History
The Bezanozano inhabited the fertile forested land between the plains of Imerina to the west and the lowland coastal rainforest to the east in an area historically called Ankay. They lived in fortified villages governed by local chiefs. Their original source of unified identity was the worship of 11 protective sampy (idols) said to have been brought from Sakalava territory. According to popular belief, the Bezanozano may be descendants of the island's earliest inhabitants, the Vazimba. Oral history relates that the Bezanozano historically lived in small communities governed collectively by village elders. Matters of justice were handled collectively through public deliberation to reach consensus. [6]
Bezanozano society reached its golden age in the 18th century, acting as intermediaries in trade between the Merina in the highlands and the European and Arab slave traders and merchants that landed along the east coast. Occasionally Bezanozano villagers would negotiate directly with French traders; some of these were captured and sold into slavery themselves. This intermediary trading role allowed the Bezanozano to amass considerable wealth in slaves and cattle. [7] Some of this wealth was gained by engaging in slave raids in the communities in the neighboring Kingdom of Imerina, which was then in the throes of a destabilizing civil war. The town of Moramanga became a major hub of Bezanozano trade. The population of slaves owned by the Bezanozano had grown so large by the mid-18th century that in 1768 a slave rebellion erupted; the Bezanozano solicited the aid of Europeans to put it down. To further strengthen their economic position, the Bezanozano entered into an alliance with the powerful Betsimisaraka Kingdom to the east. They were in regular enough economic relations with Europeans that they were able to offer Spanish piastres in addition to slaves in exchange for the guns provided by European traders. The villages neighboring Bezanozano territory were in many instances invited to assist in transporting Bezanozano trade goods because the demand for Bezanozano services exceeded the manpower available to satisfy it. In the late 18th century the Bezanozano were spread out over a territory twice the size of the area they consider their homeland today, extending from Angavokely in the west to the Betsimisaraka cliffs to the east, and southward to around twelve kilometers beyond Beparasy. [11] The first and only Bezanozano king, Randrianjomoina, emerged around this time.
The wealth of the region had encouraged several other kingdoms to attempt to conquer this territory, but none were successful until King Andrianampoinimerina of neighboring Imerina (d. 1810), who allowed Randrianjomoina and the Bezanozano chieftains to retain their positions but required them to pay an annual tribute to him. [11] The Bezanozano actively resisted Andrianampoinimerina's authority throughout his reign and refused to observe mourning customs upon his death. [11] With the death of the Merina king, other Bezanozano communities actively rebelled against the authority of the Imerina Kingdom. His son and successor, Radama I, retaliated by burning a major Bezanozano town and slaughtering its inhabitants. [11] Radama and his army of 30,000 soldiers successfully colonized Bezanozano territory in 1817 en route to Toamasina, where he further extended his authority over the Betsimisaraka. Having established control over the Bezanozano, Radama imposed the customary fanampoana (unpaid labor in lieu of taxes) to produce high volumes of rice, cattle and other goods that were to be given to the Merina king as annual tribute. [11] Radama I opened a major transport road from his capital at Antananarivo that ran through Bezanozano territory to the coastal port at Toamasina. His successor, Queen Ranavalona I, established a munitions factory at Mantasoa in the region and a second transport road to Toamasina, effectively bounding the southern part of Bezanozano territory between these two major trade routes. Consequently, the local population were heavily conscripted to provide unpaid labor for major public works projects like road maintenance and support to the trade caravans. [11] The Bezanozano became so strongly associated with unpaid labor and porterage in the minds of many Merina that a stereotype formed that persists today conflating the name Bezanozano with andevo (the historic slave class). This policy had the result of strongly depopulating the Ankay. In the 1830s a Bezanozano rebellion against this forced labor disrupted trade to between the capital and the east coast until it was put down by the Merina army. The natural resources of Bezanozano territory were more systematically exploited under Merina rule, including timber and iron; iron ore was abundant in Bezanozano territory in part because the local population had never learned to smith it. Merina culture also became assimilated during the 19th century, introducing the cultivation of peanuts and beans and the construction of stone tombs and trano gasy houses.
