within the city, based on the names of similar sites in the nearby village of Antananarivokely. During his reign the production of the Betsimitatatra rice fields around Antananarivo was dramatically increased. He also increased the number of guns and quantity of gunpowder in Imerina through trade with neighboring kingdoms, and imported the kingdom's first cannons for its defense. Other innovations included the importation and fabrication of plates made from sea turtle skin. He strengthened the social order by creating two new noble castes, putting in place further restrictions and responsibilities for each, and decreeing the right of every woman to choose her own husband.Callet (1908), pp. 654-656
Under Andriamasinavalona's rule, the political administration of Imerina became more clearly defined. The number of andriana (noble) sub-castes was expanded from four to six and additional roles and specific territories were designated for each group, both within the neighborhoods of Antananarivo and in the countryside surrounding the capital. These territorial divisions were strictly enforced: members of sub-castes were required to live within their designated territories and were not authorized to stay for extended periods in the territories reserved for others.Callet (1908), pp. 563-565 Andriamasinavalona decentralized governance and strengthened the power of local administrators by creating a series of new decrees that further formalized the relationship between the andriana and the hova (commoners) they ruled.Callet (1908), pp. 566-567
The king's reign was marked by a drought lasting seven years that caused a famine in much of Imerina. According to oral history, the king attempted to purchase rice from his fief at Ambohipiainana. The town had a surplus but the local leader refused to sell rice to Andriamasinavalona, claiming none was available. The king then sent porters to purchase rice from Antsahatovoka, where the residents declared that while the land was his and it was thus unnecessary for the king to purchase what already belonged to him, there was no rice available to share. Finally, Andriamasinavalona sought to purchase rice in Andraisisa. His money was refused by the local leader, Andriandrivotra, who willingly gave the king large shares of food and a tribute of silver. To reward the leader of the fief, Andriamasinavalona promised to give him anything he liked. Andriandrivotra declared that all he desired was the love of his sovereign. To show his appreciation, Andriamasinavalona declared that he would make Andraisisa into a great fief, and gave Andriandrivotra a large piece of land to the west of the territory.Callet (1908), pp. 553-555 He then undertook a major expansion of the Betsimitatatra rice fields around Antananarivo, significantly increasing their rice production to feed the populace.Ellis (1838), pp. 121-122
Sociopolitical restructuring
Andriamasinavalona's reorganization and refinement of the subdivisions of the noble class took into account the precedents set by earlier Merina kings Andrianjaka and Ralambo. He declared that only members of the Zazamarolahy ("Numerous Children") caste, composed of nobles descended from Andrianjaka's children, could be shaded by the red parasol of royalty; the tradition of the royal parasol was introduced to Imerina during Andriamasinavalona's reign and persisted until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1897.Callet (1908), p. 659 He also decreed that their tombs should be topped with a tranomasina, a small wooden house without windows or hearth and containing their worldly riches, where their spirit could return to visit after death. Unlike other noble sub-castes, the Zazamarolahy were not constrained to inhabit a particular neighborhood, as Andriamasinavalona acknowledged the privilege of future sovereigns to determine the proximity of these most influential nobles according to the particularities of changing circumstances. Andriamasinavalona also narrowed the pool of potential future sovereigns by restricting this right to a new sub-group within the Zazamarolahy, which he termed Zanak'andriana ("Children of the Sovereign"). This group comprised all the descendants of the royal wives who had given birth to the king's four designated heirs. New rulers could only be selected from among this new sub-class of nobles.Callet (1908), pp. 567-571
The four wives of King Andriamasinavalona whose children were not chosen to rule one of the four districts of Imerina were assigned the noble sub-caste of "Andriamasinavalona" and transferred this ranking to their descendants. The king declared that members of this sub-caste would inhabit Ambatobevanja, at the southern limit of the neighborhood of Andohalo in Antananarivo, just outside the walls of the royal palace. Although not authorized to rule the kingdom, the Andriamasinavalona were deemed societal elders and gained the right to become "masters of the fief" (tompo-menakely) and construct tranomasina on their tombs. They were also assigned the honor of burying deceased sovereigns and carrying out sacrifices requested by the king. Outside of Antananarivo, the Zazamarolahy and the Andriamasinavalona settled throughout Imerina in the individual fiefs centered around the hill towns that they governed. In this way, nobles always lived in close proximity to the people they ruled, ensured their defense and provided for their livelihood.
Andriamasinavalona established new rules to strengthen the authority of the tompo-menakely over their subjects. Inhabitants of the fief paid taxes (isam-pangady) to the local lord, and offered him the hindquarters of all slaughtered zebu as tribute. Parents who adopted or disowned a child paid a fee of one silver piastre to the lord, and the property of those who died without children would revert to the king, who would share it with him. The inhabitants of a fief were bound to execute any work or task ordered by the tompo-menakely. The authority of the lord was highly independent and interference of the king was infrequent, in part due to the close kinship ties uniting the king to the Zazamarolahy and Andriamasinavalona sub-castes.