62 Facts About Andriamasinavalona

Andriamasinavalona, known as Andrianjakanavalondambo, was a King of Imerina in the central highlands of Madagascar.

Andriamasinavalona 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.

Andriamasinavalona 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.

Andriamasinavalona 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.

Andriamasinavalona 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 decreed that all women had the right to choose their husbands.

In Madagascar today, Andriamasinavalona's reign is remembered as a golden age of justice, harmony and prosperity.

Andriamasinavalona was born Prince Andrianjakanavalondambo in the historic Merina capital of Alasora to his father King Andriantsimitoviaminandriandehibe and mother Rampanambonitany.

Andriamasinavalona 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.

Andriamasinavalona 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 from their subjects.

Andriamasinavalona introduced the practice of gathering his subjects to consult them and obtain their consent before making certain decisions.

Andriamasinavalona married twelve wives and produced nine sons and one daughter.

Andriamasinavalona 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.

Andriamasinavalona is remembered in Imerina as a king of significant achievements.

Andriamasinavalona is credited with unifying a number of warring principalities in Imerina and expanding the territory of the kingdom to its largest extent.

Andriamasinavalona 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.

Andriamasinavalona 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.

Andriamasinavalona 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.

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 they ruled.

The town had a surplus but the local leader refused to sell rice to Andriamasinavalona, claiming none was available.

Andriamasinavalona's money was refused by the local leader, Andriandrivotra, who willingly gave the king large shares of food and a tribute of silver.

Andriamasinavalona then undertook a major expansion of the Betsimitatatra rice fields around Antananarivo, significantly increasing their rice production to feed the populace.

Andriamasinavalona declared that only members of the Zazamarolahy 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.

Andriamasinavalona 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 subcastes, 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 narrowed the pool of potential future sovereigns by restricting this right to a new sub-group within the Zazamarolahy, which he termed Zanak'andriana.

Outside of Antananarivo, the Zazamarolahy and the Andriamasinavalona settled throughout Imerina in the individual fiefs centered around the hill towns that they governed.

Andriamasinavalona established new rules to strengthen the authority of the tompo-menakely over their subjects.

The Zana-tompo were considered elders, and Andriamasinavalona decreed that kings would henceforth select their wives and royal food tasters from among this caste.

King Andriamasinavalona decreed that within the capital city, the Zanaralambo would live in the area delimited by Ambohitsoa to the southwest, Ambodivoanonoka to the east, and Andohalokely in the north.

Andriamasinavalona successfully united a number of these principalities in the territory bordering his own, thereby expanding the boundaries of Imerina to include Fanongoavana to the west, Rangaina to the north, Ombifotsy to the east and Sahasarotra to the south.

Andriamasinavalona was accompanied by seven advisers who eloquently communicated their master's willingness to acknowledge Andriamasinavalona as his king.

Andriamasinavalona accepted this offer and sealed the union of their territories by marrying Andriampanarivofomanjaka to his sister, Ranavalontsimitovy.

Oral history recounts that Andriamasinavalona first remarked a distant hill named Ambohitrakanga when he noticed a bonfire lit on its southern face 24 kilometers away from his rova at Antananarivo; the visibility of the site from his capital led Andriamasinavalona to desire the hill as a residence for his son, Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana.

Andriamasinavalona gave the hill its current name, and when he divided the Kingdom of Imerina into four quadrants in 1710, he gave the eastern quadrant of Avaradrano to Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana, who transformed his rova at Ambohimanga into its capital.

The greatest point of controversy in Andriamasinavalona's reign was his decision to divide his kingdom among his four favorite sons: Andrianjakanavalonamandimby, Adrianmanotronavalonimerina, Andriantomponimerina I and Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana, who received the largest share of the land and was the most powerful of the four young sovereigns.

Andriamasinavalona furthermore declared that his nephew Andriambonimena, his sister's son, would replace his own sons and succeed him as king after his death to rule all of Imerina as a united whole.

Andriamasinavalona believed the kingdom would be better defended by four brothers than by one alone, and that they could support one another in warding off attackers from the outside.

Andriamasinavalona decided to test the prophecy by sending one of his wives to the guardian's house, where the population showed her respect by offering zebu for her to eat.

The zebu cooked inconsistently, and the king interpreted this as a sign that the guardian was dishonest and intended to seize power himself, so Andriamasinavalona ordered him put to death and had the idol Matsatso discarded in a lake.

Andriamasinavalona then asked the guardians of the two other idols to declare a successor; the guardian of Soratra fled, while the guardian of Kelimalaza stated that only the king could choose his successor.

Oral history relates that Andriamasinavalona then gathered the people at Andohalo to announce his decision.

Andriamasinavalona recognized the danger but could not bear to choose which among his sons should be excluded from having a part in the decision-making responsibilities of the kingdom, so ignored the elder's advice.

Andriamasinavalona had gathered his people in Andohalo to give a speech, when Andriamampandry set a bull loose into the crowd.

Andriamasinavalona then criticized the king for his concern over the relatively few deaths at the gathering, in light of the number of people who would die as a consequence of his division of Imerina.

Andriamasinavalona further predicted that the prince at Ambohimanga would unite Imerina and lead it back to greatness.

Andriamasinavalona reportedly had no response to give Andriamampandry, but instead hung his head in shame.

Andriamasinavalona presented Andriambonimena of Alasora with a beautiful parrot, which the prince killed and served as food.

Andriamasinavalona related these incidents to Andriamasinavalona, who decided to test his sons in turn by calling them together to his house, then observing how they slept on the bed they shared there.

Once Andriamasinavalona's sons had been installed in their territories, Andriantomponimerina tested his authority by imposing a particular hairstyle upon the Marovatana people he ruled, in disregard of the promise that the king had made to respect the diverse customs and taboos of Imerina.

The Sakalava reaffirmed their loyalty to Andriamasinavalona and threatened to attack the prince if the rightful king was not released from his captivity.

Two stories exist around a ritual of human sacrifice that Andriamasinavalona conducted after his imprisonment.

Andriamasinavalona followed this recommendation and gathered the people to request a volunteer who was willing to have his throat slit with a long dagger to sanctify the king.

The man requested that he and his descendants would forever after be exempted from the death penalty for any crime they might commit; Andriamasinavalona agreed to grant this reward.

Andriamasinavalona died in 1710 when one of his wives, Rasolomananambonitany, inadvertently pushed him from the elevated bed where they slept.

Andriamasinavalona was buried in the royal tombs located at the Rova of Antananarivo.

The reign of Andriamasinavalona is remembered in Madagascar as a golden age of prosperity, justice, abundance and harmony.

Andriamasinavalona is described in oral histories as a talented politician and kind and just ruler.

Andriamasinavalona's name is often traditionally invoked in Imerina when paying tribute to the ancestors or making a binding pledge.

Andriamasinavalona is said to have exercised great care over his district, and to have introduced many important improvements.