Ranavalona I

Who is Ranavalona I?

Ranavalona I, born Ramavo around 1788 to a commoner family of the Merina, became queen of Imerina in 1828 after the death of her husband, King Radama I, and ruled for thirty-three years until her own death in 1861. Her father's early warning of a plot against King Andrianampoinimerina had won royal favor for her family, leading eventually to her marriage into the royal line. As queen, she reversed many of Radama's pro-European policies, expelling foreign Christian missionaries, restricting European trade and land ownership, and working to preserve Merina political and religious sovereignty against growing French and British influence. She relied heavily on fanompoana, the traditional system of forced labor performed in place of taxation, to build roads, fortifications, and a standing army capable of resisting foreign encroachment, though the human cost of these campaigns and of her harsh justice system was severe, and the island's population is estimated to have declined significantly during her reign. Long portrayed in colonial-era European accounts as a xenophobic tyrant, she has been reassessed by more recent historians as an early nationalist who succeeded, almost uniquely among nineteenth-century African rulers, in keeping her kingdom free of formal colonial rule throughout her lifetime.

Sources: Ranavalona I, Wikipedia · Ranavalona I, Merina queen, Encyclopaedia Britannica · Ranavalona I, Queen of Madagascar: History, Reign & Facts, World History Edu