Editing Ranavalona I (section)

== Succession and death ==
[[File:Profile portrait of king Radama II.jpg|thumb|[[Radama II]], son and successor of queen Ranavalona I]]
While the queen had designated her son, Radama II, as her successor, Rainimaharo and the conservative faction knew of his progressive leanings and tried instead to ensure the queen's nephew, Ramboasalama, would come to power and maintain loyalties to them and their political agenda.<ref>Ade Ajayi (1989), p. 430</ref> The progressive brothers [[Rainivoninahitriniony]] and Rainilaiarivony, who were the queen's co-prime minister and head of the army respectively at the time of her death, supported the succession of Radama and were able to exercise greater influence than Ramboasalama, particularly in ensuring the support of the army for the prince's claim to the throne. As Ranavalona lay on her death bed, Radama took precautions to ensure his succession would be uncontested, surrounding his residence at the Rova of Antananarivo with several hundred soldiers and sending a member of Ramboasalama's family to bring him to the Rova to swear a public oath of allegiance to the new king, to whom he submitted.<ref name="succession">Oliver (1886), pp.&nbsp;87–88</ref>

On 16 August 1861, Ranavalona died in her sleep at the Manjakamiadana palace in the Rova of Antananarivo.<ref name="succession" /> Twelve thousand [[zebu]] were slaughtered and their meat distributed to the populace in her honor, and the official mourning period lasted nine months. Her body was laid in a coffin made of silver [[piastre]]s in a tomb at the royal city of Ambohimanga. During her funeral, a spark accidentally ignited a nearby barrel of gunpowder destined for use in the ceremony, causing an explosion and fire that killed a number of bystanders and destroyed three historic royal residences in the Nanjakana section of the compound where the event was held.<ref name="mahandrihono">{{Cite web |last=Ravalitera |first=Pela |title=Nampoina, des cases de ses ancêtres aux Rova |publisher=L'Express de Madagascar |date=19 July 2012 |url=http://www.lexpressmada.com/5276/print-opinion-2942.html |access-date=11 November 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127233140/http://www.lexpressmada.com/5276/print-opinion-2942.html |archive-date=27 January 2013 |language=fr |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1897, French colonial authorities disinterred and moved the queen's body and the remains of other Merina sovereigns to the tombs at the Rova of Antananarivo in an attempt to desanctify Ambohimanga. Her bones were placed within the tomb of Queen [[Rasoherina]].<ref>Frémigacci (1999), pp.&nbsp;174–180</ref> Her son, Prince Rakoto, succeeded her as King Radama II.<ref>Oliver (1886), p. 89</ref>