18th century – 19th century
Madagascar, Indian Ocean
Madagascar underwent extensive political, social, educational, medical, military, and economic transformation during the nineteenth century. Under Merina rule centered on Antananarivo, missionary activity expanded literacy, schooling, printing, Christianity, and medical services. Constitutional reforms strengthened the Hova oligarchy, especially under Rainilaiarivony, while legal, administrative, military, and anti-slavery measures sought to modernize the kingdom. International trade and foreign concessions increased external pressure, even as Malagasy institutions and reforms supported resistance to European intervention.
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The Story
British missionaries opened the first schools in Antananarivo in 1820, establishing an educational tradition that survived even after Christianity was banned and foreign missionaries left the country. Their Malagasy pupils continued secular instruction, and the missionaries’ return after 1861 accelerated the expansion of schooling. By 1880, more than 40,000 pupils attended mission and government schools, while the prime minister required children over seven to attend. The 1881 Code of 305 Articles formalized compulsory education, and government inspectors began examining schools in Imerina in 1882.
Mission printing presses supported the spread of literacy by producing books, magazines, and newspapers. Secondary schools appeared in the 1870s, although their development remained limited before 1880, and some Malagasy boys—including two children of the prime minister—were sent to Britain and France for further study. Literary education advanced more rapidly than technical education because missionary priorities centered on congregational development rather than public works. Malagasy diplomatic correspondence in English and French nevertheless demonstrated the high level of literacy achieved.
Medical services developed alongside education. The London Missionary Society opened a dispensary in Antananarivo in 1862, followed by a hospital at Analakely three years later. In 1875, the Malagasy government created its own paid medical service. By 1880, two Malagasy physicians, Dr Andrianaly and Dr Rajaonah, had qualified after nine years of medical study at Edinburgh University.
Madagascar’s political order shifted away from direct royal authority after the death of Radama I. In the 1820s, Queen Ranavalona I was compelled to share power with Rainiharo and Rainijohary, members of prominent Hova families associated with the foundation of the Merina kingdom. The Hova middle class gained influence through the army, administration, and commercial opportunities, while the Andriana retained social importance but lost much of its effective control over government.
The decisive change followed the assassination of King Radama II in 1863. His successor, Queen Rasoherina, was formally recognized as a constitutional monarch, but the Hova oligarchy assumed the effective direction of the state. Before her coronation, she had to accept restrictions on alcohol consumption, capital punishment, and the promulgation of laws without the consent of a council dominated by her supporters. Rainivoninahitriniony initially became prime minister, while his brother Rainilaiarivony commanded the army.
In July 1864, Rainivoninahitriniony was overthrown and replaced by Rainilaiarivony, who combined the offices of prime minister and commander-in-chief. His marriage to Queen Rasoherina made him the most powerful political figure in Madagascar, and his later marriage to the succeeding queen reinforced his authority. The result was a transfer of effective power from the sovereign and the Andriana group to the prime minister, who headed the Hova oligarchy.
A Code of 101 Articles was promulgated in 1868 to improve law, order, and administration. Additional provisions were added until the Code of 305 Articles was promulgated in March 1881. The code preserved customs and traditions when they did not obstruct innovation, reduced the number of capital offences from eighteen to thirteen, and abolished collective family responsibility for a man’s crimes. Provincial application was less severe, and in 1873 Ranavalona II decreed a separate code of 118 articles for the Betsileo country.
The judicial system was reorganized in 1876 with the creation of three High Courts, each staffed by thirteen judges, eleven of whom were palace officers. At village level, magistrates and village heads administered justice, while the fokon’olona was reorganized to give local leaders greater responsibility for law and order. Despite this institutional expansion, final decisions in both village and superior courts remained with the prime minister, reinforcing centralization in Antananarivo.
The government also created an eight-ministry cabinet in 1876, covering interior affairs, foreign affairs, war, justice, legislation, commerce and industry, finance, and education. Military reform resumed in 1872 with British assistance, including recruitment, training, and equipment for an enlarged professional army. Compulsory five-year military service introduced in 1879 required each of Imerina’s six provinces to provide 5,000 troops, producing an army of approximately 30,000 professional soldiers.
The army conducted expeditions against Sakalava rebels, particularly in Menabe, and against the Bara in the south. An expedition sent to the Bara in 1873 brought the region under the control of the central government in Antananarivo. By the 1880s, however, the army’s role increasingly included defending Madagascar against French intervention rather than merely suppressing internal revolts.
