Wer heiratete Rainiharo?

Rainiharo († 10. Februar 1852) war von 1833 bis 1852 Premierminister des Königreiches von Madagaskar.

Er stammte aus dem Hochadel des Merina - Volkes und machte eine militärische Karriere und war in zweiter Ehe mit der Königin Ranavalona I. verheiratet. Seine Söhne Rainivoninahitriniony und Rainilaiarivony wurden seine Nachfolger im Amt des Regierungschefs und Oberbefehlshabers der Armee. Rainiharo unterstützte die Alt-Hova-Partei, welche den Einfluss europäischer Staaten und Lebensweise zurückdrängen wollte.

Im Amt des Premierministers versuchte er die Kolonialisierung durch Frankreich oder England zu verhindern. Christenverfolgungen und die Vertreibung von nahezu allen Ausländern (besonders der christlichen Missionare) sollten dieses Vorhaben unterstützen.

Ranavalona I (born Rabodonandrianampoinimerina; 1778 – 16 August 1861), also known as Ramavo or Ranavalo-Manjaka I or Ranavalona reniny, was the sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar from 1828 to 1861. After positioning herself as queen following the death of her young husband Radama I, she pursued a policy of isolationism and self-sufficiency. She sought reduced economic and political ties with European powers and took vigorous measures to eradicate the small but growing Malagasy Christian movement initiated under Radama I by members of the London Missionary Society.

Ranavalona used the traditional practice of fanompoana (forced labor as tax payment) to complete public works projects and develop an army. She had a standing army of between 20,000 and 30,000 Merina soldiers, whom she deployed to pacify outlying regions of the island and expand the realm. The combination of regular warfare, slavery, disease, difficult forced labor and the practice of tangena (a harsh trial by ordeal using a poisonous nut from the Cerbera manghas tree) resulted in a high mortality rate among both soldiers and civilians during her 33-year reign, reducing Madagascar's population from 5 million in 1833 to 2.5 million in 1839.

Although greatly obstructed by Ranavalona's policies, foreign political interests in Madagascar remained undiminished. Divisions between traditionalist and pro-European factions at the queen's court created opportunities that European intermediaries leveraged in an attempt to hasten the succession of her son Radama II. The young prince disagreed with many of his mother's policies and was amenable to French proposals for the exploitation of the island's resources, as expressed in the Lambert Charter he concluded with a French representative in 1855. However, these plans were not successful and Radama II did not take the throne until Ranavalona's death in 1861 at the age of 83.

Ranavalona's European contemporaries generally condemned her policies and characterized her as a tyrant at best and insane at worst. These negative characterizations, earning her the moniker of the "Mad Monarch of Madagascar", persisted in Western scholarly literature until the mid-1970s. Later academic research recast Ranavalona's actions as those of a queen attempting to expand her empire while protecting Malagasy sovereignty against the encroachment of European cultural and political influence. In present-day Madagascar, she remains a controversial figure and is largely viewed negatively.