Andriamanelo is generally considered by historians to be the founder of the Kingdom of Imerina and originator of the Merina royal line that, by the 19th century, had extended its rule over virtually all of Madagascar.
13 Facts About Andriamanelo
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The son of a Vazimba mother and a man of the newly arrived Hova people originating in southeast Madagascar, Andriamanelo ultimately led a series of military campaigns against the Vazimba, beginning a several-decade process to drive them from the Highlands.
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Oral tradition furthermore credits Andriamanelo with establishing a ruling class of nobles and defining the rules of succession.
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Andriamanelo resolved to capture Analamanga and drive the Vazimba from his territory, an ambition partially realized during his reign.
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Andriamanelo fortified his capital at Alasora by creating hadivory, hadifetsy and vavahady, thereby rendering the town more resistant to Vazimba attacks.
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Warfare was not the only strategy by which Andriamanelo sought to expand the territory under his control.
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Several years into his reign Andriamanelo married a maternal cousin named Ramaitsoanala who was a princess through her astrologer father, King Rabiby, and her mother Ivorombe who is described in legends as a Vazimba water goddess.
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Andriamanelo is typically portrayed as a civilizing king in contrast to the primitive Vazimba against whom he waged war.
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Andriamanelo reputedly introduced knowledge about the construction and use of pirogues, and was the first in the highlands to transform lowland swamps into irrigated rice paddies through the construction of dikes in the valleys around Alasora.
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Many of the innovations attributed to Andriamanelo were not his personal invention.
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Andriamanelo declared that the child from this union would, if female, be wed to his own son Ralambo; if male, he would become Ralambo's successor.
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Andriamanelo was reportedly the first to formally establish the andriana as a caste of Merina nobles, thereby laying the foundation for a stratified and structured society.
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Andriamanelo ruled until his death at an advanced age around 1575 and was succeeded by his only surviving son, Ralambo.