Following the French colonization of Madagascar in 1896, other innovations from Imerina were gradually introduced, like terraced irrigated paddy fields, ox carts and the fabrication of metal tools. [19] Large numbers of Merina migrants settled in this region beginning in the 1920s, where they worked as merchants, traders and forestry capitalists. [20] After Madagascar regained independence in 1960, there was a strong social movement among the Bezanozano to reestablish an ethnic identity in which constraints associated with class and historic social roles were jettisoned in favor of greater freedom, opportunity and equality. Local officials of the leading political party, PSD, sought to ensure equal participation of the descendants of Bezanozano andriana (nobles) and slaves while minimizing representation of the local Merina population. Following the 1972 rotaka (protests) that brought down the Tsiranana administration and ushered in the AREMA government of Didier Ratsiraka, the central authority preferred working with the traditional community leaders, who were typically Bezanozano elders.
Culture
The Bezanozano cultivate rice in terraced, irrigated paddies and prefer not to cut down virgin forest, as they contain vazimba tombs and other natural sites favored by spirits and are the home of the fady-protected indri lemurs. The neighboring Betsimisaraka, however, tend to seek out new forest to cut down for fresh pasture and planting, and consider uncultivated land as unclaimed. This difference of perspective has led the Betsimisaraka to encroach on land that the Bezanozano believe belongs to them, producing some tension among bordering communities. [26]
Indirect speech, discretion, tact and avoidance of conflict mark verbal expression and social interactions among the Bezanozano, similar to the highland Merina but in contrast with the Betsimisaraka of the east coast. [20]
Fady
In Ambatondrazaka and among certain other Bezanozano communities, consumption of pork has historically been fady . The Indri was probably considered taboo in many Bezanozano villages, where it may not be killed or eaten, must be freed if trapped, and must be buried with the same rites as a person.
Funeral rites
The Bezanozano traditionally bury their dead in stone tombs. Like the Merina, they practice the famadihana reburial ceremony. Funerals are celebrated by drinking large quantities of rum.
Dance and music
The Betatoato is a dance that is unique to the Bezanozano. [29]
The history of Madagascar is distinguished clearly by the early isolation of the landmass from the ancient supercontinent containing Africa and India, and by the island's late colonization by human settlers from the Sunda islands and from East Africa. These two factors facilitated the evolution and survival of thousands of endemic plant and animal species, some of which have gone extinct or are currently threatened with extinction. Trade in the Indian Ocean at the time of first colonization of Madagascar was dominated by Indonesian ships, probably of Borobudur ship and K'un-lun po types.
Antananarivo, also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra, is the capital of Analamanga region. The city sits at 1,280 m (4,199 ft) above sea level in the center of the island, the highest national capital by elevation among the island countries. It has been the country's largest population center since at least the 18th century. The presidency, National Assembly, Senate and Supreme Court are located there, as are 21 diplomatic missions and the headquarters of many national and international businesses and NGOs. It has more universities, nightclubs, art venues, and medical services than any city on the island. Several national and local sports teams, including the championship-winning national rugby team, the Makis are based here.
Radama I "the Great" (1793–1828) was the first Malagasy sovereign to be recognized as King of Madagascar (1810–1828) by a European state. He came to power at the age of 18 following the death of his father, King Andrianampoinimerina. Under Radama's rule and at his invitation, the first Europeans entered his central highland Kingdom of Imerina and its capital at Antananarivo. Radama encouraged these London Missionary Society envoys to establish schools to teach tradecraft and literacy to nobles and potential military and civil service recruits; they also introduced Christianity and taught literacy using the translated Bible. A wide range of political and social reforms were enacted under his rule, including an end to the international slave trade, which had historically been a key source of wealth and armaments for the Merina monarchy. Through aggressive military campaigns he successfully united two-thirds of the island under his rule. Abuse of alcohol weakened his health and he died prematurely at age 35. He was succeeded by his highest-ranking wife, Ranavalona I.
Ranavalona I, also known as Ranavalo-Manjaka I, was sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. After positioning herself as queen following the death of her young husband, Radama I, Ranavalona pursued a policy of isolationism and self-sufficiency, reducing economic and political ties with European powers, repelling a French attack on the coastal town of Foulpointe, and taking vigorous measures to eradicate the small but growing Malagasy Christian movement initiated under Radama I by members of the London Missionary Society. She made heavy use of the traditional practice of fanompoana to complete public works projects and develop a standing army of between 20,000 and 30,000 Merina soldiers, whom she deployed to pacify outlying regions of the island and further expand the realm. The combination of regular warfare, disease, difficult forced labor and harsh trials by ordeal using a poisonous nut from the Tangena shrub resulted in a high mortality rate among both soldiers and civilians during her 33-year reign, with Madagascar's population reducing from 5 million in 1833 to 2.5 million in 1839.
