Imerina

The Kingdom of Imerina (Malagasy: Fanjakan'Imerina; c. 1540–1897), also known as the Kingdom of Madagascar or the Kingdom of Merina, was a pre-colonial state off the coast of Southeast Africa that, by the 18th 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. In 1883, France invaded the Merina Kingdom to establish a protectorate. France invaded again in 1894 and conquered the kingdom, making it a French colony, in what became known as the Franco-Hova Wars. For almost its entire existence, the kingdom of Madagascar was de facto governed by the Hovabe of the Tsimiamboholahy clan of Andafiavaratra, direct descendants of the last great Vazimba kings of Ialamanga (present-day Antananarivo), where they reigned for several centuries and whose military and economic power enabled Andrianampoinimerina and Radama I to conquer part of the island. The clan chiefs of the Tsimiamboholahy of Andafiavaratra held, from father to son, the simultaneous roles of commander-in-chief, head of government, co-sovereign, and kingmaker, by designating women with increasingly diluted Andriana blood as 'queen' and marrying them.