Kingdom of Imerina

The Kingdom of Imerina was the highland state that grew to rule Madagascar, lasting from about 1540 to 1897. Tradition credits Andriamanelo with founding the kingdom among the Merina people of the central plateau, with a sacred capital at Ambohimanga and a political one at Antananarivo. For two centuries it was one chiefdom among many, until the warrior king Andrianampoinimerina and his son Radama I reformed its armies, laws and markets and brought most of the great island under one sceptre in the early nineteenth century. The united kingdom abolished the export of slaves, welcomed and then expelled European missionaries under the formidable Queen Ranavalona, and played Britain against France to guard its independence. The game could not last: France invaded in 1883 to force a protectorate, returned in force in 1894, and after the Franco-Hova Wars marched into Antananarivo and exiled the queen. In 1897 the kingdom became the French colony of Madagascar, ending three and a half centuries of Merina rule.