Andrianampoinimerina

Andrianampoinimerina, born Imboasalama around 1745, ruled the Kingdom of Imerina in the central highlands of Madagascar from 1787 until his death in 1810. His name means the king in the heart of Imerina. He was a grandson of King Andriambelomasina of Imerina Avaradrano, whose ambition had been to unify the warring principalities of the old kingdom of Imerina.

In 1787 he took power from his uncle, King Andrianjafy, who was put to death by his followers. His capital was the fortified hill town of Ambohimanga, a place of great spiritual and political importance, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. At that time Imerina was divided into four rival provinces, and had not been unified since the days of Andriamasinavalona a century earlier.

Through negotiation and war he reunited Imerina by 1793. He captured the old capital Antananarivo, moved his court there and declared the two cities equal in importance, with Ambohimanga as the spiritual capital. From that base he extended his rule over a large part of the island, his goal being to unite the whole of Madagascar under Merina rule.

He was as much an administrator as a conqueror. He organised the irrigation systems that still feed the rice paddies of the highlands, established markets and gave the kingdom laws that brought order. He is remembered for his farmer's sense of the land, and for the maxim that the sea is the limit of his rice field, a declaration of his ambition for the whole island.

He died in 1810, after a reign of 23 years, aged about 64 or 65, and was buried at Ambohimanga. On his deathbed he reportedly told his son Radama that the sea was the border of his rice field, charging him with finishing the task. Radama, with British help, came close to doing so, and the kingdom his father reunited became the core of the modern state of Madagascar.