7.1 755 Chapter 7 [7.1] Radama First Planned to Level Ambohijanahary

7.1 755 Chapter 7 [7.1] Radama first planned to level Ambohijanahary (“God’s Hill”) to the immediate southwest of Antananarivo in order to erect the palace. For this he ordered in 1823 the formation of a formidable 100,000- man fanompoana under the supervision of Le Gros. In one year, they dug fourteen massive trenches between 4.5 m and 7.6 m deep before heads of the fanompoana units informed the king that they could not dig deeper because of large underground rocks. When Le Gros con- firmed that the rock could not be fractured, the project of levelling Ambohijanahary was abandoned, and in 1824 fanompoana workers under Le Gros and a French designer called Casimir started to con- struct a palace nearby, on the site of the old Zoma market (which was moved to Anzoma, near Analakely). The palace, called Soanierana of which Carayon (1845) commented, looking back to his visit to Anta- nanarivo in mid-1826: Illustration 131. Ambohijanahary c. 18701 1 Source: Collection Robert Griffith, IMP-SOA-CWM-13-10-003-045, SOAS/ CWM. 756 commentary To the south and at the foot of the mountain [on which Antananarivo was located], Radama had started the construction of a wooden palace, that he never saw completed. The English sent him, for this [task], a skilled carpenter from Mauritius, French by origin, and many other workmen. This edifice was composed of a central single storey building, the central room of which was 60 feet² [5.57 m²] and 12 feet [3.66 m] high, with two wings on each facade, all forming a square, each side of which measured 36 metres. It was positioned on a huge platform, obtained by flattening many hills.2 For years, Gros and Casimir, with sixty carpenters and apprentices, were employed at Soanierana. Construction timber was obtained through fanompoana from the forest, 80 km to the east (each trunk required from 10–40 porters).3 The building was completed probably in 1829 or 1830, following Radama I’s death, and was hailed as an architectural wonder. However, it remained uninhabited, at least until 1862 when Radama II conceded it to the French Madagascar Company which intended to use it as their headquarters. However, that project did not come to fruition. By the 1880s Soanierana lay largely in ruins, although in 1885 it was occupied briefly by the Italian Consul, Désiré Maigrot, a Mauritian. Through lack of maintenance it continued to decay and was finally pulled down by the French after their conquest of the island in 1895.4 [7.2] The death of Le Gros in January or early February 1829 led to a major dispute between Lyall and Freeman, on the one hand, and the other missionaries and the Merina court on the other, as Ranavalona I refused Lyall’s claim, as British agent, to act as official guardian of Le Gros’ child.5 [7.3] This probably amounted to about $2,000, paid in January 1829.6 2 Carayon, Histoire de l’établissement français, 26. 3 Ellis, History of Madagascar, vol. 1, 107–8. 4 HdR, 110–1; Chapus, Quatre-vingts années, 201–2; Oliver, Madagascar. An Historical and Descriptive Account, vol. 1, 237, 243 and vol. 2, 433; Raymond d’Unienville, “Victoire Rasoamanarivo: la Bienheureuse” L’Expresse (18 octobre 2004)—http://www.lexpress .mu/archive_semaine/display_article_sup.php?news_id=28308 (27/10/07). 5 Freeman to Hankey, Tananarive, 28 Feb 1829, Bx.3 F.1 J.1, MIL, SOAS/CWM. 6 “Minute Book” Madagascar, 12 Jan 1829, Bx.3 F.2 J.C, MIL, SOAS/CWM..

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