The Malagasy government sought to present the kingdom as a reforming state. It banned the traffic in liquor, abolished tangena trial by ordeal during Radama II’s reign, and maintained the prohibition of the slave trade, although foreign traders continued illegal activity, especially along the western coast. In 1877, the government freed the Makoa, also called Masombiky by the Merina, descendants of people brought to Madagascar from the African mainland. The liberation of an estimated 150,000 slaves caused severe economic losses for owners and represented a major social transformation.
Before the expansion of international trade, Madagascar possessed a largely self-sufficient economy based on family agriculture. Rice was the principal food, especially on the central plateau, while cattle raising was prominent among the Sakalava and southern populations. Sheep, pigs, and fish also contributed to local diets. The Merina controlled an efficient commercial network on the eastern coast but competed with the Antalaotra in the north-west and possessed little influence in the south and parts of the western coast.
Malagasy technical expertise centered on spinning, weaving, mining, and metallurgy. At Mantasoa, approximately 35 kilometres south-east of Antananarivo, Jean Laborde’s factory produced iron, steel, weapons, ammunition, cement, pottery, bricks, tiles, soap, candles, paper, ink, chemicals, and silk-related goods. Much of this production declined after Laborde left Madagascar in the late 1850s, while cheaper imported European and American goods weakened local industry.
Radama I’s accession in 1810 initiated Madagascar’s intensive participation in international trade. Rice and cattle were important exports, while cloth, guns, rum, and machinery were imported. The Anglo-Malagasy Treaty of 1847 banned the slave trade in areas controlled by the Malagasy government, although the traffic continued in western and north-western territories under the cover of contract labor. Madagascar traded with Britain through Mauritius, Zanzibar, and the Seychelles, and with France through Réunion, which depended heavily on Madagascar for cattle and rice.
Treaties with Britain and France were concluded in 1862 and revised in 1865 and 1868; the United States established its first treaty relationship in 1867 with the arrival of an American consul in Antananarivo. Madagascar also created embassies and consulates abroad to facilitate commerce. The government leased land to foreign interests rather than selling it, and the Code of 305 Articles promulgated in March 1881 prohibited the sale of land to foreigners under threat of death.
18th century – 19th century
Madagascar, Indian Ocean
Madagascar underwent extensive political, social, educational, medical, military, and economic transformation during the nineteenth century. Under Merina rule centered on Antananarivo, missionary activity expanded literacy, schooling, printing, Christianity, and medical services. Constitutional reforms strengthened the Hova oligarchy, especially under Rainilaiarivony, while legal, administrative, military, and anti-slavery measures sought to modernize the kingdom. International trade and foreign concessions increased external pressure, even as Malagasy institutions and reforms supported resistance to European intervention.
Continue exploring
The Story
British missionaries opened the first schools in Antananarivo in 1820, establishing an educational tradition that survived even after Christianity was banned and foreign missionaries left the country. Their Malagasy pupils continued secular instruction, and the missionaries’ return after 1861 accelerated the expansion of schooling. By 1880, more than 40,000 pupils attended mission and government schools, while the prime minister required children over seven to attend. The 1881 Code of 305 Articles formalized compulsory education, and government inspectors began examining schools in Imerina in 1882.
Mission printing presses supported the spread of literacy by producing books, magazines, and newspapers. Secondary schools appeared in the 1870s, although their development remained limited before 1880, and some Malagasy boys—including two children of the prime minister—were sent to Britain and France for further study. Literary education advanced more rapidly than technical education because missionary priorities centered on congregational development rather than public works. Malagasy diplomatic correspondence in English and French nevertheless demonstrated the high level of literacy achieved.
Medical services developed alongside education. The London Missionary Society opened a dispensary in Antananarivo in 1862, followed by a hospital at Analakely three years later. In 1875, the Malagasy government created its own paid medical service. By 1880, two Malagasy physicians, Dr Andrianaly and Dr Rajaonah, had qualified after nine years of medical study at Edinburgh University.
Madagascar’s political order shifted away from direct royal authority after the death of Radama I. In the 1820s, Queen Ranavalona I was compelled to share power with Rainiharo and Rainijohary, members of prominent Hova families associated with the foundation of the Merina kingdom. The Hova middle class gained influence through the army, administration, and commercial opportunities, while the Andriana retained social importance but lost much of its effective control over government.