Radama II was the son and heir of Queen Ranavalona I and ruled from 1861 to 1863 over the Kingdom of Madagascar, which controlled virtually the entire island. Radama's rule, although brief, was a pivotal period in the history of the Kingdom of Madagascar. Under the unyielding and often harsh 33-year rule of his mother, Queen Ranavalona I, Madagascar had successfully preserved its cultural and political independence from European colonial designs. Rejecting the queen's policy of isolationism and persecution of Christians, Radama II permitted religious freedom and re-opened Madagascar to European influence. Under the terms of the Lambert Charter, which Radama secretly contracted in 1855 with French entrepreneur Joseph-François Lambert while Ranavalona still ruled, the French were awarded exclusive rights to the exploitation of large tracts of valuable land and other lucrative resources and projects. This agreement, which was later revoked by Prime Minister Rainilaiarivony, was key to establishing France's claim over Madagascar as a protectorate and, in 1896, as a colony.
The Merina people are the largest ethnic group in Madagascar. They are the "highlander" Malagasy ethnic group of the African island and one of the country's eighteen official ethnic groups. Their origins are mixed, predominantly with Austronesians arriving before the 5th century AD, then many centuries later with Arabs, Africans and other ethnic groups. They speak the Merina dialect of the official Malagasy language of Madagascar.
Andrianampoinimerina (1745–1810) ruled the Kingdom of Imerina on Madagascar from 1787 until his death. His 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.
Ambohimanga is a hill and traditional fortified royal settlement (rova) in Madagascar, located approximately 24 kilometers (15 mi) northeast of the capital city of Antananarivo. It is situated in the commune of Ambohimanga Rova.
Andriambelomasina was a Merina King of Imerina Avaradrano, the northern part of the central highlands of Madagascar. The kingdom's capital was located at Ambohimanga.
The Rova of Antananarivo is a royal palace complex (rova) in Madagascar that served as the home of the sovereigns of the Kingdom of Imerina in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as of the rulers of the Kingdom of Madagascar in the 19th century. Its counterpart is the nearby fortified village of Ambohimanga, which served as the spiritual seat of the kingdom in contrast to the political significance of the Rova in the capital. Located in the central highland city of Antananarivo, the Rova occupies the highest point on Analamanga, formerly the highest of Antananarivo's many hills. Merina king Andrianjaka, who ruled Imerina from around 1610 until 1630, is believed to have captured Analamanga from a Vazimba king around 1610 or 1625 and erected the site's first fortified royal structure. Successive Merina kings continued to rule from the site until the fall of the monarchy in 1896, frequently restoring, modifying or adding royal structures within the compound to suit their needs.
The Merina Kingdom, or Kingdom of Madagascar, officially the Kingdom of Imerina, was a pre-colonial state off the coast of Southeast Africa that, by the 19th century, dominated most of what is now Madagascar. It spread outward from Imerina, the Central Highlands region primarily inhabited by the Merina ethnic group with a spiritual capital at Ambohimanga and a political capital 24 km (15 mi) west at Antananarivo, currently the seat of government for the modern state of Madagascar. The Merina kings and queens who ruled over greater Madagascar in the 19th century were the descendants of a long line of hereditary Merina royalty originating with Andriamanelo, who is traditionally credited with founding Imerina in 1540.
The Betsimisaraka are the second largest ethnic group in Madagascar after the Merina and make up approximately fifteen percent of the Malagasy people. They occupy a large stretch of the eastern coastal region of Madagascar, from Mananjary in the south to Antalaha in the north. The Betsimisaraka have a long history of extensive interaction with European seafarers and traders that produced a significant subset with mixed European-Malagasy origins, termed the zana-malata. European influence is evident in the local valse (waltz) and basesa musical genres, which are typically performed on the accordion. Tromba ceremonies feature strongly in Betsimisaraka culture.
Ralambo was the ruler of the Kingdom of Imerina in the central Highlands region of Madagascar from 1575 to 1612. Ruling from Ambohidrabiby, Ralambo expanded the realm of his father, Andriamanelo, and was the first to assign the name of Imerina to the region. Oral history has preserved numerous legends about this king, including several dramatic military victories, contributing to his heroic and near-mythical status among the kings of ancient Imerina. The circumstances surrounding his birth, which occurred on the highly auspicious date of the first of the year, are said to be supernatural in nature and further add to the mystique of this sovereign.
