Ralambo

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Ralambo was ruler of the Kingdom of Imerina in the central highlands of Madagascar from 1575 to 1612 . He ruled from Ambohidrabiby , one of the Twelve Sacred Mountains of Imerina , and enlarged the domain of his father, Andriamanelo . Ralambo was the first to refer to the region as Imerina. Oral history has passed down many legends about this king, including some dramatic military victories that contributed to the almost mythical status he enjoys among the kings of Imerina. The circumstances of his birth, which took place on the auspicious date of New Year's Day, were declared a supernatural event.

Tradition ascribes many important and lasting political and cultural innovations to Ralambo. He is credited with having introduced the consumption of beef. At the same time as this discovery, he also invented the fandroana New Year's festival on his birthday. According to legend, circumcision and polygamy were also introduced under his rule and the aristocratic caste ( andriana ) was divided into four sub-castes. He is also credited with introducing royal idols ( sampy ) to Imerina, who made extensive use of these magical objects to expand his domain and thus legitimize the divine nature of his rule. Ralambo is often seen as a key figure in the development of the Imerina culture.

youth

As the only child of King Andriamanelo and Queen Randapavola, Ralambo, who was born in the sacred mountain village of Alasora, reached adulthood. According to legend, the boy was first named Rabiby until he shot a particularly notorious wild boar ( lambo ). Another tradition tells that a wild boar walked across the threshold of the house where Ralambo's mother recovered shortly after giving birth. A more likely derivation of his name, however, suggests that he adopted the name when he introduced the consumption of zebu meat, because the meat is called lambo in Proto- Malagasy and Malayo-Polynesian , from which it comes.

A popular legend connects the birth of Ralambo with a myth. She tells that his mother, who was called Ramaitsoanala ("Green Forest") as a girl, was actually the daughter of the water deity Ivorombe ("Great Bird") of the Vazimba . With the help of her divine mother, Ramaitsoanala had many adventures. After her marriage to Andriamanelo (for which she took the name Randapavola), one of these exams passed with birth problems: Randapavola had miscarriages six times in a row or lost her children shortly after birth. When she was pregnant with her seventh child, Kings were especially concerned because the number seven has traditionally been associated with death. Randapavola sought the advice of an astrologer to save the child from a terrible fate. At his instruction, she decided to break a tradition and not give birth in the parents' hometown, Ambohidrabiby, but to visit the village of Alasora in the north of Antananarivo . In the ideas of the time, this direction had great power. According to legend, the queen gave birth to the child in a boat-shaped house, a kisambosambo , which was a reminder of the transoceanic origins of the Malagasy people. Randapavola then took the name Rasolobe when she gave birth to her healthy son, Ralambo, on the first day of the first month of the year ( Alahamady ). This date was considered to be the most auspicious date for the birth of a ruler.

Domination

Ralambos warriors use the first firearms in Imerina. In one battle, this seemed so terrible to the enemy that they fled into the Ikopa River and drowned.

Ralambo achieved almost mythical hero status through a series of political and cultural achievements. He was also the first to name his territory Imerina ("Land of the Merina People"). He moved his capital from Alasora to Ambohidrabiby, where his grandfather Rabiby had ruled as king. And he created the first divisions of the andriana nobility by dividing them into four ranks. He also introduced circumcision and marriage within families. And it is believed that the custom of elevating deceased kings to the status of saints also goes back to Ralambo.

And the tradition of polygamy in Imerina is also traced back to Ralambo. The 19th century collection of oral traditions Tantara ny Andriana eto Madagasikara tells a story that describes the beginning of this custom. According to the Tantara , Ralambo was already married when his servant found the beautiful Princess Rafotsimarobavina with four companions collecting wild vegetables in a valley west of Ambohidrabiby. He reported his discovery to the king, and when Ralambo learned of her beauty, he instructed his servant to make her an offer of marriage on his behalf. The servant asked three times, three times she turned down the offer with the words: "If Ralambo is king and I am queen." The fourth time Ralambo asked his servant to bring her to him by force, the princess consented on the condition that the marriage be legally concluded, with the consent of the parents. The king again agreed to this condition. He informed his first wife of his plans and she replied, "I agree with your decision." In the end Ralambo took four women: Rafotsitohina, Rafotsiramarobavina, Ratsitohinina and Rafotsindrindra. From these marriages there were three daughters and twelve sons. The eldest, Andriantompokoindrindra, was passed over to the throne in favor of his favorite son, Andrianjaka .

