Radama I

Who is Radama I?

Radama I, born around 1793, was the son and chosen successor of King Andrianampoinimerina and became ruler of the Kingdom of Imerina in 1810 at about seventeen years old. He is remembered as the first Malagasy sovereign formally recognized as King of Madagascar by a European power: in an 1817 treaty negotiated with British envoy James Hastie, Britain recognized his sovereignty over the island in exchange for his pledge to end the export of slaves from Merina-controlled ports. Backed by British military training and firearms, Radama's armies expanded Merina control over roughly two-thirds of the island, continuing the unification his father had begun. His reign is equally remembered for opening the kingdom to outside ideas: he invited London Missionary Society envoys to establish schools that taught literacy, trades, and Christian instruction to Merina nobles and commoners alike, and by the time of his death in 1828 thousands of Malagasy people had learned to read and write using the newly standardized Malagasy script. He sent select students to study in Britain and encouraged the printing of the first Malagasy-language texts. His modernizing and diplomatic reign is considered a turning point that shaped Madagascar's relationship with the wider world for the rest of the nineteenth century.

Sources: Radama I, Wikipedia · Radama I, Merina king, Encyclopaedia Britannica · Radama I: The King who opened Madagascar to the world, angano.com