Andrianjaka reigned over the Kingdom of Imerina in the central highlands region of Madagascar from around 1612 to 1630. Despite being the younger of King Ralambo's two sons, Andrianjaka succeeded to the throne on the basis of his strength of character and skill as a military tactician. The most celebrated accomplishment of his reign was the capture of the hill of Analamanga from a Vazimba king. There he established the fortified compound (rova) that would form the heart of his new capital city of Antananarivo. Upon his orders, the first structures within this fortified compound were constructed: several traditional royal houses were built, and plans for a series of royal tombs were designed. These buildings took on an enduring political and spiritual significance, ensuring their preservation until being destroyed by fire in 1995. Andrianjaka obtained a sizable cache of firearms and gunpowder, materials that helped to establish and preserve his dominance and expand his rule over greater Imerina.
The architecture of Madagascar is unique in Africa, bearing strong resemblance to the construction norms and methods of Southern Borneo from which the earliest inhabitants of Madagascar are believed to have immigrated. Throughout Madagascar and the Kalimantan region of Borneo, most traditional houses follow a rectangular rather than round form, and feature a steeply sloped, peaked roof supported by a central pillar.
The twelve sacred hills of Imerina are hills of historical significance to the Merina people of Madagascar. Located throughout Imerina, the central area of the highlands of Madagascar, the sites were often ancient capitals, the birthplaces of key public figures, or the tomb sites of esteemed political or spiritual leaders. The first set of sacred sites was designated by early 17th-century king Andrianjaka. The notion was re-sanctified under late 18th-century king Andrianampoinimerina, who replaced several of the earlier sites with new ones. More than 12 sites were thus designated as sacred over time, although the notion of twelve sacred hills was perpetuated because of the significance of the number 12 in Malagasy cosmology. Today, little concrete evidence of the former importance of many of these sites remains, but the significant archeological and cultural heritage of several of the sites has been preserved. The historic significance of the sites is best represented by the Rova of Antananarivo at Analamanga, the ancient fortified city at Alasora, the houses and tombs of the andriana at Antsahadinta and the ancient fortifications and palaces at Ambohimanga, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.
The Antemoro are an ethnic group of Madagascar living on the southeastern coast, mostly between Manakara and Farafangana. Numbering around 500,000, this ethnic group traces its origins back to settlers who arrived from Somalia in the 15th or 16th century. Upon arriving in Madagascar, these settlers converted the Antemoro to Islam; the religion was soon abandoned in favor of traditional beliefs and practices associated with respect for the ancestors, although remnants of Islam remain in fady such as the prohibition against consuming pork. In the 16th century an Antemoro kingdom was established, supplanting the power of the earlier Zafiraminia, who also descended from seafarers.
The Bara people are a Malagasy ethnic group living in the southern part of the central plateaus of Madagascar, in the Toliara Province, concentrated around their historic capital at Ihosy. The Bara are the largest of the island's zebu-herding peoples and have historically lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle, although an increasing proportion are practicing agriculture. Bara society is highly patriarchal and endogamy and polygamy are practiced among some Bara tribes. Young men practice cattle rustling to prove their manhood before marriage, and the kilalaky musical and dance tradition associated with cattle rustlers has gained popularity across the island.
The Sihanaka are a Malagasy ethnic group concentrated around Lake Alaotra and the town of Ambatondrazaka in central northeastern Madagascar. Their name means the "people of the swamps" in reference to the marshlands around Lake Alaotra that they inhabit. While rice has long been the principal crop of the region, by the 17th century, the Sihanaka had also become wealthy traders in slaves and other goods, capitalizing on their position on the main trade route between the capital of the neighboring Kingdom of Imerina at Antananarivo and the eastern port of Toamasina. At the turn of the 19th century they came under the control of the Boina Kingdom before submitting to Imerina, which went on to rule over the majority of Madagascar. Today the Sihanaka practice intensive agriculture and rice yields are higher in this region than elsewhere, placing strain on the many unique plant and animal species that depend on the Lake Alaotra ecosystem for survival.
A rova is a fortified royal complex built in the central highlands of Madagascar by Merina of the Andriana (noble) class. The first rova was established at Alasora by king Andriamanelo around 1540 to protect his residence throughout a war with the neighboring Vazimba. Rovas are organized according to traditional symbolic notions of space and enclose the royal residences, the tomb of the founder, and a town square marked with a stone. They are protected with walls, trenches and stone gateways and are planted with fig trees symbolic of royalty.
