Andriamihaja

Andriamihaja

Andriamihaja

Prime minister of Madagascar (died 1831)


Andriamihaja, also spelled Andrìamihàja (died 1831), was the first Prime Minister of Madagascar. He was a supporter of Ranavalona I and as a young military officer he was instrumental in her rise. He came to be functionally viewed as her husband, and with her he fathered Radama II. He was executed in 1831.

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Early life

Andriamihaja's father is thought to have been Ratsitatanina, who led a slave rebellion in Mauritius and was executed in 1822.[1]:120

Andriamihaja was a military officer, who commanded forces in the mid-1820s.[2] As a young officer he became an ally of queen Ranavalona I, and he supported her as the successor to Radama I following his death.[1]:120 His support from within the military was an important part of Ranavalona I's rise to power.[3]

Political career

When Ranavalona I became the sovereign, Andriamihaja was quickly appointed as her prime minister, as well as commander in chief of the military.[1]:165[2] He was also a close advisor to the queen.[1]:165[2] Some sources consider Andriamihaja to be the second or third chief minister of Ranavalona I, possibly succeeding Andrianamba as the leading minister to Ranavalona I,[1]:203 but Andriamihaja is often described as the first person to hold the position of prime minister or chief minister in Madagascar.[2] The date of his selection is variously given as either 1828[2] or 1830.

Andriamihaja has been described as a reformer who was sympathetic to education expansion efforts.[2] He was also a convert to Christianity,[1]:165 and was considered a proponent of Europeanisation.[2][3]

Andriamihaja was one of the lovers of Ranavalona I,[1]:120 and after her accession he was sometimes viewed as functionally being her husband.[3] Andriamihaja was the father of Radama II.[1]:120 Reportedly because of Andriamihaja's rapid rise in power from being a young military commander to becoming a primary advisor to the queen, a group of his rivals including Rainiharo and Rainiseheno [pl] accused him of treason, resulting in his execution on the orders of Ranavalona I in 1831.[1]:120 At first, Ranavalona I only expelled him from court and stripped him of his positions, but after it was alleged that he had begun an affair with a princess, she ordered his execution.[3] Andriamihaja's support for the European powers is also thought to have been used as an instrument by his opponents to provoke his downfall.[3]

Andriamihaja was buried at Namehana in Madagascar.[2]


References

  1. Campbell, Gwyn (2020). The Travels of Robert Lyall, 1789–1831. Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-51648-2. ISBN 978-3-030-51648-2.
  2. Oliver, Samuel Pasfield (1886). Madagascar: An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Island and Its Former Dependencies, Volume 1. Macmillan. pp. 41–47.
  3. Laidler, Keith (7 December 2016). Female Caligula: Ranavalona, Madagascar's Mad Queen. Aziloth Books. pp. 43–44. ISBN 978-1911405191.

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