The decisive change followed the assassination of King Radama II in 1863. His successor, Queen Rasoherina, was formally recognized as a constitutional monarch, but the Hova oligarchy assumed the effective direction of the state. Before her coronation, she had to accept restrictions on alcohol consumption, capital punishment, and the promulgation of laws without the consent of a council dominated by her supporters. Rainivoninahitriniony initially became prime minister, while his brother Rainilaiarivony commanded the army.
In July 1864, Rainivoninahitriniony was overthrown and replaced by Rainilaiarivony, who combined the offices of prime minister and commander-in-chief. His marriage to Queen Rasoherina made him the most powerful political figure in Madagascar, and his later marriage to the succeeding queen reinforced his authority. The result was a transfer of effective power from the sovereign and the Andriana group to the prime minister, who headed the Hova oligarchy.
A Code of 101 Articles was promulgated in 1868 to improve law, order, and administration. Additional provisions were added until the Code of 305 Articles was promulgated in March 1881. The code preserved customs and traditions when they did not obstruct innovation, reduced the number of capital offences from eighteen to thirteen, and abolished collective family responsibility for a man’s crimes. Provincial application was less severe, and in 1873 Ranavalona II decreed a separate code of 118 articles for the Betsileo country.
The judicial system was reorganized in 1876 with the creation of three High Courts, each staffed by thirteen judges, eleven of whom were palace officers. At village level, magistrates and village heads administered justice, while the fokon’olona was reorganized to give local leaders greater responsibility for law and order. Despite this institutional expansion, final decisions in both village and superior courts remained with the prime minister, reinforcing centralization in Antananarivo.
The government also created an eight-ministry cabinet in 1876, covering interior affairs, foreign affairs, war, justice, legislation, commerce and industry, finance, and education. Military reform resumed in 1872 with British assistance, including recruitment, training, and equipment for an enlarged professional army. Compulsory five-year military service introduced in 1879 required each of Imerina’s six provinces to provide 5,000 troops, producing an army of approximately 30,000 professional soldiers.
The army conducted expeditions against Sakalava rebels, particularly in Menabe, and against the Bara in the south. An expedition sent to the Bara in 1873 brought the region under the control of the central government in Antananarivo. By the 1880s, however, the army’s role increasingly included defending Madagascar against French intervention rather than merely suppressing internal revolts.
The Malagasy government sought to present the kingdom as a reforming state. It banned the traffic in liquor, abolished tangena trial by ordeal during Radama II’s reign, and maintained the prohibition of the slave trade, although foreign traders continued illegal activity, especially along the western coast. In 1877, the government freed the Makoa, also called Masombiky by the Merina, descendants of people brought to Madagascar from the African mainland. The liberation of an estimated 150,000 slaves caused severe economic losses for owners and represented a major social transformation.
Before the expansion of international trade, Madagascar possessed a largely self-sufficient economy based on family agriculture. Rice was the principal food, especially on the central plateau, while cattle raising was prominent among the Sakalava and southern populations. Sheep, pigs, and fish also contributed to local diets. The Merina controlled an efficient commercial network on the eastern coast but competed with the Antalaotra in the north-west and possessed little influence in the south and parts of the western coast.
Malagasy technical expertise centered on spinning, weaving, mining, and metallurgy. At Mantasoa, approximately 35 kilometres south-east of Antananarivo, Jean Laborde’s factory produced iron, steel, weapons, ammunition, cement, pottery, bricks, tiles, soap, candles, paper, ink, chemicals, and silk-related goods. Much of this production declined after Laborde left Madagascar in the late 1850s, while cheaper imported European and American goods weakened local industry.
Radama I’s accession in 1810 initiated Madagascar’s intensive participation in international trade. Rice and cattle were important exports, while cloth, guns, rum, and machinery were imported. The Anglo-Malagasy Treaty of 1847 banned the slave trade in areas controlled by the Malagasy government, although the traffic continued in western and north-western territories under the cover of contract labor. Madagascar traded with Britain through Mauritius, Zanzibar, and the Seychelles, and with France through Réunion, which depended heavily on Madagascar for cattle and rice.
Treaties with Britain and France were concluded in 1862 and revised in 1865 and 1868; the United States established its first treaty relationship in 1867 with the arrival of an American consul in Antananarivo. Madagascar also created embassies and consulates abroad to facilitate commerce. The government leased land to foreign interests rather than selling it, and the Code of 305 Articles promulgated in March 1881 prohibited the sale of land to foreigners under threat of death.
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