راداما الاول

يتمه: مات ابوه وعمره 17 سنه.
مجاله: قائد عظيم - حكم جزر مدغشقر.

Radama I "the Great" (c. 1810–1828), the first king of greater Madagascar, united two-thirds of the island under his rule. He had twelve Great Wives, one of them his adopted sister Ranavalona I who would emerge victorious in the struggle for succession after his premature death

In 1810, at the age of 17, Radama succeeded his father Andrianampoinimerina as king of Imerina, a growing kingdom in the central plateau of the island around Antananarivo.[1] Several of the principalities conquered by his father revolted upon news of Andrianampoinimerina's death, immediately obliging the young ruler to embark on military campaigns to put down the rebellions and secure his position. He successfully expanded his realm to the Indian Ocean in 1817 after seizing the eastern port town of Antsiranana with an army of 30,000 soldiers.[1]
A shrewd diplomat, he successfully played off competing British and French interests while opening Madagascar to exchanges with foreign powers.[1] The British were interested in securing the passage to India and preventing the French from taking Madagascar. Although the French had been weakened by losing Réunion and Mauritius to the British in 1810, the British at the time did not have enough available resources to possess Madagascar themselves. They settled on an alliance with Radama that supported his rule and ensured a privileged position for the British in regards to trade. British Governor Robert Townsend Farquhar, based in Mauritius, committed to training and supporting Radama's army.[1] The Anglo-Merina treaty of friendship was sealed by a blood oath between Radama and the British envoy Captain Le Sage in 1817. As part of the treaty Radama agreed to put an end to the profitable slave trade; nevertheless slave-dealing continued clandestinely at a reduced level.