1. Andrianampoinimerina's reign was marked by the reunification of Imerina following 77 years of civil war, and the subsequent expansion of his kingdom into neighboring territories, thereby initiating the unification of Madagascar under Merina rule.
Andrianampoinimerina is a cultural hero and holds near mythic status among the Merina people, and is considered one of the greatest military and political leaders in the history of Madagascar.
Andrianampoinimerina took power upon deposing his uncle, King Andrianjafy, who had ruled over Imerina Avaradrano.
Andrianampoinimerina established his capital at the fortified town of Ambohimanga, a site of great spiritual, cultural and political significance that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.
Andrianampoinimerina was born Ramboasalamarazaka around 1745 in Ikaloy, in central Madagascar, to Princess Ranavalonandriambelomasina, daughter of King Andriambelomasina of Imerina, and her husband Andriamiaramanjaka, an andriana of the Zafimamy royal family in the independent kingdom of Alahamadintany to the north of Imerina.
Andrianampoinimerina was born during the first quarter of the moon of the month Alahamady, the sign of a highly auspicious birth according to popular belief.
Andrianampoinimerina's popularity stood in contrast to public discontentment with his uncle, King Andrianjafy, who was viewed as a despotic and incompetent ruler.
Andrianampoinimerina conquered Antananarivo in 1793 and concluded treaties with the kings of Antananarivo and Ambohidratrimo.
Andrianampoinimerina shifted the kingdom's political capital back to Antananarivo in 1794.
Andrianampoinimerina reinforced alliances with powerful nobles in conquered regions of Imerina through marriage to local princesses, and is said to have wed 12 women in total.
Andrianampoinimerina placed each wife at a house built at each of the twelve sacred hills.
Andrianampoinimerina then consolidated Merina power in neighboring southern central Betsileo territories, establishing military outposts to protect Merina settlers as far south as the Ankaratra mountains and Faratsiho.
Andrianampoinimerina launched several campaigns to pacify the Sakalava but none were successful.
Andrianampoinimerina sought to establish peace through marriages intended to form political alliances, but without achieving lasting peace or an end to the slave raids.
Andrianampoinimerina rewarded the informant by marrying his daughter to his son, future King Radama I Andrianampoinimerina furthermore declared that any child from this union would be first in the line of succession after Radama.
The marriage did not produce children and following Radama's death in 1828, this royal wife would rule Madagascar for 33 years as Queen Ranavalona I Andrianaimpoinimerina's authority was threatened by his adopted son, Rabodolahy, who plotted to kill Radama; when these efforts failed, he attempted to assassinate Andrianampoinimerina, but was discovered and executed.
Andrianampoinimerina is credited with major development and reorganization of the city.
Andrianampoinimerina undertook significant expansion of the sacred rova compound and improved its venerable buildings.
Andrianampoinimerina implanted representatives of ethnic groups he had recently conquered in specified neighborhoods of the city.
The legitimacy of Andrianampoinimerina's reign was bolstered by his characterization of other Merina rulers' claims to power as fanjakana hova - rule by hova, whose lineages were only weakly tied to the line of succession relative to his own.
Andrianampoinimerina consulted a group of ombiasy, who were literate in the sorabe script historically used on the east coast to inscribe a series of ancient texts considered to contain powerful magic and specialized scientific and ritual knowledge.
Andrianampoinimerina passed laws giving children the right to claim meat from the butcher that had not been sold by the day's end, and allowing the poor to eat cassava from others' fields, provided they took only what they could cook and consume on the spot.
Andrianampoinimerina decreed new rights and responsibilities for the andriana, including the privilege of placing sculptures or images of the voromahery on their homes to indicate their noble status.
Modifications and expansions on several traditional royal rituals under Andrianampoinimerina enabled him to develop a state religion in which he was the central figure.
Andrianampoinimerina devised systems for organizing work teams, motivated their efforts by setting up competitions between teams, and punished those who failed to contribute their due share of effort.
Andrianampoinimerina mobilized groups of hiragasy village musicians to entertain work teams and later employed them to travel among towns and villages across the kingdom, broadcasting news, announcing new laws and promoting proper social behavior.
Andrianampoinimerina developed a legal system that applied throughout the territories he ruled.
Andrianampoinimerina was the first Merina king to establish formal civil and penal codes, the latter ameliorated and transcribed by his son Radama.
Andrianampoinimerina declared twelve crimes to be capital offenses, while many others entailed collective punishment for the guilty party and his or her family members including forced labor in chains and being reduced to slave status.
Under Andrianampoinimerina, regulations were established to manage trading in slaves and other commodities.
Andrianampoinimerina regulated commerce and the economy by creating official markets and standardizing market scales and other units of measurement, including length and volume.
King Andrianampoinimerina established the first marketplace in Antananarivo on the grounds today occupied by the Analakely market's tile-roofed pavilions, constructed in the 1930s.
Andrianampoinimerina decreed Friday as market day, when merchants would come to Analakely to erect stalls shaded with traditional white parasols.
Prosperity for the masses in Imerina increased throughout Andrianampoinimerina's reign, leading to growth in population density.
Andrianampoinimerina's military was equipped with the sizeable stock of arms he procured from coastal traders in western Madagascar.
Andrianampoinimerina died in the Mahitsielafanjaka house on the compound of the Rova of Antananarivo on 6 July 1810 at the age of 65, having fathered eleven sons and thirteen daughters by his many wives.
Andrianampoinimerina was succeeded by his 18-year-old son, Radama I In order to fulfill his oath that the child of his son Radama would follow in the line of succession, Andrianampoinimerina had his oldest son, Ramavolahy, killed to prevent any contest for the throne.
Historian Bethwell Ogot states Andrianampoinimerina is "regarded as the most important of Imerina's kings".
The primary source of information about the reign of Andrianampoinimerina is Tantara ny Andriana eto Madagasikara, a Malagasy language book relating the oral history of the Merina kings as collected by a Jesuit missionary, Francois Callet, in the late 19th century.
Innovations during the reign of Andrianampoinimerina were to have long-standing consequences for the structure of Malagasy society in the 19th century.
Ambohimanga, which Andrianampoinimerina declared the spiritual capital of Madagascar, remains among the country's most important spiritual and cultural sites, and was recognized as Madagascar's only cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.