Merina Kingdom

Kingdom of Imerina
Fanjakan'Imerina
1540–1897
Flag Coat of Arms (1896–97)
Location of Madagascar in Africa
Capital		Antananarivo
Languages		Malagasy
Religion		Traditional beliefs, Protestantism (from 1869)
Government		Absolute monarchy, parliamentary monarchy
Monarch
•	1540–1575	Andriamanelo (first)
•	1883–1897	Ranavalona III (last)
Historical era		Pre-colonial
•	Accession of King Andriamanelo	1540
•	French capture of the royal palace	1897
Succeeded by Malagasy Protectorate
Today part of		Madagascar

The Merina Kingdom (c.1540–1897) 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 kilometres (15 mi) west at Antananarivo, currently the seat of government for the modern democratic 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.

Madagascar's central highlands were first inhabited between 200 BCE–300 CE by the island's earliest settlers, the Vazimba, who appear to have arrived by pirogue from southeastern Borneo to establish simple villages in the island's dense forests. By the 15th century the Hova people from the southeastern coast had gradually migrated into the central highlands where they established hilltop villages interspersed among the existing Vazimba settlements, which were ruled by local kings and queens. The two peoples coexisted peacefully for several generations and are known to have intermarried. In this way, a reigning Vazimba queen (alternately given in the oral histories as Rafohy or Rangita) married a Hova man named Manelobe. Their oldest son, Andriamanelo (1540–1575), broke this tradition by launching a largely successful war to subjugate the surrounding Vazimba communities and force them to either submit to Hova dominance and assimilate, or flee.