Ralambo expanded and defended his sphere of influence through a combination of diplomacy and successful campaigns. He benefited from the first use of firearms, which he acquired through trade with the kingdoms on the coast. According to another legend, Ralambo attackers who attacked the village of Ambohibaoladina frightened so much with a single shot from a handgun that all the warriors fell into the Ikopa River and drowned. By introducing a poll tax ( vadin-aina , dt. About "price to live safely") it was possible for him to maintain the first standing royal merina army. He also settled blacksmiths and silversmiths to equip his guard. His counter-attack also became famous when an army of the mighty Betsimisaraka arrived from the west coast to conquer it. At the place that is now called Mandamako ("lazy") near Androkaroka, north of Alasora, he overpowered the Betsimisaraka warriors, who traditionally only fought at night, when they slept during the day. Another famous strategic trick tells that Ralambo's Guard set a trap for a Vazimba king named Andrianafovaratra who claimed he could control the thunder. Ralambo's envoy, Andriamandritany, invited the Vazimba king to a demonstration of his superiority over Ralambo. While Andrianafovaratra set out to face Ralambo in competition, Andriamandritany set fire to the royal city of Imerinkasinina. Andrianafovaratra spotted the smoke and hurried back, but was caught in an ambush by Ralabo's troops and forced to go into exile in the forests in the far east of the island.

Fandroana

One of Ralambo's enduring achievements is the consumption of zebu meat. He initiated this through the Fandroana Festival, which traditionally serves zebu confit ( jaka ).

Oral tradition also wants to know that Ralambo introduced the consumption of beef in Imerina. Various legends tell of how the king or his servant discovered that the meat of the zebus is edible. Ralambo spread this discovery throughout his domain and also promoted the practices of building cattle pens. He is also credited with introducing the fandroana ("royal bath") ceremony, although he may have only added individual elements to celebrate this ancient ritual. Among the Merina, legend has it that Ralambo instituted the festival to celebrate his culinary discovery. Allegedly, the king and his men met a zebu that was so fat that the king had it offered as a sacrifice. As the meat cooked, Ralambo was tempted by the delicious smell to taste the meat. Thereupon he declared zebu meat to be edible and introduced the Fandroana festival as a reminder, at which particularly fatty zebu meat should be consumed. The festival has been set on Ralambo's birthday, which coincides with the first day of the year. The festival also symbolizes a multi-day renewal ritual that falls during this time of the year.

The original form of the Fandroana festival is no longer known, but reports from the 18th and 19th centuries offer glimpses of the practices at the time. Initially, all family members gathered in their home villages and it was expected that conflicts would be resolved. The houses were cleaned and repaired, and new carpets and clothing were purchased. The symbol of renewal was also specially celebrated by the fact that the strict social order was lifted the previous evening and sexual practices were allowed that would have been completely unthinkable on other days due to the social order. (The early 19th century British missionaries referred to it as "orgies.") On the morning of the first day of the year, a red rooster was sacrificed and the king and others who attended the ceremony were anointed with blood. Then the king bathed in holy water and sprinkled it on those present to cleanse and bless them and thus ensure a happy start into the new year. Children celebrated the festival with lantern and torch parades. The zebu meat that was eaten on the occasion was mostly grilled, or so-called jaka , a preparation that was made exclusively for this festival. For this purpose, shredded zebu meat was placed in a decorative vessel with beef kidney fat and stored in an underground container for twelve months to be used in the next year.

Sampy

Each sampy was composed of different elements.

Amulets and idols held an important place among the various peoples of Madagascar. Ody were personal amulets that were used as protection or strength donors for the wearer. They were widespread from the slave child to the king. sampy were special amulets that, although physically indistinguishable from ody , were different in that their influence related to an entire community. The Sampy were often personified with a specific character. They were given their own houses with guards assigned to their service. Ralambo amassed 12 of the most significant and powerful sampies from the neighboring communities. And he changed their meaning. While until then they had only been seen as "tools" at the disposal of the chiefs, under Ralambo they became divine protectors of the power and the integrity of the state. Henceforth the kings had to show them respect. With this tactic, Ralambo strengthened the legitimation of his rule and tied power into the cosmology of the Merina through the number twelve.

