Andriamasinavalona
Chief among these was the expansion of his territories and the pacification and unification of certain principalities that had become locked in violent conflict; Andriamasinavalona established and ruled over the largest extent of the Kingdom of Imerina.
He also took possession of a distant hill he renamed Ambohimanga as a lodging for his son Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana; the royal city that developed there has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
[6] He strengthened the social order by creating two new noble castes, putting in place further restrictions and responsibilities for each,[7] and decreeing the right of every woman to choose her own husband.
The number of andriana (noble) sub-castes was expanded from four to six[7] and additional roles and specific territories were designated for each group, both within the neighborhoods of Antananarivo and in the countryside surrounding the capital.
[8] Andriamasinavalona decentralized governance and strengthened the power of local administrators by creating a series of new decrees that further formalized the relationship between the andriana and the hova (commoners) they ruled.
To show his appreciation, Andriamasinavalona declared that he would make Andriasisa into a great fief, and gave Andriandrivotra a large piece of land to the west of the territory.
[5] Andriamasinavalona's reorganization and refinement of the subdivisions of the noble class took into account the precedents set by earlier Merina kings Andrianjaka and Ralambo.
[11] He also decreed that their tombs should be topped with a tranomasina, a small wooden house without windows or hearth and containing their worldly riches, where their spirit could return to visit after death.
Although not authorized to rule the kingdom, the Andriamasinavalona were deemed societal elders and gained the right to become "masters of the fief" (tompo-menakely) and construct tranomasina on their tombs.
Parents who adopted or disowned a child paid a fee of one silver piastre to the lord, and the property of those who died without children would revert to the king, who would share it with him.
[9] The Zana-tompo (or Andriantompokoindrindra) were also considered elders, and Andriamasinavalona decreed that kings would henceforth select their wives and royal food tasters from among this caste.
They were also responsible for gathering used hoes for the royal blacksmiths to melt down and then supervise the artisans as the metal was crafted into nails, shackles and other forged objects.
[8] Within Antananarivo, the territory of the Andrianamboninolona, designated generations before by King Andrianjaka, included the neighborhood of Ambatomasina (east of Andohalo) and extended from Ambohitantely eastward to Ambatolampy and north to the principal road that led to Ambavahadimasina.
King Andriamasinavalona decreed that within the capital city, the Zanaralambo would live in the area delimited by Ambohitsoa to the southwest, Ambodivoanonoka to the east, and Andohalokely in the north.
[8] In addition to these new roles for noble sub-castes, Andriamasinavalona singled out the Antehiroka as sacred royal advisers and custodians of ancestral traditions related to circumcision.
The Antehiroka were also tasked with delivering royal benedictions, receiving hasina (tribute) on behalf of the king, and wrapping deceased sovereigns in the traditional lambamena shroud.
Andriamasinavalona successfully united a number of these principalities in the territory bordering his own, thereby expanding the boundaries of Imerina to include Fanongoavana to the west, Rangaina to the north, Ombifotsy to the east and Sahasarotra to the south.
[7] His diplomatic and political conquests enabled Andriamasinavalona to extend his kingdom to its fullest historical extent, making him the first Merina sovereign to rule over the entire province of Imerina.
[18] The greatest point of controversy in Andriamasinavalona's reign was his decision to divide his kingdom among his four favorite sons: Andrianjakanavalonamandimby, Adrianmanotronavalonimerina, Andriantomponimerina I and Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana, who received the largest share of the land and was the most powerful of the four young sovereigns.
The zebu cooked inconsistently, and the king interpreted this as a sign that the guardian was dishonest and intended to seize power himself, so Andriamasinavalona ordered him put to death and had the idol Matsatso discarded in a lake.
[21] The 19th century transcription of Merina oral history, Tantara ny Andriana eto Madagasikara, relates that Andriamampandry privately assessed the leadership qualities of each of the four selected sons, with disappointing results.
Afterward Andriamampandry remarked that the kingdom had become a pot of honey without a lid, implying the first one to come along would be free to reach his hand inside and take all its bounty for himself.
"[21] According to oral history, Andriamasinavalona was temporarily usurped through the trickery of his son Andriantomponimerina, who ruled the western territory from his rova at Ambohidratrimo.
Once Andriamasinavalona's sons had been installed in their territories, Andriantomponimerina tested his authority by imposing a particular hairstyle upon the Marovatana people he ruled, in disregard of the promise that the king had made to respect the diverse customs and taboos of Imerina.
[22] After some time, the king's designated successor, Andriambonimena, launched a retaliatory attack against the prince's half-brother Andrianentoarivo at Ambohipotsy and successfully chased him from his fief.
Andriantomponimerina recognized the need to take more dramatic action to consolidate his grip on power and sent a messenger to the Sakalava king requesting his support.
According to one version of the oral history, having failed to use the king as a pawn to gain power, the prince decided to ransom his father for 7,000 piastres to increase his personal wealth.
According to another version of the story, Prince Andriantsimitoviaminiandriana of Ambohimanga sent two hunters of the Tsimahafotsy clan to free the king by digging an escape passage under the wall of his heavily guarded enclosure.
In one version of the oral history, Andriamampandry and his fellow royal advisers were concerned that the king's imprisonment had weakened his authority and could lead the population to revolt against him.
In the first version of the story, royal advisers bound him with ropes and laid him on the ground to the west of the Masoandro palace within the rova compound at Antananarivo, but rather than kill the man they symbolically "sacrificed" him by pouring rooster blood mixed with water onto his throat.
