Andriamasinavalona - Early Life and Accession To Throne

Early Life and Accession To Throne

Andriamasinavalona was born Prince Andrianjakanavalondambo in the historic Merina capital of Alasora to his father King Andriantsimitoviaminandriandehibe and mother Rampanambonitany. He was made Prince of Alasora upon his father's death in 1670; his older brother, Andrianjaka Razakatsitakatrandriana, was named king. Andriamasinavalona ascended to the kingship of Imerina upon the deposition of his brother in 1675. The deposed king fled to the Sakalava kingdom to the west and attempted unsuccessfully to secure military support there to regain the throne.

Two enduring traditions in Imerina emerged as a consequence of the power struggle between Andriamasinavalona and his older brother. Some versions of oral history describe a combat between their armies at Ambohibato in which Andriamasinavalona emerged victorious. He erected a commemorative stone at the battle site that he named Ankazonorona, designating it the site where newly enthroned kings would stand to receive their first expression of hasina (homage, affirmation of authority) from their subjects. Andriamasinavalona also introduced the practice of gathering his subjects to consult them and obtain their approval before making certain decisions. This practice was continued by subsequent rulers in Imerina.

Read more about this topic:  Andriamasinavalona

Famous quotes containing the words early life, early, life and/or throne:

    Many a woman shudders ... at the terrible eclipse of those intellectual powers which in early life seemed prophetic of usefulness and happiness, hence the army of martyrs among our married and unmarried women who, not having cultivated a taste for science, art or literature, form a corps of nervous patients who make fortunes for agreeable physicians ...
    Sarah M. Grimke (1792–1873)

    The girl must early be impressed with the idea that she is to be “a hand, not a mouth”; a worker, and not a drone, in the great hive of human activity. Like the boy, she must be taught to look forward to a life of self-dependence, and early prepare herself for some trade or profession.
    Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902)

    To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom. It is not the part of men, but of fanatics, or of mathematicians, if you will, to say, that, the shortness of life considered, it is not worth caring whether for so short a duration we were sprawling in want, or sitting high. Since our office is with moments, let us husband them.
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    And though the shady gloom
    Had given day her room,
    The sun himself withheld his wonted speed,
    And hid his head for shame,
    As his inferior flame
    The new-enlightened world no more should need;
    He saw a greater Sun appear
    Than his bright throne or burning axle-tree could bear.
    John Milton (1608–1674)