The Tantara ny Andriana eto Madagasikara reports on the arrival of the idols in Imerina: One day a woman called Kalobe arrived in Imerina. She was carrying a small package wrapped in banana leaves and grass. She came from a village near Isondra in Betsileo , a district in the south that had been destroyed by fire. She had traveled on foot and only hiked at night to give to the king what she called Kelimalaza ("the little famous one"). She gave the impression that it was nothing less than the country's greatest treasure. Ralambo adopted the sampy and built a house for him in a nearby village. Then he selected a group of men to learn the secrets of the Kelimalaza from Kalobe. According to the legend, Kalobe was "made disappear" when the training was over. This was to prevent her from running away with the idol. Soon after, a group of Sakalava warriors (according to other versions, Vazimba) prepared an attack on the village of Ambohipeno north of Alasora. Ralambo announced that it would be enough to hurl a rotten egg at the attackers. Kelimazala would do the rest. The egg was thrown, hit the first warrior in the head and killed him. His body fell on another warrior and killed him. This one killed the next and so on until all warriors were killed. Thus the power of the Kelimazala was forever proven. A similar miracle happened when the village of Ambohimanambola was besieged. When Kelimazala was invoked, a heavy hailstorm wiped out the enemy troops. The honor Ralambo paid to the idol encouraged others from surrounding areas to bring their sampy to Ralambo. They were idols introduced by the Antaimoro . The second sampy Ralambo received was Ramahavaly, which was said to control snakes and repel attacks. The next was Manjakatsiroa, who protected the king and became Ralambo's favorite idol. Then came Rafantaka, who was supposed to protect against injury and death; others followed. Mosasa, which came from the Tanala forest people from the east, was a specialty. The custom then spread in the kingdom of Imerina. Almost every village chief and many individual families had their own sampy and claimed to own his powers. Most of these "weaker sampies" were destroyed or demoted to ody by Ralambo's son, Andrianjaka, so that only the twelve sampin'andriana (royal sampy ) that were in royal possession remained. These sampy were worshiped until Queen Ranavalona II burned them in a fire when she publicly converted to Christianity in 1869.

Death and succession

Ralambo's grave in Ambohitrabiby

Ralambo died around 1612. He was buried in the traditional stone grave of his grandfather, King Rabibys. This is still in the village of Ambohidrabiby today. According to a source from the 19th century, mourning was held for a year. His funeral took place at night and a royal mausoleum ( trano masina ) was built over the tomb. The rules of succession that Andriamanelo had created obliged Ralambo to override his eldest son (from his second wife) in favor of Andrianjaka, his younger son from his main wife, Rafotsindrindramanjaka.

literature

• Maurice Bloch: Placing the dead: tombs, ancestral villages and kinship organization in Madagascar . Berkeley Square, UK: Berkeley Square House. 1971. ISBN 978-0-12-809150-0
• ders .: "Almost Eating the Ancestors". Man 20 (4): 631-646. 1985. JSTOR 2802754
• François Callet. Tantara ny andriana eto Madagasikara (histoire des rois) (French). Antananarivo: Imprimerie catholique 1972 [1908].
• William Ellis: "Ellis's History of Madagascar" , in Henderson, E., The Monthly Review III, London 1832.
• David Graeber: Lost people: magic and the legacy of slavery in Madagascar. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press 2007. ISBN 978-0-253-21915-2
• RK Kent: "Madagascar and Africa II: The Sakalava, Maroserana, Dady and Tromba before 1700". The Journal of African History 9 (4): 517-546. 1968. doi: 10.1017 / S0021853700009026
• Susan Kus: "Sensuous human activity and the state: towards an archeology of bread and circuses". In Miller, Daniel; Rowlands, Michael. Domination and Resistance. London: Psychology Press 1995. ISBN 978-0-415-12254-2
• Pier M. Larson: "A cultural politics of bedchamber construction and progressive dining in Antananarivo: ritual inversions during the fandroana of 1817" , in Middleton, Karen, Ancestors, Power and History in Madagascar, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, p. 37 -70 1999. ISBN 978-90-04-11289-6 .
• Bethwell A. Ogot: Africa from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. Paris: UNESCO. 1992. ISBN 978-92-3-101711-7 .
• Samuel Oliver: Madagascar: An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Island and its Former Dependencies , Volume 1. New York: Macmillan and Co. 1886.
• Françoise Raison-Jourde: Les souverains de Madagascar (French). Antananarivo: Karthala Editions 1983. ISBN 978-2-86537-059-7 .
• Camille de la Vaissière; Antoine Abinal: Vingt ans à Madagascar: colonization, traditions historiques, moeurs et croyances (French). Paris: V. Lecoffre 1885.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ellis 1832, pp. 520-538.
2. ↑ Madatana. "Colline d'Ambohidrabiby" (French).
3. ↑ Christopher Buyers: The Merina (or Hova) Dynasty: Imerina 2
4. ↑ Bloch 1971, p. 17.
5. ↑ Kus 1995, pp. 140-154.
6. ↑ Raison-Jourde 1983, pp. 141-142.
7. ↑ Ogot 1992, p. 876.
8. ↑ de la Vaissière & Abinal 1885, pp. 63-71.
9. ↑ Kent 1968, pp. 517-546.
10. ↑ Bloch 1985, pp. 631-646.
11. ↑ de la Vaissière & Abinal 1885, pp. 285-290.
12. ^ Raison-Jourde 1983, p. 29.
13. ↑ Larson 1999, pp. 37-70.
14. ^ Raison-Jourde 1983, p. 29.
15. ↑ Graeber 2007, pp. 35–38.
16. ↑ Oliver 1886, p. 118.

predecessor	Office	successor
Andriamanelo	Ruler of Imerina 1575–1612	Andrianjaka