19th century – 19th century
Imerina, Madagascar
Radama I was the Merina king who expanded his authority across much of Madagascar between 1810 and 1828. He cultivated relations with British Mauritius, concluded treaties concerning commerce and the slave trade, welcomed missionaries and technical specialists, reorganized the army, and led campaigns against eastern and western peoples. His reign ended with his death in July 1828, before Merina authority had become fully secure across the island.
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The Story
Radama I made the expansion of Merina authority the central project of his reign. His attention turned toward Tamatave, whose possession offered access to the eastern coast and the wider Indian Ocean. The political fragmentation of the Betsimisaraka region created opportunities for intervention, while Jean René’s control of Tamatave in 1812 made the port a central objective of Radama’s diplomacy and military planning.
Relations with Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar, governor of Mauritius, produced a sequence of negotiations. A treaty of friendship and commerce was signed in February 1817, followed by the Anglo-Malagasy Treaty of Friendship and Commerce at Tamatave on 23 October 1817. The agreement recognized Radama as king of Madagascar and required the abolition of the slave trade in return for British subsidies, weapons, military supplies, cloth, and horses. After a breakdown under Farquhar’s successor, the treaty was renewed on 11 October 1820.
Radama also invited British missionaries because he wanted education and technical assistance as well as religious instruction. Schools, printing, literacy, carpentry, building, weaving, and other technical activities expanded during his reign. His most important military reform was the creation of a modernized standing army, trained by English instructors and organized through a formal system of ranks. Campaigns brought much of the east and portions of the west and north-west under Merina authority, but resistance and logistical difficulties remained severe.
Radama’s campaigns reached Tamatave, Foulpointe, the Bay of Antongil, Vohemar, Fort Dauphin, Menabe, Boina, and Majunga. By 1828 he had extended Merina hegemony over most of the island, although the Antandroy, Mahafaly, Bara, and many Sakalava communities remained independent or only loosely subordinated. Heavy drinking, demanding campaigns, and ill health weakened him. He died on 27 July 1828 at the age of thirty-six, bringing his reign to an abrupt end.
19th century – 19th century
Imerina, Madagascar
Radama I was the Merina king who expanded his authority across much of Madagascar between 1810 and 1828. He cultivated relations with British Mauritius, concluded treaties concerning commerce and the slave trade, welcomed missionaries and technical specialists, reorganized the army, and led campaigns against eastern and western peoples. His reign ended with his death in July 1828, before Merina authority had become fully secure across the island.
Continue exploring
The Story
Radama I made the expansion of Merina authority the central project of his reign. His attention turned toward Tamatave, whose possession offered access to the eastern coast and the wider Indian Ocean. The political fragmentation of the Betsimisaraka region created opportunities for intervention, while Jean René’s control of Tamatave in 1812 made the port a central objective of Radama’s diplomacy and military planning.
Relations with Sir Robert Townsend Farquhar, governor of Mauritius, produced a sequence of negotiations. A treaty of friendship and commerce was signed in February 1817, followed by the Anglo-Malagasy Treaty of Friendship and Commerce at Tamatave on 23 October 1817. The agreement recognized Radama as king of Madagascar and required the abolition of the slave trade in return for British subsidies, weapons, military supplies, cloth, and horses. After a breakdown under Farquhar’s successor, the treaty was renewed on 11 October 1820.
Radama also invited British missionaries because he wanted education and technical assistance as well as religious instruction. Schools, printing, literacy, carpentry, building, weaving, and other technical activities expanded during his reign. His most important military reform was the creation of a modernized standing army, trained by English instructors and organized through a formal system of ranks. Campaigns brought much of the east and portions of the west and north-west under Merina authority, but resistance and logistical difficulties remained severe.
Radama’s campaigns reached Tamatave, Foulpointe, the Bay of Antongil, Vohemar, Fort Dauphin, Menabe, Boina, and Majunga. By 1828 he had extended Merina hegemony over most of the island, although the Antandroy, Mahafaly, Bara, and many Sakalava communities remained independent or only loosely subordinated. Heavy drinking, demanding campaigns, and ill health weakened him. He died on 27 July 1828 at the age of thirty-six, bringing his reign to an abrupt end.
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