Editing Antananarivo (section)

===Kingdom of Imerina===

[[File:Antananarivo Madagascar old city gate.JPG|thumbnail|left|Old [[Architecture of Madagascar|city gate]]]]
Antananarivo was already a major city before the colonial era. After expelling the Vazimba who inhabited the town at the peak of Analamanga hill, Andrianjaka chose the site for his ''[[Rova (Madagascar)|rova]]'' (fortified royal compound), which expanded over time to enclose the [[Rova of Antananarivo|royal palaces]] and the tombs of Merina royalty.{{sfn|Government of France|1898|pp=918–919}} The city was established in around 1610{{sfn|Desmonts|2004|pp=114–115}} or 1625<ref>Roman Adrian Cybriwsky, ''Capital Cities around the World: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture'', ABC-CLIO, USA, 2013, p. 15</ref> according to varying accounts. Early Merina kings used ''[[Corvée|fanampoana]]'' (statute labor) to construct a massive system of irrigated paddy fields and dikes around the city to provide adequate rice for the growing population. These paddy fields, of which the largest is called the Betsimitatatra, continue to produce rice.{{sfn|Callet|1908|p=522}}

[[File:Antananarivo Madagascar andohalo plaza.JPG|thumbnail|Sovereigns addressed the public at the historic town square of Andohalo.]]
Successive Merina sovereigns ruled over the [[Kingdom of Imerina]] from Analamanga through King Andriamasinavalona's reign. This sovereign gave the growing city its current name; he established the Andohalo town square outside the town gate, where all successive sovereigns delivered their royal speeches and announcements to the public, and assigned the names of numerous locations within the city based on the names of similar sites in the nearby village of Antananarivokely.{{sfn|Callet|1908|pp=654–656}} Andriamasinavalona designated specific territories for the ''[[hova (Madagascar)|hova]]'' (commoners) and each ''[[andriana]]'' (noble) subcaste, both within the neighborhoods of Antananarivo and in the countryside surrounding the capital. These territorial divisions were strictly enforced; members of subcastes were required to live within their designated territories and were not authorized to stay for extended periods in the territories reserved for others.{{sfn|Callet|1908|pp=563–565}} Numerous ''[[Fady (taboo)|fady]]'' (taboos), including injunctions against the construction of wooden houses by non-nobles{{sfn|Acquier|1997|pp=63–64}} and the presence of swine within the city limits, were imposed.{{sfn|Oliver|1886|p=221}}

Upon Andriamasinavalona's death in 1710, Imerina split into four warring quadrants, and Antananarivo was made the capital of the southern district.<ref name = UNESCO>{{cite web |title=Royal Hill of Ambohimanga |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |year=2012 |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/950 |access-date=22 September 2012 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629070952/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/950/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During the 77-year civil war that followed, the eastern district's capital at [[Ambohimanga]] rose in prominence.{{sfn|Nativel|2005|p=30}} The last king of Ambohimanga, [[Andrianampoinimerina]], successfully conquered Antananarivo in 1793;<ref>{{cite journal |last=Berg |first=Gerald M. |year=1988 |title=Sacred Acquisition: Andrianampoinimerina at Ambohimanga, 1777–1790 |journal=The Journal of African History |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=191–211 |doi=10.1017/S002185370002363X |s2cid=153668345}}</ref> he reunited the provinces of Imerina, ending the civil war. He moved the kingdom's political capital back to Antananarivo in 1794,<ref name = UNESCO/> and declared Ambohimanga the kingdom's spiritual capital, a role it still maintains.{{sfn|Campbell|2012|p=454}} Andrianampoinimerina created a large marketplace in Analakely, establishing the city's economic center.{{sfn|Fournet-Guérin|2007|p=34}}