Merina Kingdom in the context of "First Madagascar expedition"

Ambohimanga is a hill and traditional fortified royal settlement (rova) in Madagascar, located approximately 24 kilometers (15 mi) northeast of the capital city of Antananarivo. It is situated in the commune of Ambohimanga Rova.

The hill and the rova that stands on top are considered the most significant symbol of the cultural identity of the Merina people and the most important and best-preserved monument of the precolonial Merina Kingdom. The walled historic village includes residences and burial sites of several key monarchs. The site, one of the twelve sacred hills of Imerina, is associated with strong feelings of national identity and has maintained its spiritual and sacred character both in ritual practice and the popular imagination for at least four hundred years. It remains a place of worship to which pilgrims come from Madagascar and elsewhere.

James Cameron (1799–1875) was a 19th-century British artisan missionary with a background in carpentry who, over the course of twenty-three years of service in Madagascar with the London Missionary Society (1826–1835; 1861–1875), played a major role in the Christianisation and industrialisation of that island state, then under the rule of the Merina monarchy.

Andriana was both the noble class and a title of nobility in Madagascar. Historically, many Malagasy ethnic groups lived in highly stratified caste-based social orders in which the Andriana were the highest strata. They were above the Hova (free commoner castes) and Andevo (slaves). The Andriana and the Hova were a part of Fotsy, while the Andevo were Mainty in local terminology.

The Andriana strata originally constituted the Merina society's nobility, warrior, and land-owning class. They were endogamous, and their privileges were institutionally preserved. While the term and concept of Andriana is associated with the Merina people of Madagascar, the term is not limited to them. The use of the word "Andriana" to denote nobility occurs among numerous other Malagasy ethnic groups such as the Betsileo, the Betsimisaraka, the Tsimihety, the Bezanozano, the Antambahoaka, and the Antemoro. "Andriana" often traditionally formed part of the names of Malagasy kings, princes, and nobles. Linguistic evidence suggests its origin is traceable back to an ancient Javanese nobility title, although alternate theories have been proposed.

The Hova, or free commoners, were one of the three principal historical castes in the Merina Kingdom of Madagascar, alongside the Andriana (nobles) and Andevo (slaves). The term hova originally applied to all members of a Malagasy clan (possibly of the Zafiraminia people) that migrated into the central highlands from the southeast coast of the island around the 15th century and absorbed the existing population of Vazimba. Andriamanelo (1540–1575) consolidated the power of the Hova when he united many of the Hova chiefdoms around Antananarivo under his rule. The term Hova remained in use through the 20th century, though some foreigners transliterated that word to be Ankova, and increasingly used since the 19th century.

In and after the 16th century, slaves were brought into Madagascar's various kingdoms, and social strata emerged in Merina kingdom. The Hova emerged as the free commoners caste below the nobles hierarchy. The subset of Hova related to the king by blood came under the title Andriana. The social structure of the new kingdom became further defined under his son Ralambo (1575–1612), who further subdivided the Andriana into four ranks. Ralambo was also the first to use the term Imerina (land of the Merina) to describe the land occupied by the Hova people, who thereafter gradually adopted the identity and label of Merina.

This article lists the Imerina monarchs, from the earliest origins of the Merina monarchy until the French conquest of the Merina Kingdom during the Second Madagascar expedition.

The Malagasy Protectorate (French: Protectorat français de Madagascar, Malagasy: Protectorate Frantsa ny Madagasikara) was a French protectorate in what is now Madagascar. Through the protectorate, France attempted to control the foreign affairs of the Kingdom of Imerina through its representative at Antananarivo. France declared the island a protectorate in 1882 after reaching an agreement with Britain, which had been the first European power to establish a lasting influence and presence on the island that dated back to the arrival of London Missionary Society missionaries around 1820; Britain agreed to sanction French claims to Madagascar in exchange for French recognition of its claims to Zanzibar. The French justified the establishment of a protectorate on the basis of land claims over outlying islands like Nosy Be and Nosy Boraha and a treaty signed with a local leader of the western coastal Sakalava people. It was further justified through documents signed by King Radama II, including a letter he was possibly tricked into signing that entreated Napoleon III to support a coup d'état against Ranavalona I, and land ownership agreements with French industrialist Joseph-François Lambert that were revoked upon Radama's assassination in 1863. It ended in 1897 as Madagascar became a French colony.

Successive sovereigns Ranavalona II and Ranavalona III and their Prime Minister, Rainilaiarivony, rejected the claim of French protectorate status and consistently refused to acknowledge the French representative or submit to the demands of the French, who attempted to impose control over Madagascar's foreign affairs and trade. The Malagasy government sent letters to foreign trade and diplomatic allies, including Britain and the United States, to request they advocate to France on behalf of Madagascar for continued Malagasy independence. France engaged Madagascar diplomatically and bombarded coastal cities in an attempt to enforce its claims, but Madagascar continued to govern its affairs with relatively little interference.

The Second Madagascar expedition was a French military intervention which took place in 1894–1895, sealing the conquest of the Merina Kingdom on the island of Madagascar by France. It was the last phase of the Franco-Hova War and followed the First Madagascar expedition of 1883–1885.

The Franco-Hova Wars, also known as the Franco-Malagasy Wars, were two French military interventions in Madagascar between 1883 and 1896 that overthrew the ruling monarchy of the Merina Kingdom, and resulted in Madagascar becoming a French colony. The term "Hova" referred to a social class within the Merina class structure.